Night had already settled over Lootwell when Space changed beside Lucien.
He looked up from the Origin Core projection.
Alanthuriel stepped through the distortion.
Lucien rose immediately.
Something was wrong.
Alanthuriel had appeared without warning many times before, sometimes carrying information capable of overturning everything Lucien thought he understood about the universe. Even then, the Abyssal Being usually possessed the same measured calm, as though catastrophes deserved contemplation before emotion.
Tonight, that calm was strained.
Lucien had never seen him arrive with this kind of urgency.
Alanthuriel did not waste time.
"What I feared has occurred."
Lucien dismissed the projection.
"Senior Alan, does this concern the agreement between the Primordial Incarnations and the Abyssal Arch-Lords?"
Alanthuriel nodded.
This time, he did not correct Lucien with another incomplete warning.
"The negotiations succeeded."
Lucien's expression hardened.
