Lira stepped closer to the Spirit Tree, her fingers brushing the bark. The pulse beneath it responded with a deep, slow thrum that echoed inside her bones.
Renkai stood beside her, quiet for a time. Then, he spoke.
"There is a rite older than the academy, older even than the grove. It was once used by those who had forgotten… and those who chose to return."
They knelt at the base of the Spirit Tree. Renkai drew a circle around them in fine white dust something like salt, perhaps, or crushed crystal root. Within the circle, he placed small objects from his pouch: a fox's whisker, a silver leaf, a carved bone token, and a crystal vial filled with moonlit water. Each item placed at a point around them.
The tree began to glow more deeply.
"Speak your name," Renkai said, his voice low and rhythmic. "The one you carry now."
"Lira."
He nodded. "And now, if it comes… the name before."
Silence.
And then she started:
"El—" Her voice cracked. "Elaris."
