Location:Zhū'kethara
Date/Time:Late Sparkfall, 9939 AZI
Realm:Demon Realm
The crack echoed off the training ground walls like a whip strike.
Ren stopped walking. Beside him, Kaelen stopped too — the strategist's pale silver eyes already tracking the source of the sound, already calculating angles and trajectories, because Kaelen could not be in a space without immediately mapping its tactical geometry.
The training grounds occupied the western terrace of Zhū'kethara's military district — an open expanse of packed earth bordered by stone columns where, for ten thousand years, demon warriors had trained in formations that hadn't changed since the last Zartonesh War. This morning, the formations had changed.
Mixed-blood women stood in the sparring rings.
