Reports traveled frequently to the capital. Not embellished. Not softened.
Numbers. Shifts. Patterns. Durations.
Sketches of the haze-field, could already be monitored with the Ecnes Sky Eyes.
It's causes were included in the reports.
Linh himself drafted the last one, his script tighter than usual.
He did not conceal the truth. They were stabilizing.
But stabilization was not victory. And time favored the side that could afford to wait.
An Azura Sparrow arrived at dusk.
Its wings gliding silent across the dimming sky.
It landed without ceremony behind the command ridge. The generals present.
Roah stepped forward to receive it.
The scroll cylinder at its leg bore the seal of the capital. He broke it. Read once. Then again.
Linh and Toah gathered near.
The air shifted before he spoke.
"The Temple of Dorom is mobilizing."
Silence.
Linh squinted.
"The Priestesses are coming?"
Seemed Dorom would answer with something deeper than lattice and spear.
