---
A few hours later, Dawn found them tangled in the moss.
The wards had gone soft again, their hum low and lazy. A single shaft of early light had threaded through the canopy to land across Ikea's shoulder, turning the faint red markings there a richer shade, like embers remembering fire.
She slept like someone who had paid off a very old debt.
Half sprawled across his chest, hair a dark mess, mouth parted just enough to let out a slow, even breath. One of her hands rested over his heart, fingers curled as if she had caught hold of it at some point during the night and had forgotten to let go.
Kai lay very still for a few breaths, eyes half open, listening.
His body was tired.
Not the sharp, dangerous fatigue of overused aura, but the deep, satisfied heaviness of muscles worked hard and rewarded for it.
Nothing hurt in the wrong way.
He flexed his toes.
They complained mildly and then settled.
"Status check," he thought.
The system obliged.
[HP: 7000 / 7000.
