The portal sealed behind Amaniel with a soft whisper.
Before he could take a second step, a tiny blur of motion launched itself from across the room.
"Papa!"
Cathiel collided with his chest, her small arms wrapping around his neck. The impact barely shifted his stance, but the warmth that flooded through him immediately melted away the lingering cold of the training dimension.
She looked different, he realized. Again.
In just a month, she had grown from a newborn infant into a small toddler of perhaps two years. Her dark hair, once short and messy, now fell in soft waves that Caelia carefully arranged into twin ponytails each morning. Her limbs had lengthened, her features refined, and her movements carried a coordination that shouldn't have been possible for her apparent age.
She was growing fast. Terrifyingly fast.
But she was still his little star.
