The retreat lasted eight minutes.
Eight minutes of uneasy silence across the planet after the hostile energy masses withdrew beyond visible range.
Eight minutes where the sky remained scarred with glowing lattice lines and hovering nodes that refused to fade.
Inside the lower chamber, no one relaxed.
Sarya remained on her knees in the cracked resonance circle, her palms flat against the floor as she steadied her breathing. The filament linking Earth to the greater network no longer burned white-hot, yet it carried a heavy current that refused to dim.
Daniel crouched beside her.
"You're stable," he said quietly.
"For now," she replied.
Above them, Elira's screens showed the damaged outer lattice in deep space. Two threads had snapped completely during the assault. One flickered weakly like a torn cable barely holding current.
Sereth's projection hovered near the display.
