One wing flickered along its edge while the projection held, leaving Hajin's next question stuck somewhere behind his clenched teeth. Above the flowers the spirit bowed beneath that thinning light, and enough presence remained to keep one more answer possible.
The Goddess lifted her hand from the spirit's bowed head and turned back toward him with patient warmth.
"There is still time to answer," she said, letting the remaining light gather around her fingers.
'Still time, she says, while her wing flickers like a cheap tavern lantern in a storm.'
He shifted in the clover as she finished studying the private marks circling his spiritual arm.
"Your discipline exceeds what this stage usually supports," she added, tilting her head, "you found control where many descendants would look only for another source of power."
"Discipline?" Hajin scratched the back of his neck while his ears burned, "I mostly call it panicking in the correct direction."
