The ground pulse returned before the double watch completed its first rotation.
Hans's runner reached the registry porch with dust on his knees and no interest in pretending that the message was harmless.
He stopped before Hajin and said, "The pulse under the sealed cut is stronger than yesterday, and the braces are singing through the stone."
Hajin did not open six Rings on the porch, but took Hans, Ferra, Juna, and a skeleton crew of mine guards who knew the evacuation marks by heart.
Lana kept Ash inside the registry line while Vella locked the clinic corridor, keeping the child away from mountain noise and the stampede it could start.
Eirwen held the eastern gate crowd with embassy calm and posted rates instead of Alder rank, teaching curiosity its price before anyone learned what the pulse meant.
'Evacuate before wonder,' Hajin thought as the carts turned uphill, 'or wonder becomes a funeral and everyone will claim the mountain gave no warning.'
