The wind had quieted, but its absence felt louder than any storm. Emory’s Field, once teeming with resonance and energy, now held a haunting stillness. The land, the stars, the very air—all felt paused, suspended in a moment of waiting. It was as though every thread in the Web had frozen in place, holding its breath.
Liora stood at the edge of the observatory field, her shawl drawn tight against the chill. She felt it—an edge of something unseen, a ripple beneath the calm. The resonance she had long cultivated, the quiet hum of the Web, had grown silent in ways she couldn’t yet explain. There was no disaster, no immediate threat—but something was shifting, and it was different from anything she had felt before.
The stars overhead, once so close and so tangible, now seemed farther away. T
