The Ashen Vale miracle had an impact that radiated outward beyond farmers' thanks and the wonder of the capital. It disturbed a different, much loftier plane of existence. Felix had not just healed land; he had performed a cosmic repair, an editorial decision on a scale that could not be ignored. The silent, watching presence that he had felt ever since the Codex's whisper now felt more like a gathering storm rather than one of being observed.
The emissary arrived on a night when the moon was a thin, sharp sliver, slicing across the sky. There was no heraldry, no announcement. The guards marched along the perimeter of library grounds one moment, then a presence stood at the edge of the ring of fire, waiting in unnatural stillness.
He was tall and unnaturally lean, shrouded in robes whose
