The silence of the Veil was a new kind of sound. It was the hum of a hidden thing, a note sustained just below the threshold of hearing. Ren watched Lyra work, her form silhouetted against the monolithic standing stone of the tundra. He saw not the physical strain, but the metaphysical toll. Each time she wove her subtle cloak of obscurity, a little of the vibrant light in her eyes dimmed, banked behind a layer of necessary stealth. She was learning to make their world a secret, and secrets have weight.
He felt it through their bond, a constant, low-grade drain, like a vessel with a slow leak. The Starforged energy they had worked so hard to create was now being partially diverted to fuel this endless, invisible defense. It was the right choice, the only choice, but it felt like building
