Moments later,

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The chamber beneath the High Citadel was wrapped in twilight and silence, the air cool and scented with frost and ancient stone. In the center of the soft woolen nest, the last egg had been glowing for hours - pale at first, then brightening to a warm, blinding white-gold that lit up the walls like captured starlight.

Aria sat cross-legged on the floor beside it, her hand resting lightly on the velvet edge of the nest. Malphas knelt close at her side, his posture still, his crimson eyes fixed on the shell as if he were afraid to blink and miss a single moment. Lycian, Fenris, and...