The silhouette waited at the edge of the ruined district, exactly where they'd left it.
It hadn't changed shape, not really, still the same towering, antler crowned mass of bark and root they'd watched form hours ago. But the light beneath its surface had dimmed, the once steady green glow reduced to faint, scattered points instead of the slow, breathing pulse it had carried before, like something conserving whatever it had left rather than spending it freely. Massive bundles of vine still anchored it to the cracked earth at each shoulder, thick as tree trunks, and thinner, whip like cords hung ready at its sides, twitching faintly even in stillness.
"Less light," Kwon murmured, studying it from the shelter of a collapsed wall. "That mean weaker, or just quieter."
"Don't assume either," Yewon said. "Assume ready."
She stepped out ahead of the group, raising one hand toward the whole gathered force behind her, the assembled line falling quiet behind her without needing to be told.
