Location: Dark Forest - Worm Colony Glade
Time: Day 583/213 (Subjective/Actual)
Realm: Lower Realm (Doha)
The glade was peaceful.
That was Jayde's first thought as the teleportation array's light faded, leaving them standing on soft grass beneath ancient trees. Sunlight filtered through the canopy in gentle streams. Birds sang somewhere in the distance. A light breeze carried the scent of flowers and earth.
It looked like paradise.
Tactical assessment: Deceptive. Colony underground. Surface conditions irrelevant to threat level.
(But it's so pretty. How can something so horrible hide under something so beautiful?)
Jayde's hand went to her Crucible Core, checking the Thunder Core Ward one final time. Blue-white electricity crackled in geometric patterns around her core's foundation—already active, cast in the Pavilion before they'd left. Self-sustaining. Protecting the absolute center of her cultivation even if everything else failed.
