Peace never announces when it is about to fracture again.
It slips.
Quietly.
Between the moments you finally exhale.
Aurora should have known the stillness wouldn't last.
The Covenant power play has been checked, for now. Obsidian radicals are scattered remnants in the west. The council is bruised but standing. The web hums steady across sanctuary, Covenant, and the fragile space in between.
But steady does not mean safe.
And this time
The fracture does not begin with politics.
It begins with Kade.
The first sign is small.
Too small.
A delayed report.
Kade was meant to return from eastern border patrol before dusk.
He does not.
At first, Aurora tells herself it is nothing.
A broken relay rune.
A detour.
A civilian escort.
The bond hums, distant but alive.
Then
It flickers.
Just once.
Like a heartbeat skipping.
Aurora stills.
The lake behind her goes silent.
"What?" Mara asks from the council table.
Aurora doesn't answer.
She closes her eyes.
