Location:Zhū'kethara — Awakening Chamber
Date/Time:Early Sparkfall, 9941 AZI, 9941 AZI
Realm:Demon Realm
The crystal pod sat in the center of the awakening chamber, brought from Zel'kethari's sixth layer three days ago. Deeper than Velshan and Sorathia's pod had been. Older. The formation signatures around it pulsed at a frequency that made the air taste of ozone and something ancient — the residue of an era when the Path had been whole.
Inside, visible through the translucent shell: a mated pair, curled together. The male was tall even in sleep — lean, still, the body of someone who'd spent his waking life conserving energy for something other than movement. White-black hair fanned across the crystal's inner surface. Bone white base with deep black streaks, like ash laid over ink. The female was tucked against his chest, midnight-black hair with gold streaks and silver threads at the temples, one hand resting on his arm.
Forty thousand years of shared sleep.
