[VOLUME 16: THE FIRES OF GENESIS][ARC 4: THE PILLARS OF GENESIS]
The morning after the Whispering Canyon was, against all odds, entirely too peaceful.
Elara Vance woke to the sound of birdsong. Not the screech of a prehistoric terror-bird, nor the cawing of a demonic raven, but the sweet, melodic trill of a perfectly ordinary songbird.
She blinked her eyes open, feeling a heavy, luxurious warmth enveloping her on both sides. To her right, Li Wusheng lay in a posture of immaculate, serene repose, one arm tucked gently beneath her neck. To her left, Aldren's massive, heavily scarred arm was thrown entirely over her waist, his face buried in her hair, breathing in her scent with deep, rumbling snores.
The frantic, jagged edges of their insecurities had been entirely smoothed over by the profound admissions of the night before. They were a unified front now. An unbreakable triad.
