<Insight: (Ledger of Nightmares)>60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ66Y6W4X82T
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Cel stared at the words, absorbing their meaning.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaRLbUHtUTM
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"The Ledger will serve you well," Selina said, her voice carrying quiet approval. "Though I would advise you to examine it when you return to the physical world."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnr3JIfQmFH
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The reminder struck like cold water. He'd been so focused on examining his new gifts that he'd forgotten - his physical form was still slumped in those ruins, bleeding and defenseless.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMCBwf6qBK2
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"How long have I been here?"60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsPXIIfBmAZ
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"Minutes only. But minutes can be enough for predators to find prey." Her tone remained gentle, but the warning was clear. "You should return. Examine the Ledger when you are safe - or as safe as one can be in such a place."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQUNHiLnj5i
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Cel nodded, the wisdom obvious once stated. "Thank you."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡft6B3eCM9O
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"There is no need for thanks." Selina's smile deepened. "Go now. And may the Moon Goddess light your path."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO4mtVP6kkn
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The familiar words wrapped around him like a benediction as he closed his eyes and reached for the world beyond.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv1jF1bFdvX
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Pain crashed over him like a wave.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNFJJwYpzIL
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Cel gasped, his awareness slamming back into his physical body with brutal force. Every wound announced itself at once - the claw marks across his back, the burns on his left arm, the countless smaller injuries that painted his skin in blood and ash.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4qkfvKidly
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He was still in the ruins, sitting against the wall where he'd left. The storm had passed completely now, leaving only settling ash that drifted through gaps in the broken stone like gray snow.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2MNW7JBLNe
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A sound broke the silence. Soft. Wet. The unmistakable noise of tearing flesh.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBmPcLqyRIW
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Cel's eyes snapped to the corpse.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQPoyvBNwqt
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It lay where he'd left it - serpentine body coiled in death, dark ichor pooled beneath it in the ash.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHY9RmZZCoj
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Something was perched on its chest.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc6ELBITIHx
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A bird.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXKQfiuh6Oy
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But calling it a bird felt wrong. Obscene, even.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjwJMmNGsCl
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The thing was roughly the size of a craw, but there the resemblance ended. Black feathers covered its body - sleek and dark as obsidian, their tips bleeding to crimson red. The proportions were all wrong - body was too long, legs too thin, neck too flexible, wings that folded at angles wings shouldn't fold. 60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOk5jJSoVSP
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When it tore another strip of flesh from the corpse, Cel glimpsed rows of tiny teeth lining the inside of that beak - serrated, designed for more than just pecking.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb8tPtJ3KaJ
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'That's not a normal bird.'60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiK3rLU6DKg
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The thought arrived with crystalline clarity. Normal birds didn't exist in the Hollow Realms. Couldn't exist. This place had been dead long before any normal animal could have found its way here.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyKtzc7ZI2a
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Which meant this thing, with its blood-dipped feathers, was a rift-creature.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtaNaBGTuG4
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His left hand moved, reaching for the bond with Silent Moon. Pain lanced through his shoulder, his back, his arm - but he ignored it.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ05OxFBSkCv
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Moonlight threaded through the air as the chokutō materialized in his grip. Six crescents ignited along its length, casting pale radiance across the ruined space.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb8CLD6tqsB
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The bird-thing's head snapped toward him - neck bending at an angle that should have broken bone. A single crimson eye fixed on him, unblinking and bright against the black feathers.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr6NFtFHgxR
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Cinderward came next.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEIgfTdU29T
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The armor manifested instantly, moonlight wrapping around him in silver threads. The mantle settled across his shoulders, the cloak falling behind him. Weight distributed itself across his body as bracers formed on his forearms and boots encased his legs.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdswAz1r719
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The transformation took perhaps two heartbeats.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvbYV06cPN9
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When it finished, Cel stood in full divine regalia, blade raised, every muscle coiled despite the exhaustion weighing on him.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5QhttNpIhr
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The bird-thing regarded him for a moment. Then it took another bite of the corpse, tearing away flesh with those serrated teeth hidden in its beak.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnr7Xj3miSj
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It was... ignoring him?60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPkLnhxPr1n
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Cel's grip tightened on Silent Moon's hilt. The creature showed no aggression, no interest in him at all. Just methodical feeding, as if he were no more threatening than another piece of the landscape.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfzJjIU9QHD
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Should he attack? The thing was clearly unnatural, clearly wrong—60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq7vMs41qAf
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Footsteps.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLuSMB0jek9
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The sound came from outside the ruins. Steady. Deliberate. The crunch of boots on ash-covered stone.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ9RwTPEnD9
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Cel's head tilted toward the entrance gap, every sense suddenly focused on that new sound.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGLYLbRCzqt
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Someone was approaching.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZCqjmz9UV4
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The bird-thing didn't react. It simply continued its meal, pecking at exposed organs with clinical precision.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0YL8WVUNwp
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The footsteps grew closer. Not running. Not cautious. Just walking with the confidence of someone who knew exactly where they were going - or the carelessness of someone who didn't understand danger at all.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDUSayhwGpB
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A silhouette appeared in the gap between broken walls.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNMAg6a4FKC
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Tall. Lean. Moving with a grace that spoke of training and deadly purpose.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡapFIjxYAn9
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The figure stepped into the dim light filtering through the ruins.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡORwJvN8Wv8
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Cel's breath caught for the second time in as many minutes.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH1ekMKHrTo
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A young man. Perhaps eighteen, maybe twenty. Dark hair fell across sharp features that carried a weight far beyond their years.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUwEnA5nfmz
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Relief crashed through Cel's chest before he could stop it.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrQXfnFhiSA
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'A human.'60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaXz78xbmMv
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The thought arrived with desperate force. After what felt like eternity alone in this nightmare, fighting for every breath, surrounded by nothing but monsters and ash…60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTvoO4qxK24
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Another human being stood before him.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT4VKJpvouW
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Then the stranger's gaze met his, and the relief shattered like glass.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLMtQp41lBG
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Those eyes.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaw9vCNP0rX
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Crimson iris set against black where white should be, holding depths that seemed to swallow light rather than reflect it.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzVLYIrO1ir
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Wrong. Fundamentally wrong in a way that made his instincts scream.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPSQ6Qsknk0
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'What if it's not human at all?'60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDp6xnYOeEa
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The thought sent ice through his veins. The cult had taught him that appearances meant nothing - that the cruelest monsters often wore the most familiar masks. His own father had smiled while arranging his torture. His mother had looked loving even though she abandoned him in the end.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyHbowaIYL1
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Trust was a weapon that had been used against him too many times. A weakness he couldn't afford.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO2rM8fzIf8
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But beneath the fear and suspicion, that desperate hope still pulsed. Weak. Pathetic. The part of him that wanted so badly to believe he wasn't completely alone in this dead world.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnihQzbdIe0
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He hated that weakness. But he couldn't quite kill it either.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡblBPDS94dq
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The stranger wore practical clothing in dark tones with blue-grey accents. A cloak draped across his shoulders, shifting with his movement. Everything about him spoke of someone who lived by blade and shadow.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoViSJKHxig
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But it was the way he carried himself that made Cel's instincts scream danger. Not aggressive. Not threatening. Just... present. Like death itself had learned to walk on two legs and dress in mortal clothing.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSqmN90xfJB
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For a long moment, neither of them moved. The bird-thing continued pecking at the corpse, the only sound in the sudden, heavy silence.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHkgU55bzdI
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Cel's grip on Silent Moon remained steady despite the pain lancing through his wounded shoulder. Six crescents pulsed along the blade's length, casting pale light across the ruined space.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJKluFS3UOW
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The young man's gaze swept the ruins in a single, assessing glance. Took in the dead creature, the ash-covered floor, the storm damage.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡifWcXuwO22
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Then those crimson eyes fell back to Cel's face.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXzYUOVVgfH
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"You're human." The words came flat, carrying neither surprise nor emotion. 60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNhwcAdZj8l
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"So are you." Cel's response was equally neutral, though his mind raced in disbelief. 'A human. In the Hollow Realms. How—?'60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Ulm9EmEKZ
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The stranger's gaze swept over him again - lingering briefly on the blood seeping through the new armor's fabric, the way Cel's right arm hung slightly wrong at his side.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs3JizYb7qr
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"You're injured." Still that same flat tone, neither offering help nor threatening attack.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzv9ZV02f9T
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"I'll live."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9g0JrYqlJ9
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A slight tilt of the head. "Will you?"60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaRNdfd4h0I
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The question held no malice. Just genuine curiosity, as if the stranger were genuinely uncertain whether Cel would survive his wounds.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ69Cmf774q
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Cel's jaw tightened. "Long enough."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4z5y5vGrxg
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Something flickered in those red eyes - not quite amusement, but close. "Confident."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlw9NPrthGf
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The bird-thing chose that moment to tear away another strip of flesh, the wet sound obscenely loud in the tense quiet. Neither of them looked at it. Neither dared break eye contact.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmxzi553EtO
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The stranger moved.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsxA1Aq0Zzk
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Cel's entire body tensed - but the motion was just a step to the side, away from the entrance, giving himself a better angle to observe both Cel and the feeding creature.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsWMFFT3Fpl
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Not aggressive. But not careless either.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLHi3Ffvl9v
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"That yours?" The stranger gestured toward the corpse with a slight nod.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCjXIal8Ju1
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"I killed it."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOTxyDgzvcr
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"Hmm." The sound carried something that might have been approval. "Ash-crawler. Nasty when cornered."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbmp5KCfCPb
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The casual knowledge in those words made Cel's instincts scream. 'He knows what it is. That means he'd encountered them before. At least once.'60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBrAdLdAk6c
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"How long?" Cel asked before he could stop himself.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB30Si6ei9k
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The stranger's gaze narrowed slightly. "How long what?"60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqFOjdp2T4z
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"How long have you been trapped here?"60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGOEFWztxmV
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For the first time, something resembling emotion crossed that pale face. Not quite a smile, but a subtle shift at the corner of his mouth that suggested bitter humor.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMUnq2rqP2Z
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"Trapped." The word hung between them. “Seems like that.”60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2SnmLwa9L6
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Cel waited, watching the stranger's posture. Relaxed but ready - the stance of someone who'd learned to be comfortable with danger.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpf3UNtHAPG
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The silence stretched again. The bird-thing pecked at exposed organs with clinical precision.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaEAkQS7klu
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"What's your name?" Cel finally asked.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHfU37vr1O0
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Those crimson eyes studied him with unsettling intensity. As if the stranger were looking through him rather than at him, measuring something Cel couldn't identify.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ130DeT2bGe
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"Raven."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ36NCgfPeOi
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Raven's gaze remained fixed on him, expectant. 60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm4TrTjMeyp
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"And yours?"60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxhaMjvQSrX
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Cel hesitated. The question was simple enough, but his mind raced. 'How did he get here? Why is he here?' 60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBxFoIwQd7d
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His father's face flashed through his mind. If Lord Aldric  had somehow learned he survived, then the Children of the Voidmother would come for him again. This stranger could be one of them.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjotoq1JKuk
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But refusing would accomplish nothing. If Raven meant him harm, a name wouldn't change that. And if he didn't... Cel might need an ally more than he needed secrets right now.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr3u1wn4kPE
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"Celvian," he said finally.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHmD0ay4xIo
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"Celvian." Raven repeated the name once, testing it. Then his attention shifted - quick as mercury - to the entrance gap. "You alone?"60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE4ErFkQP8G
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"Yes."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw2SqbPUusV
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"No companions? No escort?"60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdJkluvqUrp
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"I said I'm alone."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7TTLnLUZW0
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Raven's eyes came back to him, sharp and assessing. "Moon Chosen."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXUGCfSU6ex
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It wasn't a question. Cel's hand tightened on Silent Moon's hilt.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpHT22dsMmz
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"How did you—"60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2DXTrVps3s
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"Your weapon." Raven's gaze flicked to the chokutō. "Moon phases etched in the blade. And the way moonlight clings to you even when you're not manifesting power." A slight pause. "Distinctive."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8GlXPmFvWG
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Cel's chest tightened. He'd thought his divine gifts were his own secret, his own advantage. To have them identified so casually—60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbi27wSu9vt
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"Don't worry." Raven's tone remained neutral. "I'm not here to fight you."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4WyO0nW49W
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"Then why are you here?"60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN7Ud58GXiT
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Those red eyes held his for a long moment. When Raven spoke again, his voice carried something that might have been weariness.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZr1m4mP29b
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"Does it matter how I got here?" A slight pause. "I'm here. That's what counts."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7N3n5S6w6t
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The statement hung in the air between them. Two humans, standing in the ruins of a dead world, both wary, both armed, both trying to decide if the other was threat or friend.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwvguebsyQ6
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The bird-thing finished its meal and took flight - wings unfolding at wrong angles before it vanished through a gap in the ceiling. Neither Cel nor Raven tracked its departure.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLAYiIZYzqm
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"Fine.” Cel resigned. “But you didn't answer my other question. How long have you been here?"60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLmwZj6jTX0
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This time, Raven actually answered.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIRHPRFclK8
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"Long enough." His eyes grew distant. "Maybe a year."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkfUhqSSUwK
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The number hit like a physical blow. 'A whole year. Alone. In this place.'60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvYiBQ0ryFD
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Cel stared at the young man before him, truly seeing him now. The dark circles under his eyes. The weight in his posture. The way he moved like danger had become as natural as breathing.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxxnJCHRX3z
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"How?" The word escaped before Cel could stop it. "How did you survive that long?"60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2QRdJdRtiF
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Something flickered across Raven's face - there and gone so quickly Cel almost missed it. Pain, perhaps. Or memory.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRqjhPiNwZO
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"You learn." The words came quiet, distant. "Or you die."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7K8O9JcIf2
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The bird-thing's cry echoed from somewhere outside, harsh and alien.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGZniQy3o1C
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Raven's head tilted slightly, tracking the sound with practiced ease. When his attention returned to Cel, those crimson eyes carried a weight that made Cel's chest constrict.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpVZJSfcLhO
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"Your wounds. They'll fester in this place. Faster than you'd expect." The statement came flat, matter-of-fact. 60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0j8epUqTiZ
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Cel's fingers tightened on Silent Moon's hilt. "I'll manage."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9cQka3WHWo
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"With what?" Raven's tone didn't change, but something sharp entered it. "Ash and hope?"60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgwbwNSEIDi
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The question hung in the air between them.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAGW4P537c3
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Cel had no answer. His divine gifts could create ice, could grant him strength under moonlight, could even bring him back from death under the right circumstances. But healing? He had nothing for that.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcPKSkHXMBL
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Raven seemed to read his silence accurately, eyes narrowing.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb76wxxaBeb
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"Stay here." Not a suggestion. A command, delivered with the casual authority of someone used to being obeyed. "Don't leave this ruin."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFLmypdjPX4
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Cel blinked. "What?"60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH5jpYrYMfk
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"I'll be back." Raven was already moving through the gap.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡabXTmZOi33
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"Wait—where are you—"60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYBGF6X6bzC
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But Raven had already vanished into the ash-covered wasteland, his dark form swallowed by gray and shadow.1234 copyright protection56ＰＥＮＡＮＡwBVx0hT72L 尼

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