KaelithThey didn’t knock.The door to my office opened with urgency I recognized immediately, and I was already standing before Jakob fully stepped through it.He didn’t speak.He just held it out.Blue fabric.Torn.Stained.For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.Seraphina stood just behind him, jaw tight, eyes steady — not frantic, not panicked.Resolved.I stepped forward slowly and took the scarf from Jakob’s hand.It was cold from the air outside. Damp from the forest floor.I recognized it instantly.She wore it everywhere.I closed my eyes.Not in grief.In calculation.“Where?” I asked.“Along the river north about halfway between here and the dregs,” Jakob replied. “Broken branches. Signs of struggle. Multiple scents.”“Disrupted,” Seraphina added quietly. “Masked.”I nodded once.Of course they were.I moved around my desk, laying the scarf carefully across the wood as if it were fragile.“We’ll start with the facts,” I said, forcing my voice steady. “Walk me through it.”They d
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