The cool midnight wind whispered through the towering alpine pines, carrying the fresh scent of wild juniper and crushed evergreen needles across the secluded mountain ledge where the party pitched their camp.
Hajin sat cross-legged upon a flat slab near the crackling campfire, watching the incandescent embers drift upward into the vast velvet canopy of the northern sky.
A faint, musical chime sounded beside his left ear as Aria descended gracefully from his shoulder, hovering at eye level while intricate geometric circles of pale azure light revolved between her delicate hands.
"Host vitals have fully stabilized across all primary spiritual meridians and secondary circulatory channels," she reported with a bright, cheerful smile, her translucent wings fluttering with soft digital radiance.
