Silence rippled through the room, and Poppy’s stomach dropped.
“We defeated it,” she whispered. “At the moonwell. It broke apart.”
“It brokeapart,” Elder Qiao echoed. “But that does not mean it died.”
Poppy blinked. “How can something break and not die?”
The elders looked to Mingxi. He inhaled slowly—a breath Poppy recognized as the one he used when speaking a truth he hated.
“When a celestial being is destroyed,” he said quietly, “it does not die in the way mortals die. Its force disperses. Its essence fragments.”
Poppy’s skin chilled. “Fragments?”
Mingxi nodded. “Pieces of its hunger. Its will. Its memory.” His voice grew grim. “If a fragment finds enough energy—enough magic—it can… stir.”
Poppy swallowed. “And if it stirs?”
Mingxi met her eyes. “It tries to return to its whole.”
A cold wind seemed to move through the hall, though no doors opened.
Xu Yunlian leaned forward. “Mingxi… you believe one of these fragments lies beneath the moonwell?”
“I believe a fragment was drawn to the battle,” he said. “And embedded itself in the dragon vein.”
“Waiting,” Elder Suyin whispered.
Mingxi nodded. “Waiting for a source strong enough to feed on.”
Poppy felt something twist in her chest.
Mingzhao’s gaze sharpened. “Poppy. When you healed the moonwell… did you release anything?”
“I-I didn’t mean to release anything,” she said quickly. “I only poured my magic into it. Or it took my magic. I’m not sure.”
Mingxi put a hand over hers. “You saved us,” he said. “None of this is your doing.”
But Elder Qiao’s voice was low and grave. “When a mortal touches a power that old… it touches back.”
Poppy exhaled shakily. “So this… pull I’m feeling—”
“Is the fragment recognizing you?” Mingxi finished quietly. “Your magic. Your signature. Your bond.”
She thought of the warmth under her ribs, the same warmth she’d felt the moment Mingxi’s seventh tail unfurled.
“It didn’t feel malicious,” she whispered.
“Not yet,” Elder Suyin said.
Minghua shuddered. “I don’t like the wordyet.”
Mingjun elbowed her. “No one does.”
Mingzhao leaned back, and Poppy recognized the expression he wore only for the direst matters.
“The fragment wakes,” he said.
“And the bond between my son and his wife has strengthened the valley’s energies. Their joined qi may have stirred what should have stayed dormant.”
