Page 59 of Sunsplitter

The testimonials played out, reports of faint scents masked by fire, but no more substantial leads. As the council spoke, unrest murmured in the gallery.

Syvr leaned close, voice low. “This aedari business is what brings you back? Not my peerless company? Pity.”

“Two instances in my territory,” Antal returned “And there have been others?” Syvr would know.

Their tail swished against their pillow. “A handful of scents all over the Seasons, too weak to track. The council is scrambling.”

That was, indeed, the energy on the council floor. Forced calm at first, but as Qirza shifted the conversation to proposed action, tensions simmered. Caution, some council membersargued. If an aedari scout had made it this far, it must not be alerted that the Twilit Plane was so close. A widespread hunt would betray their urgency.

“They’re afraid,” Antal observed.

“For good reason,” Syvr agreed. “You’ve never seen an aedari?”

“No.” Antal had spent his travel years well within the daeyari-controlled worlds, not venturing into the Contested Planes where skirmishes with aedari were more common.

And those Planes were becoming more dangerous, Avroz had said. Antal considered his father’s antlers, the missing point on a back arc.

“He lost a piece of antler,” Antal said. “When?”

Syvr’s tail flicked. “About… a month ago.”

“Just amonth? Were you with him? Was Ixli?”

“We went out at the request of a territory lord, an aedari sighting just this side of the Contested Planes. Far enough from here to not raise alarms too high, still too close for comfort.”

“Now there’s another one on the Season-Locked Planes. As close as it gets.”

Syvr nodded grimly. “These aedari scouts are getting better at pushing through. All those derived daeyari that have been shoved into the Contested Planes, not enough of a deterrent.”

Antal had been away too long, to be ignorant to all this. “What’s Avroz planning?”

“Hear for yourself.”

Through the debate, Avroz sat calm upon his pillow. One finger raised.

“Avroz,” Qirza announced. “Speak next.”

He stood. The iridescent fabric of his cape glistened as he surveyed his fellow councilors, assuring he had rapt attention. He addressed Qirza.

“We are, all of us, concerned,” Avroz said, voice carrying easilyacross the amphitheater. “No aedari has ever been spotted this close to the Twilit Plane. Our actions must be decisive.”

Qirza’s tail swayed as she listened. “What do you propose?”

“This aedari scout must be found. And killed. It must not find the Twilit Plane. Nor can it be allowed to return to its brethren with whatever knowledge it has gathered.”

Agreement murmured around the circle—spread like fire through the gallery above. Qirza silenced them with a hand.

“First we must find it,” she said.

“Then I volunteer to lead a hunt.” Avroz bowed his head. “If the council agrees. A small pack will be the most efficient, less likely to alert the aedari that we’ve caught its trail.”

Antal chilled anew. An aedari hunt, so close? Unease rippled through the council floor, but the golden bands on Avroz’s antlers would quell opposition. Only five other councilors wore them, Qirza included. Almost nonexistent among the observer tiers.

“We’ll vote on your proposal,” Qirza said. “Those in opposition?”

She surveyed her peers. No hands rose.

“And those in support?”