Chapter 36: The Desert of Harmonic Sand
The transition from the Verdant Canopy was a passage through a gauntlet of sensory whiplash. For days after leaving the jungle's luminous, over-saturated memory of life, Elara's senses felt muted, as if the world had been drained of a vital frequency. The vibrant greens and cacophonous sounds faded into the monotonous grey of mountain passes, a welcome nullity that allowed her mind to scar over. Kaelen walked beside her, his silence a familiar comfort, but she noticed the new, slight hesitation in his step when a shadow moved too quickly, a lingering reflex from a jungle where every vine might hold a new, confused consciousness. Master Thaddeus, in contrast, buzzed with a nervous energy, his spectacles constantly smudged from peering at his humming instruments, which now detected only the benign whispers of stone and wind.
