The next morning, Renard slipped from his room like a shadow moving through darkness. The monastery halls were silent except for the distant sound of wind through mountain passes, and the crystal lights had dimmed to their lowest setting, creating pools of soft light connected by stretches of deep shadow.
Boa coiled around his arm under his robes, her small body warm against his skin. Over the past few days, the serpent had changed in ways that Renard had noticed but didn't fully understand. Her scales had gotten slightly harder, her movements had become smoother, and there was a new alertness in her golden eyes that suggested developing abilities.
The maintenance corridor looked exactly as Boa's spying had mapped it - a narrow passage lined with utility pipes and magical conduits that carried power and water throughout the monastery. The security checkpoints registered his presence but didn't react, his controlled magic signature falling well below their alarm levels.
