Seven months after the Ashborne Pact was sworn, Selena began to notice changes in her body that defied everything she understood about her phoenix nature. It started subtly—a warmth in her core that was different from the flames that constantly burned within her, a sensation of weight and fullness that had nothing to do with food or drink. At first, she dismissed it as a fluctuation in her powers, perhaps a natural evolution of her phoenix form as she grew more comfortable with what she had become.
