Mira's POV
I fumbled for the seatbelt, clicking it into place just as the plane tilted into its descent. The familiar pressure built in my ears. Outside the window, i could see the forested coastline of Aethelgard, shrouded in pre-dawn mist. My stomach tightened.
After the final instructions, we disembarked. The moment my feet touched the tarmac of the private family airfield, I felt that the atmosphere was different. Thicker. The very air hummed with a low-level energy I had almost forgotten, a blend of old magic and sharp, modern power. Or maybe it just felt so intense because I'd been away for so long, breathing the thinner, simpler air of the human world.
We collected our luggage in silence. Roxy stood beside me, rolling her shoulders as she looked around at the austere terminal buildings and the distant, dark shapes of hangars.
"This place," she said, her voice quiet. "It still feels the same. And at the same time, it feels completely different."
