Colony Nine

Kotone’s hands shook every time a healer praised her charts. She was the best student in the guild infirmary, the one who could explain why a wound closed too fast and why the skin around it stayed hot for days. That made her useful, and it made her terrified, because every answer she gave sounded like an accusation against the magic everyone else trusted. When the guild sent her to handle a fox shrine dispute, she had to keep smiling while a fox spirit tested the city’s old pact and her own lies began to pile up. A redacted beast tag, a sealed system token, and one mentor who knew too much were the only things keeping her standing. The person closest to her keeps asking for results, and Kot...