Islinda woke up that morning with a sense of great tension, half-expecting to find herself changed in some bizarre way—perhaps growing a tail or something equally strange. The dream about the demon Azula was beginning to get to her. But to her surprise, everything felt normal. Too normal, in fact, for her liking.
Today was her birthday, a day that had loomed over her with an unsettling feeling for weeks eversince the revelation she wasn't fully human. She had gone to bed the previous night with Eli's reassurances echoing in her mind. "Nothing is going to happen," he had promised. "It will work out well."
Despite his confident words, the foreboding she had felt was hard to shake. But now, as Islinda luxuriated in the bath, everything seemed almost eerily calm.
