Chapter 10: Midnight Practices

BUTTERFLY CASCADE — CHAPTER 10 BRIEF

State entering Ch10:
- Both secrets now open between Mira and Dorian (Ch09 confessions). Full mutual trust for the first time.
- They have the map to the Original Breach Site (Dorian's family archive).
- Malchor and the Ministry are hunting them across the Capital. Monitoring embargo is active.
- Permanent mana-bond means they cannot separate by more than a mile without physiological distress.
- The Starfall Drift is at 80%+ coverage — civilization is at the edge of collapse.

CHAPTER 10 BEATS:
1. ESCAPE: Mira and Dorian leave the Capital in disguise, using the old Solas family tunnels (known only from Dorian's family archive). Ministry checkpoints are active; close call.
2. ON THE ROAD: First extended scene of them as true partners. Banter about the permanent bond — Mira makes a dark joke about it. Dorian actually laughs (rare/significant).
3. OBSTACLE: A corrupted Breach node blocks their path — smaller than the main site, but destabilized. Dorian explains: his family triggered a CASCADE of nodes, not just the main breach. There are dozens of secondary nodes feeding into it.
4. DISCOVERY: Using the Grey together (their combined mana), they seal the secondary node. It works — for the first time, the sky clears in a small circle overhead. Proof the plan can work.
5. MALCHOR APPEARS: He tracked them via the Soul-Tether imperial back-door (Mira's carried secret — now he's USING it). Mira realizes: Malchor knew about the back-door. He has been tracking them all along.
6. CLOSING HOOK: They seal the node but Malchor has their coordinates. The Ministry's full force is converging. They have 12 hours to reach the Original Breach Site before the army arrives.

TONE: Action-paced but with moments of earned warmth. The bond is starting to feel like a strength, not a vulnerability.