They didn't have time to breathe.
Seris vanished behind a wall of uniforms and official calm. The city swallowed her like a mouth shutting over something inconvenient. Aiden's heart left with her.
He didn't shout.
Didn't chase.
He just went very, very still.
Liora saw danger there.
Not rage—resolve.
"Focus," she snapped softly. "If we break wrong, they'll bury us under laws and call it justice."
The city roared again.
Closer this time.
Shouting.
Glass shattering.
Magic tearing the air apart.
Someone screamed in pain down the street.
Someone else laughed.
Ardent pushed off the doorframe, dusting off nothing.
"Well," he sighed, "shall we begin suffering?"
Before Aiden could process that, a wave slammed through the district. Not wind. Not magic.
Pressure.
Like an invisible hand tightening around everything alive.
Liora staggered.
Aiden gasped.
Windows rattled.
Ardent's eyes sharpened.
"Containment lattice," he muttered. "How tasteless."
"What does that mean?!" Aiden forced out.
"It means," Ardent replied, "the city just penned off entire districts so people move exactly where they're meant to."
Like cattle.
Like prey.
Aiden swallowed.
"Are they coming for us?"
"Yes," Liora answered without hesitation.
They stepped outside.
They didn't need to guess.
They saw.
Armored mages.
City tactical brigades.
Licensed hunters.
Clerics observing to make it morally acceptable.
This wasn't a force meant to kill.
This was a force meant to capture.
They didn't want Aiden destroyed.
They wanted him contained.
That hurt more than fear.
"Identify," the lead mage called, staff humming. "Unregistered anomalous being. You are to surrender."
Aiden grit his teeth.
"I'm a person."
"Legally irrelevant."
The words stung worse than steel.
Liora stepped forward.
"If you want him," she said calmly, "you'll bleed for it."
The mage smiled politely.
"We accounted for that."
A second squad moved behind them.
Then a third.
They weren't surrounding.
They were funneling.
Pushing toward the outcome the city preferred.
Ardent clapped once like someone watching a street performance.
"Oooh. Dangerously stupid. My favorite."
"Do not interfere, Fae," the mage warned.
"Adorable," Ardent replied.
Magic crackled.
Hands tensed.
Aiden tried to steady himself.
Then—
he heard them.
Not soldiers.
Their wishes.
"I want recognition."
"Promotion."
"Don't fail."
"I want power."
"I deserve this."
"Please let this work."
"Please."
So much want.
So much fear.
So much greed.
The universe heard.
So did he.
It hurt.
Like breathing knives.
"Aiden—!" Liora grabbed him.
Too late.
Reality twitched.
Not broke.
Flinched.
Cobblestone tilted a fraction.
A caster's barrier locked around himself instead of Aiden.
A holy charm glue-stuck to the priest's own boot.
Tiny humiliations.
Formation ruined.
The universe giggled.
"What—what was THAT—?!" the commander snapped.
Ardent actually laughed.
"Oh, congratulations," he said brightly to Aiden. "You've reached the 'your existence offends organized authority' milestone. I'm so proud."
The squad regrouped quickly. Professionals.
"Plan Two," the commander ordered.
Plan Two turned out to be fire.
Controlled fire.
A ring of it flared across rooftops, shaping citizen movement, sealing exits, pushing panic exactly where the city wanted it.
People screamed.
Children cried.
Someone prayed.
Aiden stared.
"They're… willing to burn their own home?"
"They always are," Liora said bitterly.
"Last warning," the commander called.
No one moved.
The universe leaned forward.
Aiden did too.
He didn't gain courage.
He didn't become heroic.
He just refused.
He took a step.
The commander reacted instantly.
"Seize—"
He never finished.
Because fear hit first.
Not magic.
Not violence.
Presence.
Ardent's eyes glowed gently.
That was somehow worse.
"Little officers…" he said softly, "allow me a correction."
The air stilled.
"You think you are containing a threat. You are not. You are cornering something the universe finds… precious."
Golden danger shimmered behind politeness.
The commander forced his spine straight.
"Stand your ground—!"
They did.
Wrong bravery.
There was a sound like bells disappointed in religion.
A pulse.
Quiet.
Terrifying.
Every caster glimpsed—just for a heartbeat—how terribly small they were.
Spells destabilized.
One barrier shattered.
Two sigils died like snuffed candles.
Ardent smiled like a weary teacher.
"Now then," he said kindly. "Aiden. Liora. We leave."
"We can't just run!" Aiden shouted. "Seris—she—"
"We will get her," Ardent said gently. "But if they cage you, no one gets anything."
Aiden hesitated.
Then nodded.
Liora grabbed his hand.
They ran.
Orders screamed.
Boots thundered.
Magic ripped.
Something exploded behind them.
Streets narrowed.
Seals tightened.
The city chased them with rules and sweet lies.
And somewhere high above,
the men who planned this
smiled.
Everything was working.
For now.