The council chamber felt like a heart mid-spasm...tense, trembling, waiting for the blow.
Lanterns flickered in uneven pulses.
The bowl of shadow-water rippled, though no wind touched it.
Rifts of moonlight leaked through the carved stone pillars like veins of the cliff itself were sweating under stress.
Aurelianth stood at the center of the room, marked by the silver-black sigil that had branded him "Deviation."
Lioren stood at his side, jaw trembling but eyes fierce.
Around them, villagers gathered in growing numbers, filling the room in layers...elders in the center, hunters along the walls, children peeking from behind adults' legs.
Everyone wanted a view of the boy the Hollow Pulse wanted.
Everyone wanted to see if he'd be cast into the dark.
The Matriarch Calls the Vote
The matriarch lifted her lantern-staff high.
Its light swirled upward, illuminating the runes carved into the chamber's ceiling.
She spoke without emotion.
Emotion made worlds crack.
"Tonight," she said, "the Hollow Pulse breached our sanctum. It entered the body of the cliff. It reached for a living soul."
All eyes slid to Aurelianth.
"And it did so because of him."
A whisper like a knife edge swept the crowd.
"He is marked," Elder Therrin added, voice cold.
"He is recognized," Elder Vesen countered, voice thoughtful.
"He is dangerous," someone muttered.
"He is needed," someone else whispered.
Lioren stepped forward.
"He is alive. He is one of us."
Aurelianth flinched at that, because he didn't know if it was true… but the warmth in her voice made part of him want it to be.
The matriarch raised her free hand for silence.
"We must decide. He cannot remain here unconditionally."
The pulse in Aurelianth's veins quickened painfully.
"Thus, we vote."
Lioren's hand found Aurelianth's.
He squeezed it without thinking...the one thing anchoring him to this world.
The matriarch continued:
"Two choices stand before us."
She carved the air into lines of light.
Option One — Sanctuary
The word glowed softly.
Warm.
Protective.
"We keep him in Ebonecho.
We guard him.
We watch him.
We defy the Pulse together."
Several villagers nodded, hopeful.
Option Two — Exile
The word glowed cold.
Harsh.
Shadowed.
"We cast him from the village.
We sever all ties.
We deny the Pulse a doorway into our home."
More villagers nodded as fear outweighing empathy.
Aurelianth's stomach twisted.
Lioren whispered fiercely, "I'll vote for Sanctuary. You're not alone."
He managed a weak, grateful nod.
But his veins pulsed painfully...the Hollow Pulse reacting to the attention on him.
Maybe even listening.
The matriarch turned to the villagers.
"One by one, we speak our choice.
Sanctuary… or Exile."
Aurelianth felt the world tilt.
This would decide everything.
The Voting Begins
The first to step forward was Elder Vesen.
His lantern glowed warmly as he bowed his head toward Aurelianth.
"My vote is Sanctuary."
Murmurs rippled around the chamber.
Elder Therrin stepped next...staff stabbing the floor sharply.
"My vote is Exile.
The Pulse wants him.
Let the world have him."
Aurelianth's throat tightened.
Two votes.
Split.
Lioren surged forward.
"My vote is Sanctuary," she said loudly, clearly.
"He survived the Pulse's attempt.
He saved me.
He saved all of us.
You saw what he did....he stopped the Pulse."
"It wasn't intentional," Therrin sneered.
"Neither was your birth," Lioren snapped.
The room gasped.
Aurelianth nearly laughed despite himself.
Two Sanctuary.
One Exile.
Next came a hunter.
His face was carved from stone.
"My vote is Exile.
We can't protect someone the Pulse is stalking."
Two–two.
A mother stepped forward.
"My vote is Sanctuary.
My child slept through the breach for the first time in months.He said he dreamt of silver light… keeping the shadows away."
Three–two.
A fisherman stepped forward.
"My vote is Exile.
My nets tore tonight.
My boat cracked.
Bad omens follow him."
Three–three.
A ripple of tension vibrated up Aurelianth's spine.
His veins pulsed.
His runes twitched.
The Hollow Pulse whispered faintly inside him:
click… click…
No....Not now....NOT during the vote....
Lioren grabbed his hand.
His heart steadied.
Barely.
More villagers stepped forward.
A quiet woman with kelp-braided hair: "Sanctuary."
A limping hunter: "Exile."
Two siblings: "Sanctuary."
A man with trembling hands: "Exile."
Votes piled like stones.
Heavy.
Uneven.
Aurelianth could barely breathe as each word was spoken.
The basin of shadow-water rippled, reacting to every vote.
The water became a mirror of the village's fear and hope.
Finally, only the matriarch remained.
The tally stood at:
8 votes Sanctuary
8 votes Exile
A tie.
The world held its breath.
Every lantern flickered.
Every rune dimmed.
Every heart beat too loudly.
Aurelianth knew what this meant:
The matriarch held the deciding vote.
The Matriarch's Speech
The matriarch approached him slowly.
Her lantern-staff hummed with ancient moonlight.
She studied his face, his veins, the tremble in his jaw, the fear in his eyes, the warmth of Lioren's hand wrapped around his own.
"You are not the first Aurelianth," she said softly.
Aurelianth nodded slowly. "I know."
"And yet the cliffs recognized you."
He nodded again.
"And so did the Pulse."
He swallowed. "I know."
She leaned close.
"And now the village must."
Lioren tightened her grip, trembling.
The matriarch stepped back, raised her staff...
...
....
And paused.
The entire room froze.
Even the shadow-water stilled.
Aurelianth's veins pulsed in fear.
Her voice echoed:
"Aurelianth."
He lifted his head.
"You have been marked by hunger.
You have been claimed by darkness.
You have been recognized by ancient runes.
You have been rejected and desired by forces beyond us."
Her lantern flared, sending a spiral of moonlight into the air.
"I do not know what you will become."
Aurelianth held his breath.
"But I know this."
She lowered her staff.
"My village does not cast children into the sea."
Aurelianth's heart stopped.
Her voice rang like a bell of light:
"My vote is Sanctuary."
The hall erupted.
Lioren gasped and threw her arms around Aurelianth's shoulders.
He stumbled forward as relief punched his lungs. Something in his chest unknotted....
something tight, old, and terrified.
He belonged.
At least somewhere.
For now.
But the matriarch wasn't finished.
She raised her hand for silence.
The villagers quieted instantly.
"This decision binds us all," she said. "Aurelianth will remain here....protected, watched, guided."
Her eyes narrowed.
"And should the Pulse come again, we stand together."
The room vibrated with tense agreement.
Aurelianth felt something warm spread through him...not from his veins,not from his runes,not from the world.
From the villagers.
From being accepted.
From Lioren's smile trembling with relief.
The matriarch lowered her lantern-staff.
"Welcome home, Aurelianth."
The village repeated the words:
"Welcome home."
Aurelianth felt tears sting his eyes.
Home.
A word he hadn't felt since his first life.
A word he thought he'd never feel again.
But before the emotion could settle....
The shadow-water in the basin rippled violently.
The entire chamber tensed.
A single whisper rose from the water.
Not the villagers.
Not the wind.
Not the world.
"…Home."
The Hollow Pulse's voice.
It was listening.
It had heard everything.
Aurelianth's heart twisted in fear.
The matriarch slammed her staff onto the floor.
"End the meeting! Now!"
The villagers scattered.
Lioren dragged Aurelianth back into the corridor.
He looked over his shoulder at the basin....
at the faint silhouette dissolving back into the water.
The Pulse was not angry.
Not defeated.
Not deterred.
It was amused.
And its final whisper followed him out into the night:
click…
until next time.