The moment Seraphina and Kael stepped back into the open air, the sky darkened.
Not with storm clouds—
With unease.
The wards around the capital flared in delayed reaction, ripples of light racing across rooftops and spires like veins awakening beneath skin. Bells rang once. Then again.
A warning.
"They felt it," Kael said quietly.
Seraphina nodded. "So did whatever's bound to the other seals."
The council was already assembled when they arrived—faces pale, expressions stripped of authority and filled with something far more dangerous.
Fear.
"You altered the First Seal," the High Elder said, voice strained. "You were not meant to—"
"I did what you never tried," Seraphina replied calmly. "I listened."
A murmur rippled through the chamber.
"One seal was never meant to stand alone," another elder whispered. "They are a system."
Kael's eyes narrowed. "Meaning?"
The elder swallowed. "Meaning the others will respond."
As if summoned by his words, a sharp cry echoed through the chamber. A warden burst in, breathless.
"The eastern border," he said. "The mountain shrine—it's awakening."
Silence fell.
Seraphina felt it then—a tug, distant but unmistakable. Not darkness this time.
Pain.
Kael turned to her instantly. "You feel it."
"Yes," she said softly. "And it's closer than it should be."
The High Elder hesitated before speaking again. "The Second Seal is different. It feeds on loss. On sacrifice."
Seraphina's jaw tightened. "Whose?"
The elder looked at Kael.
"No," Kael said flatly.
"You cannot decide that for her," the elder replied. "The seal will demand what binds her most strongly."
The bond between them pulsed—hot, protective, defiant.
Seraphina stepped forward. "Then we don't give it what it wants."
That night, the palace was quiet—but not peaceful.
Seraphina stood alone on the balcony, the city lights flickering below like fragile stars. She sensed Kael before he reached her, his presence settling at her back.
"You're thinking of going alone," he said softly.
She didn't deny it. "If the seal feeds on sacrifice—"
"Stop," he cut in, turning her to face him. His hands framed her face, firm but gentle. "I won't be your offering."
Her voice trembled despite herself. "I won't let you be."
For a moment, the weight of destiny pressed between them—heavy, cruel, demanding choice.
Kael rested his forehead against hers. "Whatever this costs," he murmured, "we pay it together. Or not at all."
The bond flared—not violent, not wild—but resolute.
Seraphina closed her eyes, breathing him in. "Then the seals will have to learn something new."
"What?" he asked.
She opened her eyes, fire steady and bright. "That love is not a weakness… and sacrifice is not the same as surrender."
Far to the east, deep within the mountain shrine, ancient stone cracked.
And something that had been waiting for grief smiled.