Sleep did not come easily that night.
Every time I closed my eyes, the bond stirred—restless, alert, humming beneath my skin like it was waiting for something. Or someone. Lyris's presence still clung to the edges of my senses, a cold residue that refused to fade.
I lay awake, staring at the ceiling, counting breaths.
In. Out.
The bond pulsed.
Not chaotic. Not painful.
Focused.
Astraea's voice slipped into my thoughts, low and deliberate. She has confirmed what she feared.
I frowned. What is that?
That the bond is no longer reactive, she replied. It is adaptive.
That didn't sound comforting.
Before I could ask more, a sharp spike rippled through the bond—Kael. Fear. Not panic, but urgency. I was on my feet before I consciously decided to move, pulling on boots and slipping out into the night.
The compound was quiet, moonlight washing stone and steel in pale silver. I followed the bond's pull to the eastern training grounds, where Kael stood alone in the center of the ring, hands braced on his knees, breathing hard.
"Kael," I called softly.
He looked up, eyes wide. "It won't stop."
I approached slowly. "What won't?"
"The bond," he said hoarsely. "It's not hurting, but it's… pushing. Like it wants something from me."
I felt it too now—a pressure, not external but internal, urging without commanding.
Before I could respond, two familiar presences joined us.
Riven emerged from the shadows, expression tight. "I felt it."
Solen followed, calm but alert. "So did I."
The four of us stood there under the moon, the bond tightening—not violently, but insistently—threading between us with a clarity that made my chest ache.
Astraea stirred. It seeks alignment.
Riven frowned. "That doesn't sound optional."
"It isn't," Solen said quietly. "The bond isn't reacting to threat. It's correcting imbalance."
Kael swallowed. "Meaning?"
"Meaning," I said slowly, understanding dawning, "we're still holding back."
Riven's jaw clenched. "From what?"
"From each other."
Silence fell.
The bond pulsed—stronger.
Kael looked between us, voice unsteady. "I'm tired of being afraid of what this makes me."
Something in his words cracked open inside me.
I stepped into the circle, heart pounding. "Then stop running from it."
Riven scoffed softly. "Easy for you to say."
I met his gaze. "Is it?"
The bond flared—not sharp, but bright.
Solen inhaled deeply. "She's right. We're treating the bond like a battlefield instead of a foundation."
Riven hesitated, then stepped forward. "And if we give it what it wants?"
Astraea answered before I could. Then it will give back.
Kael straightened slowly. "What do we do?"
I closed my eyes. "We open it. Fully. No walls."
Riven cursed under his breath, but he didn't step away.
One by one, we moved closer, forming a tight circle. The bond surged, threads weaving tighter, deeper. Emotions flooded freely—raw, unfiltered.
Kael's guilt crashed into me like a wave. Riven's fear of losing control burned hot and sharp. Solen's quiet terror of failing us all pressed down with suffocating weight.
And they felt me.
My loneliness. My anger. My longing to be chosen without destiny forcing it.
I gasped, knees weakening.
Riven caught me instinctively, steadying me. "This is too much."
"No," I whispered. "This is honesty."
The bond snapped into place.
Not painfully.
Powerfully.
A surge rippled outward, rattling the air itself. The ground beneath our feet vibrated softly, like the earth was responding.
Kael cried out—not in pain, but shock. "I can feel—"
"Us," Solen finished, eyes wide. "All of us. At once."
The bond was no longer four separate currents. It was one.
Unified.
Astraea's voice was reverent. This has not happened in generations.
Riven's breathing slowed, his usual tension melting into something fierce and focused. "She can't control this."
"No," I said, heart racing. "But she'll try to destroy it."
The bond hummed in agreement.
Suddenly, a sharp crack echoed through the night—power flaring at the compound's edge. Alarms blared, cutting through the stillness.
Solen turned sharply. "That wasn't Lyris."
Riven's eyes darkened. "Then someone else felt it."
Kael clenched his fists, resolve hardening. "So this is it. No more hiding."
I straightened, the bond steady and strong within me. "Whatever's coming," I said quietly, "we face it together."
The bond pulsed—unyielding.
And somewhere in the distance, something answered.