The sky above Soryu is the color of forged steel.
Smoke from the western campaign still drifts across the plains, a dark reminder that peace is only a word the Council uses between wars.
Teinshi rides through the citadel gates with his legion at his back. Every banner droops, scorched at the edges. He should feel victorious; the humans held the line. Instead, he feels hollow. The memory of that light—the silver and gold flare when his wolf met the orc's lion—still burns behind his eyes.
The guards salute him. He answers automatically, dismounts, and walks the long marble corridor to the Council chamber. His boots echo. Each step feels heavier than armor.
Inside, the chamber glows with runes of authority. His father, Lord Isen Raen, stands at the center surrounded by other commanders. They all turn as Teinshi enters.
"You return alive," Isen says. "Good. Explain what happened in the valley."
Teinshi meets his father's gaze. "There was… interference. When our beasts engaged the Bloodfang line, something reacted. A pulse of power I couldn't control."
One of the elders leans forward. "Magic from the orc shamans, perhaps?"
Teinshi shakes his head. "No spell I know could twist energy like that. It felt… familiar."
He hesitates. "Almost as if the beasts themselves knew each other."
A murmur spreads through the room.
Isen's eyes narrow. "Do not romanticize battle. Beasts don't know anything beyond command."
Teinshi bows his head, but his thoughts rebel. Aegra knew. I felt her heart race the same way mine did.
"Dismissed," Isen says finally. "See to your beasts. And remember—the Rule exists for a reason."
The corridors outside the chamber are quiet except for the sound of rain against the glass domes. Teinshi stops at the stables where the spirit beasts rest. Aegra lifts her head as he enters, silver fur damp with residual energy. Kaen perches above, wings folded, eyes bright as coins.
When Teinshi touches Aegra's muzzle, a surge of cold runs up his arm. Her spirit is restless. Lightning crackles faintly across her pelt.
"You felt it too," he whispers. "That fire—do you know what it was?"
The wolf gives a low whine, ears flattening. The runes around her enclosure flicker, dimming for a heartbeat before brightening again.
From the shadows behind him, a voice says,
"You're attracting the storm again."
Lady Myria steps forward, her expression drawn. "I felt the energy from the valley even here. You awakened something, didn't you?"
He hesitates, then nods. "I think the legend you told me—the Raen who broke the Rule—it's not just a story."
His mother studies him in silence. "Then pray you have the strength he lacked. Because if that power stirs again, the Council will destroy you before the gods ever need to."
That night, Teinshi cannot sleep. The rain turns to mist against the window. He sits cross-legged in meditation, drawing the two beast sigils on his arms into focus. But behind them, another shape flickers—faint, incomplete, waiting.
A whisper brushes his thoughts, soft as moonlight:
Teinshi…
He opens his eyes. The room is empty, yet silver light spills across the floor as though reflected from a moon that isn't there. The sigil on his chest burns faintly.
Somewhere, far beyond the citadel, another soul stirs at the same instant.