"You okay?" Mira asked as they passed through the village gate, her voice softer now.
Karl didn't answer at first. His thoughts were still in the trees… with the eyes that had met his. With the frostlight. With that howl.
"I'm not sure," he admitted.
"But I don't think that was the last time I'll see it."
The village was half-asleep. A few Elders murmured on the temple steps, and someone was sweeping the stone path in silence — but even the birds had gone quiet.
Asterwall felt… still.
Too still.
Mira elbowed him lightly.
"Hey, if anything else howls tonight, I'm shoving you toward it and running."
Karl gave a half-smile.
"You'd sacrifice me?"
"Without hesitation."
As they neared the old well, Karl's step slowed.
He stared at it.
"This used to be in use, right?"
"Ages ago," Mira replied. "Dried up. Elders said it wasn't safe anymore."
Karl stepped toward it, eyes narrowing.
The wind stirred again — only here, only now — brushing dust from an old stone set into the base of the well.
Faint, but readable:
"Here they sealed the first bond."
He ran his fingers over the etching.
First bond?
Suddenly, the mark on his chest gave a single, hard throb.
"Karl?" Mira asked, her voice distant.
He didn't answer.
Because something beneath that well… had pulsed back.
High above them, from the rooftops, a pair of eyes watched silently.
The figure reached into their cloak, revealing a shard of crystal glowing softly in sync with Karl's mark.
"It's begun."