---
The flames had been put out.
The dead were counted.
The wounded groaned softly, scattered across makeshift bedding under the pale moonlight.
Kael sat at the edge of the camp, blood still drying on his torn sleeve, shadows quietly rippling beneath his skin.
Lyra approached him in silence.
---
"Riven's stabilizing the perimeter," she said, dropping to her knees beside him. "We lost four. Two more won't see sunrise."
Kael didn't respond.
He didn't even look at her.
His gaze was fixed on the distant smoke curling into the stars.
---
> "I knew her."
Lyra paused. "The assassin?"
He nodded.
> "We trained together in the Obsidian Order. She was… better than me, back then. Smarter. Colder."
> "She was loyal."
He exhaled.
> "And now she's a weapon aimed at everything I care about."
---
Lyra didn't speak for a while. Then, softly:
> "That's what Aserion does, doesn't he? Turns loyalty into chains."
Kael flinched. He hadn't expected that much clarity from her.
She continued, more carefully.
> "You didn't just fight her tonight. You fought the man who made her what she is."
---
Kael looked down at his hands. Blood crusted beneath his nails.
His system pinged gently in the back of his mind.
> [Shadow System Notification]
Emotional Anchor Deepening: Lyra Ellenthall
Bond Status: Level 2 → Level 3
Passive Unlocked: Empathic Pulse
Description: You sense her emotions as if they were your own. She, too, begins to sense yours.
---
Lyra's fingers brushed his wrist, tentative, soft.
He didn't pull away.
> "You need to rest," she said. "You're still bleeding."
> "I can handle—"
> "Kael."
He finally met her eyes.
> "Let me help. Just… this once."
---
They moved to a quieter tent — her space — lit only by a lantern and the faint glow of her magic.
Kael sat while Lyra knelt beside him, gently unwrapping his bandages. Her hands trembled slightly, but her voice was steady.
> "Why didn't you dodge that last blow?"
> "Because she aimed at you."
She froze.
Then pressed a warm cloth to his wound a little too hard.
---
> "You're reckless," she muttered.
> "And you're stubborn."
> "I had it under control."
> "You were standing in open fire range."
> "I had a shield spell ready."
> "Your pulse said otherwise."
She looked up, scowling.
> "You checked my pulse?"
> "I felt it."
---
They stared at each other — shadows dancing behind them, light pooling between them.
For a moment, the silence carried more weight than any words.
Then Kael murmured,
> "This bond thing… it's dangerous."
> "So are you."
She didn't say it as a threat. More like a fact. A confession.
---
> "What happens now?" she asked, quieter.
> "We prepare. There'll be more like her. Aserion won't let this go unanswered."
> "And us?"
Kael paused.
The system offered no guidance. No metrics. Just a heartbeat that wasn't his.
> "We survive," he said. "Together."
---
A long moment passed.
Then Lyra leaned forward, pressing her forehead against his.
> "You're not alone, Kael. Not anymore."
And in that soft whisper, wrapped in firelight and shadow, Kael realized something terrifying.
He believed her.
---