Silence followed.
Not emptiness.
Stillness earned.
The Veilfire faded, leaving only a faint shimmer on the chamber walls. Kael collapsed to one knee, sweat beading across his brow. Elira knelt beside him, pressing her forehead to his.
"They did it," she whispered.
Kael looked at the twins, Nyra's silver eyes still glowing faintly, Riven's fingers curled in unconscious focus.
"They're not just powerful," he said. "They're aligned."
The chamber pulsed once. Not in warning. In acknowledgment.
The crack in the floor sealed slowly, as if the realm had exhaled.
Elira cradled the twins. "They'll come again."
Kael nodded. "Then we'll be ready."
They sat in the fading glow together, the memory of battle still humming in the air.
Above them, the mist thinned.
A breeze, real, cool, slipped through the spiral path leading up.
And with it, voices.
Not intruders.
Not threats.
Others.
Approaching.
Drawn by the shift.
By the Veilfire.
By the twins.
Kael rose, breath steady. "We're not alone anymore."
Elira didn't answer.
She was already listening.