Deep below the surface, past the sealed chamber Brent and Rae had conquered, past the dying embers of the Echo Warden's remains, something stirred.
She had awakened.
Bound in silver chains spun from memory and sorrow, the figure sat upon a fractured throne made of timeworn obsidian. Veins of violet light pulsed beneath her skin—cracked like old porcelain—each beat synchronized with the First Gate's key now in Brent's possession.
And in the far shadows of her chamber, a pair of violet eyes watched.
Not hers.
His.
The Hidden Observer—who had watched Brent since his awakening—stepped into the Gate's prison, cloaked in ancient darkness.
Not even she turned to greet him.
"You shouldn't be here," she whispered, her voice like dead wind across forgotten battlefields.
But the figure only smiled.
"I was here long before the chains," he said, voice slick with timeless venom. "And I will be here long after."
Elsewhere – Vaelrick's War Room
Kalen stood silently across from his father, his new dark-etched blade resting across his shoulders. The last few weeks had turned him crueler. More calculating. Scar tissue curled across his arm—the one Brent nearly severed.
He barely spoke now.
Vaelrick, Lord Magister of the Dominion Council, circled the black crystal at the center of the war room—a crystal synchronized to the Gate.
"Are the bonds reacting?" he asked.
Kalen nodded. "Their link has reached second-stage resonance. The system reports full Dual Core activation."
Vaelrick sneered. "Perfect."
He placed his palm on the crystal. It pulsed in reply.
"I must thank your friend Brent," he said mockingly. "He's done what no darkcaller could for centuries—awakened Her connection to the Soul Plane again."
Kalen didn't respond. But his hand tightened on the blade.
"He's too strong," Kalen said. "If the Gate's power fuses with his Soul Core…"
"Then we bait him in. Let the system mold him. Until it becomes his prison."
Vaelrick's smile spread like rot.
"We've already installed the Echo Shards. Once the Second Gate opens, the resonance between them will start bleeding into the Soul Bond. And once they cross the Fifth…"
He looked toward Kalen, eyes cold.
"She will no longer be Rae. And Brent… will no longer be Brent."
Back at the Academy – The Days Tick Down
Brent stood at the edge of the upper balcony, watching the moon rise. Rae leaned on the railing beside him.
"You ever feel like someone's watching you?" she asked softly.
"All the time," he replied.
But this time, it was different. More than paranoia. The System's notifications had gone quiet, as if something bigger than it had taken control of the path ahead.
The key to the First Gate hung around Brent's neck, warm to the touch, pulsing in time with Rae's aura.
System Alert – Anomaly Detected
Origin: Unknown. Source: The Bond.
Suppression Trigger: Primoris Core Signature Interference
Warning: System is not alone.
He didn't tell Rae.
Not yet.
Because deep in his chest, beneath the glow of the lightborn core he'd cultivated through suffering and trial, a flicker of something else began to rise.
Shadow.
Not his.
Not Rae's.
But someone… tethered to the other side of the Bond.
And as they both slept that night, for just a moment, their dreams twisted—
—and She opened her eyes in both of their minds and whispered:
"I remember you now."
"We were bound once, too."
"But this time… I will not break."