The wind had changed.
Karl stood near the council hall steps, the last rays of daylight streaking the stone walls with molten orange. The mark on his chest was quiet now… but the world around him wasn't.
A ripple moved through the earth — faint, but real.
Like something ancient had exhaled.
Then it happened.
A pulse of blue light flared from the training grounds below the village.
Screams.
Not of fear — but awe.
Karl turned just in time to see a blur streak through the trees, followed by the sound of something massive landing.
Dust spiraled upward. Magic hummed in the air like a struck chord.
A figure stepped forward, cloaked in silver and midnight.
Behind her walked something impossible — a beast made of curved horns and starlight fur, four-legged, taller than a horse, eyes glowing with swirling runes.
The crowd pulled back instinctively.
Karl's breath caught.
"What is that?" he whispered.
Fen, who had appeared beside him unnoticed, answered quietly.
"A Soulbind."
The woman spoke, her voice calm but firm.
"The shrine's pulse reached the clans. The Elders summoned me."
She looked directly at Karl.
"So. You're the one who stirred the Veil."
The beast at her side exhaled — and the mist from its breath shimmered like fractured moonlight.
Karl couldn't look away.
The mark on his chest responded again — not pain this time. Recognition.
Mira leaned toward him and muttered, "Okay, what is happening right now?"
Karl didn't answer.
Because he didn't know.
But the sight of that creature — living, ancient, bound to its wielder by something deeper than magic — stirred something inside him.
And for the first time… he wanted to understand.