Lucien did not waste time.
The world had a way of charging interest on delays.
He turned first to Vaelcar.
"Then brother, please consolidate yourself," Lucien said evenly. "You were bound for millennia. Your strength exists, but it has not yet settled into this era."
Vaelcar inclined his head.
"You speak correctly," the Cataclysm Wyrm replied. "Power unused becomes rigid. I will temper it before stone tests me."
He moved away from the others and sat upon the fractured land, one palm pressed against the ground.
The Law of Seals stirred.
Invisible runes spread beneath him like a buried script, arresting fault lines, steadying fractures, and forcing the land itself to remember what it was.
Vaelcar breathed.
The seals deepened.
Astraea watched him once, then turned away.
Her own preparation awaited.
She stepped into the open sky and unfurled her wings.
The Tempest Crown responded immediately.
Storm did not explode outward this time.
It folded inward.
