The moment Serel said Kael's name, Aria felt the air tighten.
Her fingers instinctively brushed her wrist—the mark was glowing again, faintly, like it could hear his name.
> "You know Kael?" Aria asked slowly, her voice careful.
Serel tilted her head. "Of course. Everyone in the Umbra House knows Kael Azrael."
The others in the circle murmured. One of them chuckled darkly.
> "He's the cursed one. The last-born of the Azrael bloodline. A weapon waiting to wake."
Aria stepped forward. "He's not a weapon."
Serel raised an eyebrow. "No? Then tell me why your bond has awakened a dormant glyph that hasn't lit up in centuries."
With a flick of her hand, a floating rune appeared in the air—twisting, dark, ancient.
Aria's pulse raced. It was the same sigil she saw in the mirror shard after her Reflection: Kael's crest… but layered with something older.
"Your soulbond has reactivated a forgotten blood rite," Serel said. "Which means something has been triggered. A sequence."
"A… what?"
"A magical pattern encoded into fate itself. You and Kael are now part of it. Whether you like it or not."
Aria stared at the floating rune, her voice barely a whisper.
> "What happens if the sequence completes?"
One of the cloaked members replied, "The Veil breaks."
"The what?"
Serel's gaze sharpened. "The Veil that keeps the Eclipsed Realm sealed away."
Aria's mind reeled. She'd heard whispers of the Eclipsed Realm in dark corners of the library. A prison dimension for gods, fallen bondmasters, and things not meant to be named.
> "This bond... is more than just a connection," Serel said. "It's a key."
Aria shook her head. "Kael doesn't know. He can't know—"
A voice spoke behind her.
> "I know."
She froze.
Slowly, she turned.
Kael stood just beyond the circle, his eyes shadowed, jaw tight, black glyphs glowing along his forearm like smoldering scars.
"Kael—" she began.
"I've known for a while," he said, walking forward. "But I didn't tell you because I wanted to protect you."
The room tensed. Even Serel took a step back.
The magic in the air pulsed, growing heavier. Kael's power responded to his emotions now. To her.
> "She deserves to know the truth," Kael said, eyes locked on Serel. "You don't speak for the bond. I do."
With a wave of his hand, the floating rune shattered like glass.
Gasps echoed.
Kael looked at Aria, and for the first time, his voice trembled.
> "There's something inside me, Aria. Something... older than me. The reason I was marked. The reason I'm dangerous. And I think it's waking up."
Aria stepped toward him, slowly, unsure if she should run or hold him.
> "Then we wake it together," she said.
The bond between them surged—blazing silver light coiling around their arms, their magic drawn to each other like two stars about to collide.
Behind them, Serel's voice was low, but urgent.
> "If the Eclipsed Realm opens... there will be war."
Kael didn't look away from Aria.
> "Then let it come."
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