The Conclave didn't wait.
By dawn, the Iron Wardens were in the streets — black-armored enforcers whose resonance wasn't tied to the Spire. They moved in unison, a silent tide sweeping through Starlight City with sigil cannons strapped to their backs and nets made from raw white-thread. Their only command: cut the nexus rogue out by any means necessary.
From the rooftop of a derelict tower, Arielle watched them spread. The hum in her chest was steady, calm, but she could feel the threads in the streets quivering at the Wardens' presence. The weave itself knew they weren't part of it anymore.
Selene crouched beside her, their glow dim but sharp. "You can't fight them head-on. Not yet. Their weapons are tuned to raw anchors — they'll rip the tether right out of you if they catch you."
Draven stood at the roof's edge, violet constructs circling lazily around his wrist like restless serpents. "She doesn't need to fight them head-on. She has the city now. The streets. The threads they don't control anymore. All she has to do is move."
The hum inside Arielle shifted — not louder, but present. Like the city itself was waiting for her to give it a direction. For the first time since she claimed the tether, she realized she wasn't just feeling its pulse. She could push back.
She closed her eyes, exhaling slowly, and reached inward. The threads beneath the streets answered like muscles she hadn't known she owned.
When she opened her eyes, the ground two blocks away cracked like glass, a burst of violet-silver light swallowing a squad of Wardens whole as the street itself folded and reformed around them, cutting off their advance.
Selene stared. "You… moved the street."
Arielle's voice was steady, though her hands trembled. "I didn't. The city did. I just told it how."
The Wardens regrouped, but they weren't prepared for a city that no longer followed their design. Streets rippled. Wards they'd once relied on turned against them, flashing wild resonance that sent their sigil cannons into feedback bursts. For every block they claimed, two more shifted beneath their boots.
Draven watched the chaos below, his grin sharp but thin. "They'll adapt. The Conclave always does. But for now, you've bought yourself a few hours."
Selene turned to Arielle, their silver glow flickering with something beyond exhaustion — worry. "Hours aren't enough. They won't just send Wardens. They'll send a Severer next. Someone who can cut you from the tether entirely, city or not."
The hum in Arielle's chest deepened, vibrating in her ribs like a warning. She didn't know what a Severer was, but the pulse in her bones told her one was already on the way.
And the city, for the first time, shivered beneath her feet.