Far from the healing light of the Pillars, in the shifting gloom beyond the Cursed Zone, Kandiaru watched the world's tremors with eyes that saw more than mortal sight. Within his sanctum—a cathedral of broken mirrors and pulsing voidstone—he traced the lines of fate, threads of power snaking through shadow and silence.
The Sundering Hand gathered below, each lost and loyal in their own fashion. Veyrith the Shattered knelt before a map of the Pillars, her fractured Soul Eye burning with visions. Solenn Ashwing drifted between columns of wind and glass, silent as rumor. Caelum Voss stood apart, restless, the heat of his forge-fire rage barely contained. Maris Lune lounged by a basin of black water, her gaze distant and calculating.
Kandiaru raised a gloved hand, and the voidstone altar pulsed, casting silhouettes that writhed and merged. "The world heals," he intoned, "but not for long. The twins have begun to awaken. The Pillar Birds stir."
Veyrith looked up, voice like grinding stone. "The fractures mended themselves last night. The Spire's wounds are closing."
Solenn's laughter was a knife in the air. "Even the winds taste different. Hope is a disease."
Caelum slammed a fist into his open palm. "Let me break the Spire again. Let them see what chaos truly means."
Kandiaru silenced them with a gesture. "Not yet. The twins' bond is strong, but raw. Unshaped. The world's wounds are theirs. If we twist the soul, we twist the Pillars."
He turned to Maris, whose eyes shimmered with echoing tides. "The girl is more dangerous than you think. Watch her. Sift her dreams."
Maris smiled, a curl of mist and malice. "She already dreams of us. The Cursed Zone calls to her."
Kandiaru stepped to the window, staring into the roiling horizon. "We wait. We watch. And when the bond is tested, we will strike—not at the world, but at the heart."
The Sundering Hand bowed as one, their shadows stretching long and thin across the cold stone floor. Beyond the sanctum, the Cursed Zone pulsed hungrily, as if sensing the promise of fracture renewed.
In the coming days, storms would gather, illusions would spread, and the twins would learn that healing is never without cost. The Architect's gaze lingered on the map, marking the twin stars—Kaelen and Lysera.
He whispered, "Let them heal. All the better for when they break."