The next morning, the Academy's halls smelled of polished stone and the faint tang of Rift energy. Sunlight sliced through the tall windows, catching motes of dust that drifted lazily in the golden beams. The usual hum of student chatter echoed off the walls, but Ren felt… off.
His hands flexed at his sides. The warmth from yesterday's healing still pulsed faintly beneath his skin, like a heartbeat that wasn't his own. He forced himself to breathe steadily. Focus. Normal.
He wasn't normal.
At the entrance to the main training yard, Lucien was already there. Hands clasped behind his back, public Lucien flawless and unbothered. Students paused mid-step, their gazes sliding toward him as though he were a sun around which they orbited.
Ren ducked slightly behind a pillar. Every day, the same pull.
Lucien's gaze swept across the yard, and for a fraction of a second, his eyes flicked to Ren. Storm-gray, unreadable, and yet… there it was again. That subtle recognition, that tiny thread of darkness brushing against something inside Ren.
Ren muttered under his breath, a smirk tugging at his lips despite the tension: "If you wanted to see me, you could've just asked."
Lucien didn't respond—public Lucien never did—but the shadows at his feet shivered faintly, as though acknowledging Ren's voice alone.
The morning drills began. Students split into pairs, elemental displays lighting the courtyard: kinetic blasts, fire arcs, shadow strikes. The clang of combat echoed against stone walls. Ren hung back, observing.
It was supposed to be normal. Routine. Safe.
But routine had a way of breaking.
A tremor shook the yard. Subtle at first. Students faltered, balancing mid-step. Then came the howl—a low, guttural sound that didn't belong to any human throat. The Riftlight overhead pulsed violently, streaks of violet cracking the sky like lightning trapped in crystal.
A Riftbeast appeared, bursting through the barrier between dimensions—a massive, sinewy thing with eyes black as tar and claws long enough to pierce stone. Its body seemed stitched from shadows and sinew, dripping a silver-black ichor onto the training mats.
Students screamed. Screamed and scattered. Teachers barked orders. Combat magic flared as a few advanced trainees tried to engage, only to be flung backward by the sheer force of the Riftbeast's presence.
Ren froze.
Instinct screamed at him: move, hide, survive. But something deeper whispered: This is why you exist.
Lucien was already moving. Shadows coiled around him like living armor. Eidros flickered at his back, ready, coiled, hungry. He didn't shout orders—he didn't need to. Students seemed to fall away, leaving only him and Ren.
Ren's pulse spiked. It's him. Again. Always him.
Lucien's storm-gray eyes found Ren's across the chaos. Not angry, not alarmed, just… aware. A tilt of his head, almost imperceptible, said: You're ready.
Ren swallowed. He wasn't ready. Not really. But he couldn't ignore the tug under his ribs, the thread of power that had pulsed yesterday.
The Riftbeast lunged at a group of panicked students. Ren stepped forward.
"Wait!" Ilya shouted, but the words were lost in the shriek of tearing metal and shattering stone.
Ren's hand found the air, and the warmth surged—subtle at first, threading into the nearest wounded trainee's chest, knitting torn muscle. Then stronger, flowing outward like fire beneath his skin, searching, mending.
The Riftbeast paused, hissing, eyes narrowing. Shadows danced at its feet, reacting to the warmth that shouldn't exist.
Ren's chest burned. His legs trembled. But he couldn't stop. Not now.
From the corner of his vision, Lucien moved. Shadows erupted from the ground, striking with precise, terrifying force. The Riftbeast screamed, twisted, and lunged toward Ren—but Lucien was there. Shadows wrapped around the creature like chains, striking it with Eidros' power.
Ren's fingers brushed the torn stone beneath him, and instinct took over. Healing, mending, shaping. Pain surged through him, sharp, sweet, dangerous. He gasped.
"You're stronger than you realize," Lucien's voice cut through the chaos, low, controlled, almost private though the Riftbeast bore down on them.
Ren's breath hitched. He let a tiny, almost teasing smirk slip, muttering just loud enough for Lucien to hear: "And what are you? My bodyguard again?"
Lucien's storm-gray eyes flicked toward him, shadows twitching like a faint grin beneath control. Nothing else. Not a word. Just a pull of the shadows, closer, protective.
Ren's chest tightened. He couldn't help the flush. The heat. The bond.
The Riftbeast recoiled, hissing, overpowered by the unnatural synergy between Ren and Lucien. With a final coordinated strike—Ren's healing pulse blinding, Lucien's shadows sharp—the creature dissolved into Riftmist. The courtyard fell silent.
Students gawked. Teachers ran forward, awe and fear in equal measure. And Ren… he staggered back, hands trembling, sweat and Rift energy prickling his skin.
Lucien stepped closer, calm again, shadows receding like water. Public Lucien. Cordial. Polished. Untouchable. And yet… Ren could feel it. The private edge beneath it. The thread pulling him closer, whispering what words never could.
"You did well," Lucien said quietly, almost to himself. Almost just for Ren.
Ren swallowed hard. "I… did what had to be done."
Lucien's gaze softened slightly—just enough to unnerve him. "And yet… you're only beginning."
Ren's pulse thundered. He forced his hands into his pockets. "You'll have to explain that later," he said, letting a teasing edge creep in. "Preferably when we're alone. Not… in front of half the academy."
Lucien's mouth twitched. A flicker. Gone. "We'll see," he said simply. Calm, controlled, unreadable. And with that, he turned, shadows sliding at his heels, disappearing into the courtyard's fading light.
Ren watched him go, heart hammering, chest aching, and the bond under his skin thrumming in perfect, terrifying rhythm.