The path Lira chose was narrow and uneven, winding between low hills and broken stone.
No old road marked it.
Yet it felt right.
Sera walked beside Lira, quieter than before.
"How do you know?" she asked at last.
"Which way to go?"
Lira thought for a moment.
"I don't always," she admitted.
"But sometimes… the bond tightens in a certain direction."
Kael felt it too.
Like a pull that isn't urgent, his intent added. Just patient.
The Seer nodded.
"That's alignment," he said.
"Not command."
By midday, they reached a shallow valley.
Wind moved through tall grass, whispering softly.
Then Lira stopped.
Her breath caught.
"Here," she said.
Kael felt it instantly.
Pain.
Suppressed.
Someone hiding it.
They followed the feeling to a collapsed stone hut.
Inside, a man sat against the wall, clutching his arm.
Blood soaked the cloth wrapped around it.
When he saw them, he reached for a knife weakly.
"Don't—"
Lira knelt in front of him immediately.
"We're not Empire," she said.
"You're safe."
He stared at her then at Kael.
Something shifted in his expression.
"…You're bonded," he whispered.
Kael nodded once.
The man let the knife fall.
"They took my partner," he said hoarsely.
"Three days ago."
The words hit hard.
Lira felt grief surge through the bond.
She reached out, light flowing gently—not to heal the wound fully, but to ease the pain.
"We can't undo that," she said softly.
"But you don't have to carry it alone."
The man laughed weakly.
"That's what she used to say."
Silence followed.
Then—
something subtle happened.
The bond between Kael and Lira shifted.
Not outward.
Inward.
Lira felt it clearly.
"We can leave something," she said quietly.
The Seer looked at her.
"What kind of thing?"
"Not a promise," Lira replied.
"A signal."
Kael felt her intent and understood.
They didn't speak further.
Lira pressed her hand to the stone wall.
Kael placed his hand over hers.
They focused not on power, but presence.
Calm.
Connection.
Memory.
When they pulled away, nothing looked different.
But the man felt it.
His breathing steadied.
His eyes softened.
"What did you do?" he whispered.
Lira smiled faintly.
"We reminded this place," she said,
"that you mattered to someone."
They left him supplies and directions to Grayhaven.
As they walked away, Sera looked back.
"That wasn't magic," she said.
Kael's intent answered—
It was message.
And far away, another bonded pair felt it.
Not words.
Not light.
Just the knowledge—
Someone had passed here.
Someone who understood.
The heir's network of watchers did not detect it.
Because it wasn't an act.
It was a trace.
And traces.
Once enough exist.
Become impossible to erase.