Sera's POV
I woke up in a prison cell.
Not the stable yard where Kazuki had collapsed. Not a hospital where they'd treat my injuries. A cold stone cell with iron bars and the smell of mold thick enough to choke on.
My ribs screamed as I sat up. Blood crusted my face from where Elena had struck me. But none of that mattered because Kazuki wasn't in my arms.
"KAZUKI!" I lunged at the bars, ignoring the pain. "Where's my tiger? What did you do with him?"
"Relax, Whitstone." A guard appeared, his face bored. "Your beast is in the cell next door. Both of you are being held for questioning about the griffin incident."
Questioning? Rage flooded through me, hot and wild. "That griffin went berserk and attacked us! We're the victims!"
"That's not what Lady Elena says." The guard's smirk made me want to claw his eyes out. "She claims you sabotaged the beast to make her look bad. Attempted murder of a noble carries a death sentence."
The world tilted. Elena was framing me for her own near-death? Of course she was. She'd always been good at making herself the victim.
"That's a lie!" I grabbed the bars so hard my knuckles went white. "The griffin had a corrupted mark on its neck! Something was controlling it!"
"Funny. The beast's neck was examined. No mark found." The guard turned away. "You'll stay here until the magistrate arrives tomorrow. Pray he believes your story over a noble's word."
He left me alone in the darkness.
I collapsed against the wall, fighting back tears. This was it. They'd execute me for a crime I didn't commit, and Kazuki would be sold off to whoever bid highest. Everything we'd survived—the betrayal, the poverty, the corrupted griffin attack—it was all for nothing.
No. A familiar presence pushed through our bond, weak but determined. Not nothing. We're alive. Still fighting.
"Kazuki?" I pressed against the wall separating our cells. "Are you okay?"
Hurts. But I'm here.
Relief hit me so hard I nearly sobbed. He was alive. We were both alive. That had to count for something.
"I'm getting us out of here," I whispered. "I don't know how, but I will. I promise."
I know. You always keep your promises.
His faith in me was a knife to the heart. What had I done to deserve this tiger's loyalty? I'd given him nothing but danger and suffering since we bonded.
Hours crawled past. No food, no water, no word from anyone. My body ached everywhere. The wound on my cheek throbbed with each heartbeat. But worse than physical pain was the fear gnawing at my gut. Tomorrow, they'd take Kazuki from me. Tomorrow, I'd die alone just like Father always said I deserved.
Stop that, Kazuki's thought cut through my spiral. You're not dying. And I'm not leaving you. Ever.
"You can't promise that."
Watch me.
Something in his tone made me pause. Through our bond, I felt him doing something strange—moving energy in patterns that beasts shouldn't understand. The flow was clumsy, painful, but deliberate.
Then I saw it.
Silver light seeped through the crack under the wall between our cells. Not the golden glow of normal beast energy. Not the red flames of Elena's phoenix. Silver, like starlight made solid.
"Kazuki," I breathed. "What are you doing?"
The light grew brighter. I heard metal groaning—his cell door bending under invisible pressure. But that was impossible. Kazuki was barely a week old and common-ranked. He shouldn't have any elemental energy at all. Beasts needed to absorb power from their tamers first, needed months of training before they could generate their own energy.
Yet silver flames now danced around my tiny tiger's paws as he squeezed through the warping bars of his cell.
He padded to my door, those intelligent eyes meeting mine. Then he placed one glowing paw against the lock.
The metal melted.
My cell door swung open with a soft creak.
I stared at Kazuki, my mind refusing to process what I'd just seen. "That's... you can't... common beasts don't..."
He rubbed against my leg, purring softly. The silver light faded, leaving just my small white tiger cub looking exhausted but proud of himself.
"What ARE you?" The question came out as a whisper.
Kazuki couldn't answer with words, but through our bond, I felt his message clearly: Does it matter? I'm yours. That's all that counts.
He was right. I didn't care if he was common or rare or something else entirely. He was my partner, my friend, the only one who'd never betrayed me.
But someone else would care. If anyone discovered Kazuki had this kind of power...
"We can never tell anyone about this," I said firmly, scooping him into my arms. "Not the guards, not the magistrate, not anyone. If word gets out that you're special, every noble house will try to steal you from me."
I know. Our secret.
I heard footsteps approaching—guards making their rounds. We had minutes, maybe seconds before they discovered the escape.
"Can you do that melting trick again?" I asked.
Kazuki's exhaustion rippled through our bond. Maybe once more. Then I'm done.
"That's all we need."
We ran through the prison, Kazuki melting locks as we went. Other prisoners called out, begging for freedom, but I couldn't risk it. Every second counted.
We burst into the night air just as alarm bells started ringing. My heart hammered as we sprinted into the slum's maze of alleys. Behind us, shouts and running feet echoed off stone walls.
"There! The Whitstone girl!"
"Don't let her escape!"
We ducked into a narrow passage, my lungs burning. Kazuki was getting heavier in my arms—the energy use had drained him completely. We needed somewhere to hide, somewhere safe, somewhere...
A hand grabbed my shoulder.
I spun, ready to fight with my bare hands if needed. But instead of a guard, I found myself staring at Master Fenton. The old tamer stood in the shadows, his expression grave.
"I've been looking for you," he said quietly. "Follow me. Quickly."
"Why should I trust you?" I clutched Kazuki tighter.
"Because I know what your tiger really is." Fenton's eyes locked onto Kazuki, and I saw recognition there. Not surprise. Recognition. "And because the Shadow Court is three blocks away, closing in fast. You have ten seconds to decide: come with me and live, or run and die."
The sound of boots pounding pavement grew louder.
"Five seconds, girl."
Kazuki stirred in my arms. Through our bond, I felt his instinct screaming danger—but also a strange pull toward this old man, like recognizing someone from a half-remembered dream.
"Two seconds."
I made my choice.
"Let's go."
We followed Fenton into the darkness, and behind us, I heard the Shadow Court guards reach the alley we'd just abandoned. Their frustrated shouts faded as Fenton led us through a hidden door in the wall—a door I'd walked past a hundred times without seeing.
The door slammed shut behind us. Fenton locked it with seven different magical seals, each one glowing a different color.
"Now then," he said, turning to face us with an expression I couldn't read. "Let's discuss why the seventh Fusion has finally appeared after a thousand years, and why every dark power on this continent will kill thousands to possess him."
Kazuki's eyes went wide. I felt his shock mirror my own.
How does he know?