The wind had changed.
Rizz stood on the edge of the cliff behind their estate. His robes rustled softly, still scorched at the edges from yesterday's fusion trial. Below him, the valley stretched wide—a forest cloaked in morning mist. The same place where he took his first steps in light magic. It felt distant now.
He hadn't spoken since the fusion orb disappeared.
His mind echoed with fragments—images not his own, memories that surfaced like dreams: a battle under a blood sky, a woman with silver eyes whispering his name, and a burning sword that refused to be held.
He didn't know what they meant.
"Still silent?" came Safa's voice, soft but firm.
Rizz nodded. "I'm trying to understand what I felt."
"It was a piece of memory not born in you," Safa said, stepping beside him. "Sometimes the Soul Seal leaks echoes—fragments of the legacy it binds to."
"Whose legacy?" he asked.
Safa looked away. "We don't know yet. But it's not just angelic or demonic. That much is clear now."
Raze approached from behind, a sealed scroll in hand. "You won't have time to rest today. A rift has opened outside the barrier zone."
Rizz turned sharply. "What kind of rift?"
"An unnatural one," Raze said, handing him the scroll. "We intercepted a burst of outworlder mana near the western skyfields. Weak—probably a scout tear—but still a threat."
"A test," Elena added, appearing near the spirit tree. "They're probing our barrier."
Rizz opened the scroll. It was a mission slip—his first official assignment under the celestial family registry. The name at the bottom was his.
Target Zone: West Skyfield Perimeter
Threat Level: Blue (Containment)
Primary Objective: Close the rift
Support: None assigned
Assigned Agent: Rizz Locus Almaus
"I'm going alone?" he asked.
Raze nodded. "You've trained for years. It's time."
"But… what if my Soul Seal reacts again? What if I lose control?"
Safa knelt in front of him, brushing a strand of hair from his face. "Then you breathe. And remember what your name carries. You are the child of balance, Rizz. This world will never be easy on you. But you are not alone."
Elena handed him a charm—an obsidian pendant shaped like a flame over a moon.
"It's linked to your blood," she said. "If your seal activates, we'll sense it immediately."
Rizz stared at the charm for a moment, then tied it around his neck.
"I'll be back before sunset," he said, voice steady.
"You'd better be," Raze muttered, though his eyes softened. "Or I'll send your Aunt after you with twice the lecture."
Safa raised an eyebrow. "I heard that."
Rizz smiled faintly and stepped back, gathering holy fire under his feet. His wings unfurled—part golden light, part deep silver shadows. They shimmered once, then lifted him into the sky.
As he vanished beyond the trees, the wind shifted again.
This time, it carried a different scent.
Aethra, far across the region in the Sanctum tower, stirred in her sleep again. Her pulse quickened, her hand tightening.
Isaac, still unaware, walked through his academy gates toward his own awakening circle.
The Soul Seal, the Fated Dream, and the Forgotten Flame—
Had all begun to move.
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