The next morning, Elias woke with the rhythm still thrumming beneath his ribs. It wasn't loud—just a quiet vibration in his breath, a strange weight behind each heartbeat. He stared at the ceiling, half-expecting the world to look different.
But the walls were the same off-white. The fan still clicked on the third rotation. The window still showed the same cracked skyline and grey clouds.
Only he had changed.
He dressed slowly, layered against the wind, and left without breakfast. His mother was still asleep, her shift running late into dawn. He didn't wake her. There were no words for what he needed to say.
At the edge of the old park, Jamie was already waiting.
He sat on the fountain's rim, legs crossed, sketchbook open in his lap. He didn't look up when Elias approached, just pointed at the page.
Three figures stood at the edge of a fog-covered lake. One was unmistakably Elias—taller than in real life, a soft glow circling his hands. The second was Jamie, face obscured by shadow. The third was harder to define. It flickered even on paper, like ink resisting form.
"Is that...?" Elias asked.
Jamie shrugged. "I started drawing last night. Didn't stop until this morning. Felt like someone else's hand was moving mine."
Elias sat beside him. "Yeah. That's been happening a lot lately."
They didn't speak for a while. The wind tugged at their jackets, and a few dry leaves skittered across the stone. Elias ran his fingers along the rim of the fountain again. He half-hoped it would pulse like before. It didn't.
"I think something's watching me," Jamie said suddenly.
Elias looked at him. "Me too."
Jamie turned a page. The next sketch showed the eye again—not just any eye, but the eye Elias had seen in his dreams. Etched with runes, staring from the middle of a broken sky.
Neither of them said the word aloud.
Council.
---
Elsewhere – Master Nara
In a corridor that didn't exist on any map, Master Nara walked in silence.
The walls pulsed faintly, carved from living stone and echo. Sigils shimmered as he passed, dimming in respect or warning. He made no sound, but the Veil parted before him like a curtain of breath.
He had not spoken in seven years.
He did not need to.
At the chamber's end, he paused. A silver disc floated midair—Elias Tran's mark. Thin. Unbound. Still forming.
Nara reached out and touched it lightly.
A ripple passed through time.
He saw Elias at the fountain.
Saw the web stretching from him to Jamie... and to Mira.
Nara's brow furrowed beneath his mask. That girl.
Still interfering.
He withdrew his hand. The image faded.
From within his cloak, he pulled a bone-carved token and broke it in half. A black wind rose in response, cold and scentless. A summons.
He would find the boy.
Observe.
And, if ordered—sever.
---
Back in the City – Mira Watches
High above the rooftops, Mira crouched beneath a rusted vent, her gaze fixed on the two boys below.
They sat too close. Their threads were too tangled now. Jamie had always been attuned, but Elias… Elias was becoming something else entirely. She could see it now—his qi was no longer dormant. It flowed, faint but steady, like a spring finally uncovered after a long winter.
And yet...
She felt something else. A pull in the web. A disturbance far beyond the boys' reach.
Her eyes narrowed.
"Nara," she whispered. "They sent you?"
She hadn't seen the man in years. Most assumed he was myth by now—a ghost with a blade, the Council's final whisper. If he was walking again, it meant the decision had already been made.
They would not leave Elias unclaimed for long.
---
Down Below – Elias and Jamie
"Can I show you something?" Elias asked, voice low.
Jamie blinked. "Is it dangerous?"
"Maybe."
They laughed, too quietly for anyone to hear.
Elias placed his hand on the stone. He inhaled slowly, trying to find that thread again, that stillness beneath thought. For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the lines shimmered—just faintly—beneath his palm.
Jamie stared. "How are you doing that?"
"I don't know," Elias admitted. "But I think it's... listening to me."
"Or waking up," Jamie muttered. "I don't think this is just about you anymore."
Elias turned to him. "What do you mean?"
Jamie closed the sketchbook carefully. "I think it's us. All of us. The dreams, the drawings, you, me... and her."
He didn't say Mira's name. He didn't need to.
---
Final Scene – The Council Watches
Far away, the chamber remained silent.
Vaelen stood unmoving, the other four arranged in shadow. Lirien scribbled on air, recording patterns. Ashari's form shimmered, unstable. Sael said nothing, but her fingers tapped the hilt of her blade.
> "The thread stabilizes," Vaelen said without sound.
"He is beginning to listen."
Ashari whispered, "And others begin to echo."
Sael lifted her head, voice like metal scraped on stone. "Do I end it?"
Vaelen turned slightly. "Not yet. Nara walks."
The others fell silent.
Only Lirien smiled.
> "Let him bloom. Let him fall. Either will serve the weave."
The chamber dimmed.
And far below, the wind shifted.