Ryn didn't notice the anomaly at first.
It was subtle, a ripple in the cobblestones near the market, a shadow that shouldn't move the way it did.
He froze mid-step, heart hammering. Not again.
From the corner of his eye, Kael appeared, leaning casually against a post. "You see it?" he asked, calm but alert.
Ryn nodded. "Yeah… smaller this time. But it's… learning."
Kael's eyes narrowed. "Then we do this right. Together."
Ryn swallowed. Together. They had practiced together, trained together, but this, this was different. Lives could be at stake.
The anomaly moved like liquid ink on stone, reshaping the street, threatening to twist the market stalls into chaos.
Ryn's hands trembled as he pulled out the satchel map. The lines pulsed, reacting to the energy around him.
Okay. Breathe. Listen. Don't fight.
He drew a boundary, careful, imagining the anomaly guided instead of forced.
It recoiled.
"Too forceful," Kael muttered. "Gently. You're steering, not commanding."
Ryn adjusted. Quill moved slower this time. He followed its movement, anticipating its twists, guiding its energy without crushing it.
The anomaly hesitated, then flowed into the lines.
Ryn felt his chest loosen. We did it.
But the moment of relief shattered when a crate tipped over nearby. Someone screamed.
The anomaly had shifted again, testing him, almost playful in its curiosity.
Ryn panicked briefly, but Kael's hand on his shoulder grounded him. "Focus," Kael said. "One step at a time. You can do this."
Ryn nodded, teeth clenched. "I… I can."
He redrew, slower, precise. Lines bent, guided, absorbed the anomaly's energy. The shadows folded neatly into the street, harmless now.
The market returned to stillness, as if nothing had happened.
Kael's expression softened slightly, just enough for Ryn to notice. "You're… actually getting good at this."
Ryn gave a shaky laugh. "You make it sound like it's easy."
Kael smirked faintly. "It's not. But you make it look… like it might be."
Ryn's cheeks heated, though he didn't look away. That smirk… it carried a weight, a subtle acknowledgment.
Later, at the Guild, Master Elara reviewed the incident with them.
"You handled it without supervision," she said. "This is progress. But do not mistake control for understanding. The rogue cartographer is patient. They are watching. And your actions… leave traces."
Ryn swallowed. "Traces?"
"Yes," she replied. "The city remembers. The maps remember. And now, so does someone else."
Kael's gaze met Ryn's, quiet and intense. Someone else, the weight of that phrase pressed into Ryn's chest.
Ryn knew: the rogue cartographer was more than a distant threat now. They were close. Watching. Waiting.
And so was the city.
That night, alone, Ryn traced the market anomaly's path in the satchel map.
It pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat he could feel through the paper.
I'm responsible now, he thought. For the city. For people. For the maps. And for what's coming.
Far away, a quill scratched deliberately across parchment.
Ryn Elowen, it whispered. The game begins.