Dawn arrived without warmth.
The training yard felt different from the night before. Still. Expectant.
Kael rolled his shoulders, trying to shake off the tension in his chest.
Rion stood beside him, silent as ever, eyes forward.
Yildes and Xilo stood across from them.
"Sixteen," Yildes said. "Your cores will answer today."
Kael smirked. "Took them long enough."
Rion didn't speak.
Xilo stepped forward. "Clear your thoughts. Do not chase power. Let it come."
The air grew heavy.
Kael felt it first — a vibration in his chest.
Warm. Rising.
Rion's breathing slowed. Controlled.
Then—
Light burst outward.
Not wild. Not explosive.
Pure.
It radiated from Rion's body in a soft, blinding glow. The ground beneath him shimmered as golden particles lifted into the air like drifting stars.
Kael shielded his eyes. "What the—"
The light intensified, condensing behind Rion's back.
Wings.
Not physical — not fully — but shaped from radiant energy, expanding slowly, majestically.
Yildes' expression shifted for the first time.
Xilo whispered, almost to himself, "Light…"
The glow stabilized.
Rion opened his eyes.
They were no longer dark.
They shone — faint gold at the center.
The air felt clean around him. Clear. Powerful. Ancient.
Kael stared.
"Show-off…"
But something was wrong.
The vibration in Kael's chest faded.
Silence.
No heat.
No wind.
No spark.
Nothing.
He clenched his fists.
"Come on…" he muttered.
He focused harder.
Still nothing.
Yildes' gaze slowly shifted toward him.
Kael forced a grin. "Guess mine's taking its time."
No one answered.
Rion looked at him — not mocking this time.
Confused.
The light around Rion slowly dissolved into particles and disappeared.
Silence settled over the yard.
"It should have awakened," Xilo said quietly.
Kael laughed — too loudly. "Relax. I'm just built different."
But inside, something cold spread through him.
Rion stepped forward. "Maybe it's delayed."
Yildes did not look convinced.
Then—
A sound.
Not thunder.
Not wind.
A low, deep fracture.
All four of them looked up.
The sky trembled.
High above the clouds, something split.
A thin black line tore across the blue horizon like glass cracking under pressure.
The air distorted around it.
The light bent unnaturally.
The crack widened.
Just slightly.
The wind stopped completely.
Rion's golden eyes reflected it.
Yildes' shadow stretched unnaturally along the ground.
Xilo's hand sparked faintly with lightning — instinct.
"That…" Kael whispered.
No one answered.
Because they all knew.
That was not natural.
And it was not small.
Far beyond the village… something had begun.
The crack pulsed once.
Then the sky returned to normal.
But the line remained.
Thin.
Unmistakable.
Rion looked at his hands.
Kael looked at the sky.
Childhood had ended.
Not because of power.
But because the world itself had just broken.