The forest around Emberreach Hollow was old ,older than even Ashra remembered.
It was said that the trees here could whisper truths to those who bled magic, and that the roots ran deeper than time itself. Caelum knelt in a shallow stream beneath those trees, washing blood from his wrists.
Not from battle.
But from the bond.
The third seal had left marks. Vraenak, the broken god-beast, had not submitted easily. The sigil on Caelum's chest now curled with sharp black edges, constantly humming with a pressure that crackled in the back of his mind like stormfire.
Behind him, Ashra watched from a low stone, her wings tucked in close. Regal. Silent.
And Thorne ,powerful, loyal, and prideful paced.
He'd been doing that for hours now.
"This isn't working," Thorne growled, voice guttural through the bond-realm. "That thing is poison. It shouldn't be among us."
Caelum looked up, drying his hands. "He's not poison. He's wounded. Just like we were."
Thorne snorted, teeth bared. "He doesn't speak. He doesn't think. He stares like he's waiting to tear out our throats."
From the shadows, Vraenak stood just out of sight towering, still. Watching.
Always watching.
Ashra finally spoke. "He obeys. That is enough for now."
"It's not," Thorne snapped. "He doesn't respect the flame. Or me. I earned my place beside Caelum. That… thing was forced into it."
Caelum stood slowly. "So you'd challenge him?"
Silence.
The bondline pulsed ,Caelum could feel it. The tension wasn't just anger ,it was fear. Deep, gnawing fear of being replaced. He stepped closer to Thorne.
"You're not lesser, Thorne. You're my first shield. My strength."
Thorne growled. "Then why do you keep reaching for more?"
Caelum froze.
The question hit too deeply.
Was it greed?
Or instinct?
He didn't know.
That night, they made camp at the ruins of an old sanctum watchtower, where vines curled over shattered statues and magical echoes hummed through the wind.
Caelum sat beside the fire, sharpening a shard-knife. The flames cast dancing shadows over his face.
Ashra perched on a mossy ledge above, ever watchful.
Vraenak remained beyond the treeline, visible only by the soft red glow of his pulsing veins.
And Thorne was gone.
Vanished into the dark.
Caelum didn't sleep.
Instead, he followed.
The trail led deep into the forest through a glade of silent flowers, across a small creek, into a grove lit by starlight alone.
There, in the center, stood a girl.
Not a beast. Not a soldier.
Just a girl.
She wore a long coat stitched from wolf-hide and dusk-blue fabric, her white hair braided behind her shoulder. A long scar ran down her left cheek. She held a bow carved of bonewood, but her expression was… calm.
And Thorne stood across from her ,no longer beast, but man. Bare-chested, clawed hands clenched, golden tattoos glowing along his ribs.
Caelum's breath caught. "You're"
"witnessing the problem," the girl said, not unkindly.
She turned to him, voice gentle but filled with certainty. "He's shifting. Too long in your world. Too deep in your soul. If you don't let him breathe, you'll drown each other."
Caelum looked at Thorne.
His beast was shaking.
"I didn't know it was hurting you," Caelum whispered.
"I didn't either," Thorne said hoarsely. "Not until I smelled her."
He nodded toward the girl.
She gave a soft smile. "Name's Lira. I'm a Wildbinder. I hear the broken ones. I fix what I can."
Caelum blinked. "A Wildbinder? I thought you were all"
"Extinct?" She shrugged. "Close enough. But not dead yet."
She stepped toward him, eyes sharp. "Your bond is unique, boy. It isn't bound by structure or ceremony. That means your beasts feel everything. You feel their pasts. Their instincts. Their fears. Even their jealousy."
Caelum stiffened. "So this is about Vraenak?"
Thorne growled, stepping back.
Lira smiled faintly. "It's about you trying to carry fire and storm and ruin in one chest. That never ends well."
That night, Lira stayed by their fire.
Vraenak watched her for a long time. He did not growl.
He bowed.
Ashra, amused, leaned toward Caelum and whispered:
"She smells like the old world."
Caelum couldn't help but notice how Thorne kept glancing at her, the edge of his lips curved in something shy of a smile.
He smiled too.
But he knew what was coming.
Far away, in the capital of Veyhelm, Lady Lyana stood in her chambers before a table filled with beast-bond scrolls and glowing crystals.
Her eyes narrowed.
One crystal linked to Vraenak was now burning red.
"He's done it," she whispered. "The third seal."
Behind her, a shadow stepped from the wall.
A man with silver tattoos, and no eyes just voids where light died.
"Then the Divine Court must awaken," he said. "And the boy must fall."
Back in the forest, Caelum watched as Thorne laughed actually laughed at something Lira had said. Ashra was quiet, for once content.
And Vraenak curled not far away, eyes finally closed.
Peace, even if brief.
But Caelum felt it
the pressure of his growing power,
the cracks in loyalty and love,
and the storm that always followed fire.
End of Chapter 6