The forest thickened, twilight weaving through the crimson leaves. Light from the twin suns barely touched the forest floor.
Arin felt the bond pulse faintly, warmer now — a heartbeat tethered to Lyara's own. With every step, the hum grew stronger, like a warning.
A rustle in the undergrowth froze them both. The air seemed heavier, charged with anticipation.
From the shadows, a creature emerged: a long, obsidian-scaled serpent with three glowing amber eyes on each side of its head. Its mouth opened in a silent hiss, teeth crystalline and jagged.
Lyara moved instinctively in front of Arin, blade drawn. "Get behind me!"
But Arin felt the bond stir — warmth spreading from his chest, fingers tingling. Without thinking, he lifted a hand toward the beast. A faint light responded, spilling from his palm in thin, unrefined threads.
The creature hissed and recoiled, testing him. The threads wrapped around it, pulsing as the bond hummed with strength. Lyara's sword flashed, striking true, and the creature collapsed into a haze of shadows.
Arin fell to his knees, heart racing, the bond's warmth settling over him like a promise. Lyara crouched beside him, her armor nicked but her eyes soft.
"You… can really influence the world through it," she murmured.
"I… I think so," he admitted. The forest was quiet now, but he could feel the threads of life and magic around him pulsing in resonance with the bond — a living map of what he could do, if he learned to master it.
Lyara's hand rested on his shoulder. "We need to be careful. Creatures like that know who you are now, and they'll come for you again."
Arin nodded, the echo of Seris's touch still humming faintly in his chest. Somewhere ahead — deeper in Elarion — he felt another presence waiting. Mischievous, teasing, alive.
And soon… I'll meet her.