Lunaya isn't sleeping.
She's lying against the cold rock, wrapped in a blanket that's too thin,
but the cold isn't coming from the night.
It's coming from what she saw. From what saw her back.
Every time she closes her eyes, she still feels that presence.
Not hostile.
Not kind.
Indifferent.
As if the world had looked at her... and didn't like what it saw.
Kael is sitting near the entrance to the cave.
Motionless.
Arms crossed, staring outside.
He hasn't slept either.
"You're breathing differently," he says without turning around.
Lunaya opens her eyes slightly.
"Sorry."
"Don't apologize."
He finally gets up and approaches her slowly,
as if a sudden movement might break her.
He crouches down next to her.
"When you disappeared...
His voice breaks slightly.
I thought I'd lost you."
She swallows hard.
"I was still there."
Kael shakes his head.
"No."
He places two fingers against her chest.
"Not here."
A silence falls between them. Heavy.
Laden with everything that has been left unsaid since the Sanctuary.
At the back of the cave, Dravik suddenly stands up.
"They're getting closer."
Sahr looks up immediately.
"Who?"
"All those who sense the rifts, replies Dravik.
His gaze is hard.
The clans. The observers. The opportunists."
He stares at Lunaya.
"And those who are just waiting for an excuse to decide that you are too dangerous to remain free."
The word resonates.
Free.
Lunaya slowly straightens up.
"They don't want to kill me," she says.
"Not yet."
Sahr smiles without humor.
"No."
"They want to define you."
Kael growls.
"No one defines her."
"That's cute, wolf, Sahr replies softly.
But it's not enough anymore."
Lunaya feels something shift inside her. Not a thread. Not a vision.
An understanding.
"The Guardians..."
She closes her eyes for a moment.
"What I saw wasn't a ritual. It was a correction."
Dravik frowns.
"Explain."
"When Erynd cut my name... he didn't just defy a rule.
She takes a breath.
He created an exception."
Silence falls.
"And the world doesn't like exceptions," Sahr murmurs.
Lunaya nods.
"They're not trying to fix the past.
They're trying to stop me from doing it again."
Kael clenches his fists.
"Then we won't let them."
Lunaya looks up at him.
"Kael..."
Her voice trembles, but she continues.
"They won't attack head-on."
"I don't care," he growls.
"I do."
She stands up. Slowly. But without hesitation.
"They'll test us.
Provoke us.
Force us to make choices."
Dravik stares at her intently.
"What if the choice is him or us?"
The question cuts like a knife.
Lunaya doesn't answer right away.
When she finally speaks, her voice is calm. Too calm.
"Then they've already lost."
Sahr looks at her differently. For the first time in a long time.
"You've just crossed a line, Luna'yaah."
"Yes, she replies.
And I won't back down."
A shiver runs through the cave.
Something has just opened.
Far, far away, in the black tower,
a rune explodes.
Erynd screams.
But this time,
it's not in pain.
It's in response.
The Corbins take a step back.
"She spoke," whispers one of them.
"And the world heard," replies another.
In the stone, a thread begins to burn.
Not black-silver.
Not red.
Something new.
Something that wasn't planned.
And for the first time since the ritual began,
they understand.
The Resonant is no longer just a key.
It is becoming
an active breaking point.