Aren did not touch the child right away.
Eris sat frozen on the floor, hands still hovering in front of them, fingers twitching as if they were holding something invisible and heavy. The air around those small hands bent in uneven waves, like heat rising from stone, except it carried pressure instead of warmth.
The house creaked softly, wood complaining under stress it was never meant to feel.
Kael stayed near the door, alert but still. Nyreth leaned against the wall, eyes fixed on Eris with an intensity that made even her usual sharpness look restrained.
Aren knelt slowly, lowering himself to the child's level.
"Eris," Aren said calmly. "Listen to my voice."
Eris swallowed hard and nodded.
"Good," Aren continued. "You are not holding anything right now. You are pushing."
The child blinked. "Pushing… what."
"Everything," Aren replied honestly.
The system flickered faintly at the edge of Aren's awareness.
[Untrained Authority Interaction: Active][Risk Level: Escalating]
Nyreth clicked her tongue softly. "It is not dragon power. It is not human magic either."
Kael muttered, "That makes me like it even less."
Aren did not look away from Eris. "When did it start."
Eris hesitated. "Last night. I was scared. Everyone was talking about the sky and the noises. I could not sleep."
Aren felt that familiar pull of guilt twist in his chest.
"What did you hear," Aren asked gently.
Eris's voice dropped to a whisper. "Not words. Feelings. Like the world was asking questions and no one was answering."
The air warped again, stronger this time. A crack formed in the wooden floor near Eris's feet.
Kael cursed under his breath.
Aren raised one hand slightly, palm down. Not toward Eris.
Toward the space around them.
"Eris," Aren said, steady and slow. "You do not need to answer the world."
The child's breathing hitched. "But it keeps asking."
"Yes," Aren said. "Because it is learning how."
Nyreth straightened slightly. "This is what happens when you remove central suppression without replacing it with culture."
Aren glanced at her briefly. "Culture grows."
Nyreth did not disagree.
The system pulsed again, more insistently now.
[Containment Recommendation: Temporary]
Aren ignored it.
He leaned a little closer to Eris. "I am going to ask you to do something strange."
Eris nodded quickly. "I will try."
Aren smiled faintly. "Stop trying."
That confused the child. "What."
"Do not push," Aren said. "Do not pull. Just breathe."
Eris frowned, then inhaled shakily.
Nothing happened.
The air continued to warp.
"That is okay," Aren said. "You are not failing."
Eris's eyes filled with tears. "I do not want to hurt anyone."
"I know," Aren said.
He reached inward, not toward authority, but toward the network. He felt Kael's steady presence, Nyreth's sharp focus, distant dragons moving across the land, humans living unaware lives.
He let Eris feel it too.
Not everything.
Just enough.
The air softened slightly.
Eris gasped. "There are others."
"Yes," Aren said. "You are not alone."
The system reacted immediately.
[Network Exposure Detected][Warning: Unauthorized Sharing]
Nyreth laughed quietly. "It is still trying to parent."
Kael watched the air carefully. "Something changed."
The pressure in the room eased. The warped air smoothed, like water settling after a stone sank beneath the surface.
Eris's hands lowered slowly into their lap.
"I cannot hear it as loud," Eris said in wonder.
Aren nodded. "Because you are listening somewhere else now."
The system flickered again, weaker this time.
[Authority Diffusion: Successful]
Nyreth's eyes narrowed with interest. "You did not suppress them."
"No," Aren said. "I contextualized them."
Kael stared. "You are teaching them to feel the world without drowning in it."
Aren closed his eyes briefly. "Someone should have done that for us."
Silence filled the room, but it was gentle now.
Eris wiped their face with the back of their sleeve. "Are you going to take me away."
The question landed harder than Aren expected.
"No," Aren said immediately. "Not unless you want to go."
Eris looked at him carefully. "Will it come back."
"The noise," Aren asked.
Eris nodded.
"Yes," Aren said honestly. "But it will not be alone anymore."
Outside, footsteps approached.
Kael stiffened. "Company."
The door creaked as a woman stepped inside, eyes wide when she saw the strangers in her home. Her gaze went straight to Eris.
"What did you do to my child," she demanded, fear sharp and real.
Aren stood slowly and turned to face her. "Nothing harmful."
Nyreth raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
The woman's hands shook. "The house was shaking. The air felt wrong."
Aren nodded. "Because something new is happening."
"That is not an answer," the woman snapped.
Eris spoke up quietly. "Mama… I am okay."
The woman froze.
Aren took the chance. "Your child is not cursed. Not chosen. Not broken."
Nyreth smiled faintly. "Bold claim."
"They are early," Aren continued. "And the world does not know how to handle early things yet."
The woman looked between Aren and Eris, fear warring with trust. "Can you stop it."
Aren hesitated.
"I can help them learn," Aren said. "But I cannot make the world go backward."
The system pulsed faintly again.
[Emergent Class Probability: Increasing]
Nyreth exhaled slowly. "They are going to start appearing everywhere."
Kael rubbed his face. "So much for walking quietly."
Aren nodded. "The age of sparks does not ask permission."
The woman pulled Eris close, protective. "Will people hurt them."
"Yes," Aren said simply. "Some will."
The honesty made the woman flinch, but she did not look away.
"But some will protect them," Aren continued. "And some will learn from them."
Nyreth crossed her arms. "And some will try to weaponize them."
Aren met her gaze. "And that is where we step in."
The system reacted, hesitant but compliant.
[Protective Directive: Localized]
Kael blinked. "It listened."
"It always does," Aren said quietly. "It just does not like being surprised."
Eris looked up at Aren, eyes wide but steadier now. "Are you… like me."
Aren considered the question.
"Yes," Aren said. "But older."
Eris thought about that. "Will I be okay."
Aren smiled, tired but real. "Yes. Not because the world is safe."
"But because you will not face it alone."
The network shifted again, subtly but unmistakably.
Far away, someone else felt a flicker.
Then another.
The system registered it, slower than before, less alarmed.
[Additional Emergent Resonances Detected][Pattern: Non Singular]
Nyreth's smile sharpened. "It begins."
Aren looked out the open door, toward the river, toward the horizon beyond the village.
"Yes," Aren said softly. "Now it really does."
Behind him, Eris breathed steadily, the air around them calm.
Ahead of him, the world waited.
Not for a king.
Not for a system.
But for something messier, harder, and far more human.
And for the first time, Aren understood.
The next war would not be fought over who ruled.
It would be fought over who got to grow.