The capital of the Fourth did not sleep.
It only shifted.
Like a living organism that never truly rested, only changed its posture depending on where danger might appear next.
Patrols rotated in perfect rhythm through marble-lit corridors. Guards moved in pairs never alone, never distracted. Even the air itself felt regulated, as though every breath taken inside the capital was accounted for somewhere in the system of control that governed it.
Above all of it, the Blood Moon lingered.
Not yet risen.
But close enough that its presence could already be felt.
A pressure in the sky.
A quiet warning.
A reminder that whatever order existed here was temporary.
Riven moved through the lower corridors like something the capital had not been designed to notice.
His steps were controlled.
Measured.
Silent.
But inside him
Everything was not silent.
His core pulsed faintly.
Not violently like before.
Not unstable.
But aware.
It responded to something ahead of him.
Something familiar.
Something alive.
Nyss.
He stopped at a sealed corridor deep within the inner district.
Stone walls lined with faint energy inscriptions surrounded him, humming softly with defensive magic. This section was different from the rest of the capital it was quieter, more controlled, but also more heavily sealed.
This was not a prison.
Not exactly.
But it was not freedom either.
Riven exhaled slowly.
His hand hovered near the door.
Then he knocked.
Once.
Then again.
The sound echoed down the corridor.
Silence followed.
Too long.
Riven's jaw tightened slightly.
"…Nyss," he murmured again under his breath.
This time
A faint sound came from within.
Movement.
A hesitation.
Then the lock disengaged.
Slowly.
Carefully.
The door opened just enough for someone to step out.
Nyss.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
It was as if the world itself paused to observe what would happen next.
The corridor behind Riven faded.
The political weight of the capital faded.
The Blood Moon above them faded.
All that remained was distance.
And then
Recognition.
Nyss stood in the doorway, her hand still resting lightly against the frame. Her posture was controlled, as if she had been trained to always appear composed, always appear unaffected.
But her eyes betrayed everything.
They widened slightly.
Then froze.
"No…" she whispered.
Her voice was barely audible.
"That's not possible…"
Riven didn't speak immediately.
He simply looked at her.
Really looked.
Not at the title she carried.
Not at the role she was forced into.
Not at the political weight she bore.
But at her.
"I'm here," he said quietly.
The words didn't sound dramatic.
They didn't need to.
Nyss's breath caught.
For a second, she didn't move at all.
Then
Her composure broke.
Not explosively.
Not loudly.
Just completely.
Her shoulders trembled once.
And then she stepped forward.
Fast.
Not like royalty.
Not like someone trained in diplomacy or survival inside a controlled kingdom.
Like someone who had been holding something inside her for too long and could no longer carry it alone.
She reached him.
And stopped only when she was close enough to confirm he was real.
Her hands hovered slightly before touching him careful, uncertain, as if afraid he might disappear if she committed fully.
Then she did.
Her fingers gripped his cloak tightly.
Riven stiffened for a moment then slowly, instinctively, his arms came around her to steady her.
Nyss exhaled sharply.
A breath that sounded like it had been trapped for months.
"You're supposed to be dead," she said, voice shaking.
"I saw it… I saw you fall…"
Riven didn't respond right away.
Because there was no immediate answer that could undo that moment for her.
Instead, he lowered his head slightly.
"I didn't stay there," he said quietly.
Nyss closed her eyes briefly.
That sentence alone carried too much weight.
When she opened them again, they were wet but controlled.
"I knew," she whispered.
Riven frowned slightly.
"You shouldn't have."
"I didn't choose it," she said quickly, almost defensively.
Her grip tightened slightly.
"I just… refused to believe anything else."
That silence between them was heavier than words.
The corridor lights flickered faintly above them.
Outside, faint patrol movements passed in the distance.
The capital continued existing.
Unbothered.
Unaware.
Nyss finally pulled back slightly but not fully away.
Her eyes studied him now.
Really studied him.
The scars.
The exhaustion.
The energy that clung to him like a second shadow.
Something in her expression changed.
"You've changed," she said softly.
Riven didn't deny it.
"I had to."
Nyss's gaze sharpened slightly.
"That power…" she said carefully.
"I can feel it now."
A pause.
"…It wasn't there before."
Riven didn't respond immediately.
Because she was right.
Something in him had shifted permanently.
The fight with Kael.
The surge of Dark Energy.
The loss of control.
It wasn't just strength anymore.
It was something deeper.
Something unstable.
Nyss took a slow breath.
"You shouldn't be here," she said again but this time it wasn't cold.
It was afraid.
Riven's expression hardened slightly.
"I came for you."
Her eyes flickered.
"And my friends," he added.
That made her pause.
Then she shook her head quickly.
"No," she said.
Her voice sharpened.
"This is a suicide mission."
Riven frowned.
"We've already fought worse."
"This isn't about strength," she said quickly.
"It's about politics."
She stepped back slightly, lowering her voice.
"Rigor is still here."
Riven's eyes narrowed.
Nyss continued.
"And his father…the cold alpha of the second… they're both here in the capital."
A pause.
Then more quietly:
"And my mother will not hesitate this time."
Riven's expression tightened.
Nyss swallowed.
"If they find you here, they won't just kill you."
"They'll erase everything connected to you."
Silence followed that.
Riven stepped forward again.
"I'm not leaving without you."
Nyss's frustration flashed briefly.
"You're not thinking clearly."
"I am."
"You're not," she repeated, sharper.
There was a tension now not anger, but urgency.
Fear colliding with determination.
Nyss looked at him more directly now.
"I don't want you dying because of me."
That sentence landed heavier than anything else.
Riven didn't respond immediately.
He just looked at her.
Long.
Quiet.
Then
He stepped closer.
Nyss didn't move away.
The space between them shrank again not in action, but in presence.
A quiet, charged stillness filled the corridor.
Outside
Footsteps approached.
Multiple.
Nyss's eyes flicked toward the door instantly.
Riven noticed immediately.
The moment tightened.
The capital was closing in again.
A voice echoed outside.
"Princess Nyss. Respond."
Knock.
Harder.
"Your presence is required."
Nyss's breathing shifted slightly.
Another knock.
"We will enter if you do not comply."
Riven's hand instinctively moved toward his blade.
Nyss caught his wrist immediately.
A warning.
Not yet.
Not here.
Her eyes returned to his, urgent now.
"You have to go," she whispered.
Riven didn't move.
"I said I'm not leaving without you."
Another sound.
The door handle shifted slightly.
Nyss's expression tightened.
And for a moment
Everything balanced on a single decision.
Footsteps multiplied outside.
More guards arriving.
Protocol escalating.
The capital reacting.
Nyss inhaled slowly.
Then exhaled.
Her voice dropped to barely a whisper.
"This isn't over."
Riven didn't respond.
Because he already knew.
Nyss stepped slightly closer again not fully embracing, not fully pulling away but close enough that the decision between them was no longer just emotional.
It was final.
Then she turned slightly toward the door.
"…I will stall them," she said quietly.
Riven frowned.
"No."
Nyss looked at him sharply.
"This is the only way you don't get captured in the next thirty seconds."
Silence.
Then
She stepped back toward the door.
Her hand hovered near the latch.
Riven didn't stop her.
But his eyes didn't leave her.
Because now
Everything had changed.
The reunion was no longer the end of something.
It was the beginning of something far more dangerous.
Behind her
The capital waited.
Above them
The Blood Moon drew closer.
And somewhere far beyond the walls
Aurelion Kharos was already smiling.