The warning came at midnight.
Liora burst into Kaelith's chambers, her usual calm shattered. "Your Highness—Enigma hunters have crossed the eastern veil."
Kaelith was on his feet instantly. "How many?"
"Unknown. But the wards along the trade route were cut cleanly. This was organized."
Aarav, half-awake on the couch, blinked. "Hunters. Let me guess—people who think rare bloodlines are collectibles."
Liora's expression was grim. "Enigmas are hunted for their essence. Some believe consuming Enigma blood grants longevity. Others sell captured Enigmas to rogue states."
Aarav's jaw tightened. "That's barbaric."
Kaelith's aura flared, the air tightening with contained fury. "They will not take another Enigma from my lands."
"Another?" Aarav asked.
Kaelith's voice was flat. "My aunt was taken when I was a child. We never recovered her."
The words landed hard.
Aarav stood fully awake now. "Okay. Then we're not waiting for them to reach the city."
They rode out with a small strike unit under moonlight. The eastern veil shimmered where the wards had been breached, mana threads hanging torn like spider silk.
Aarav surveyed the damage. "This cut pattern is precise. Military-grade work."
Commander Thorne nodded. "These are professionals."
They found the hunters' trail near the ravine—burned sigils, broken concealment charms.
Then the ambush sprang.
Bolts of void-charged steel rained down. Shadows moved between the rocks. The hunters wore masked helms etched with anti-Enigma runes.
Kaelith stepped forward, golden light erupting around him.
Aarav moved without thinking—grabbing Kaelith's wrist and pulling him back just as a rune-laced blade sliced through the space where his throat had been.
"Do not step into kill zones," Aarav snapped.
Kaelith stared at him for half a heartbeat, then nodded. "Cover me."
They fought back-to-back.
Kaelith's magic shattered concealment fields. Aarav moved with brutal precision, disarming attackers, breaking joints, using the environment like a battlefield map in his head.
One hunter lunged for Kaelith with a binding net laced in Enigma-nullifying runes.
Aarav intercepted it, the net slicing into his arm. Pain flared.
Kaelith's aura spiked violently. "Aarav!"
"I'm fine," Aarav lied through clenched teeth, ripping the net free. "Focus!"
The strike unit closed in, overwhelming the hunters. Those who weren't incapacitated fled into the veil.
The battlefield went still.
Aarav's arm burned where the runes had cut him. Liora rushed forward, healing light already forming.
Kaelith caught Aarav's arm gently, inspecting the wound with fierce attention. "You were targeted because of me."
Aarav met his eyes. "No. I was targeted because I stood in the way."
Kaelith's voice was low. "That net was designed for Enigmas. It would have… bound me."
Aarav shrugged it off. "Then I'm glad it hit me. I heal faster."
Kaelith's jaw tightened. The resonance between them surged, not romantic—protective, sharp with shared threat.
"This will not stop," Kaelith said. "The Claim made you visible. You are now part of Enigma politics."
Aarav wiped blood from his arm. "Good. Then they can see I don't scare easily."
Kaelith looked at him with something fierce and unguarded. "You stood in front of a weapon made to capture me."
Aarav's voice was steady. "I stood in front of a weapon. The 'you' part is incidental."
Kaelith shook his head. "You are lying to yourself."
Aarav didn't answer that.
They returned to the palace under tightened security. The kingdom would hear of this by morning.
The Enigma Hunt had begun.
And now, the hunters knew two things:
An Enigma ruled Aethoria.
And he was no longer unguarded.