The square did not disperse after the violet streak crossed the sky.
No one shouted.
No one ran.
They simply watched.
That silence was worse.
Ren lowered his hands slowly, fire and wind fading around him. Fang's molten glow dimmed to a simmer. Vale drifted down beside him, wings folding but never fully relaxing.
The third bond pulsed faintly in his chest like a heavy heartbeat beneath stone.
The Princess stepped forward.
Up close, her presence felt sharper. Not overwhelming like the being that had forced itself through the tear, but refined. Precise. The air around her did not swirl wildly; it aligned.
"You will come with me," she said.
Not as a command.
Not as a request.
As fact.
The envoys immediately began clearing the square. Guards took positions at the edges. The citizens slowly withdrew, whispers spreading like quiet wind through narrow streets.
Ren exchanged a look with Tarin.
"We stay with him," Tarin said calmly.
The Princess considered this for a moment. Then she nodded once.
"For now."
They were escorted toward the inner district, where the architecture changed. The stone grew paler, etched with wind-carved patterns that glimmered faintly. High above, suspended bridges connected towers shaped like spiraling blades.
Ren felt the city's pulse intensify the deeper they went.
"You feel it," the Princess said quietly, walking beside him.
"The Core," Ren answered.
She glanced at him briefly. "Most cannot sense it directly."
"I didn't ask to."
"No," she agreed softly. "You didn't."
They entered a tall circular chamber open at the top. Wind flowed freely through it, rising and falling in gentle spirals. Glyphs lined the walls, layered in rings that shimmered faintly.
At the center stood another figure.
Broader shoulders.
Dark hair.
Sharp eyes that measured rather than judged.
The Prince.
Ren recognized him instantly as a summoner. It wasn't obvious visually, but there was a familiarity in the way the air around him held tension, as if something unseen waited just beyond reach.
"You're younger than I expected," the Prince said.
Ren frowned slightly. "What did you expect?"
"Someone who knew what he was doing."
Tarin stiffened slightly at the edge of the chamber.
Mira's eyes flicked toward the open ceiling.
The Princess stepped to the far side of the circle.
"He formed a third bond," she said evenly.
The Prince's gaze sharpened instantly.
"Without collapse?"
"Without visible fracture."
Ren shifted uncomfortably. "It wasn't stable."
The Prince walked slowly around him, observing like someone studying a rare weapon rather than a person.
"Summoners anchor one beast," he said. "Two, if they are gifted and reckless. Three…" He stopped in front of Ren. "Three should tear you apart."
Ren didn't argue.
He felt it too.
The heaviness inside him.
The strain that didn't fade.
"Show us," the Princess said.
Ren hesitated. "Here?"
The Prince nodded once. "This chamber can withstand it."
That was not comforting.
Ren inhaled slowly and reached inward.
Fang answered first, stepping into presence with controlled flame. Vale followed, wind spiraling upward in a tight column.
The Prince's expression didn't change, but the air grew heavier.
"And the third?" he asked.
Ren closed his eyes.
The stone-shadow figure emerged slowly behind him, tall and silent, silver-lined cracks faintly glowing along its body.
The chamber reacted instantly.
The glyphs flared.
Wind currents destabilized.
The Princess lifted her hand, and the spiraling air tightened, containing the disturbance before it spread.
The Prince's jaw tightened slightly.
"That one is not elemental," he said quietly.
"No," Ren replied.
The stone-being turned its silver gaze toward the Prince.
And for a brief second—
The air shivered
The Princess stepped forward.
"What did it say when you pulled it?" she asked Ren.
Ren hesitated.
"That I was seen."
Silence settled over the chamber.
The Prince exchanged a look with his sister.
"By what?" he asked.
Ren swallowed.
"I don't know."
A faint ripple passed through the chamber walls.
Subtle.
But wrong.
The Princess felt it first.
Her eyes flicked toward the open ceiling.
"Not from the Core," she murmured.
The Prince turned sharply.
"Guards."
Bootsteps echoed beyond the chamber doors.
Then—
A scream cut through the air outside.
Short.
Abrupt.
Silenced instantly.
Tarin moved without hesitation, stepping in front of Ren.
Mira's hands shimmered with water.
The Princess extended her arm, and the wind in the chamber sharpened into invisible blades.
The Prince's expression hardened.
"That was not one of ours."
The stone-being behind Ren shifted slightly.
Its silver lines glowed brighter.
Another ripple moved through the walls.
Closer this time.
Ren felt something cold brush against his bond.
Not trying to break it.
Testing it.
The Prince summoned.
A beast of dark-scaled armor and crimson eyes materialized at his side, low and coiled, ready to strike.
"Renegade," the Prince said quietly.
The chamber doors burst inward.
Not shattered.
Cut cleanly.
A figure stepped through the opening.
Cloaked in black.
Face obscured.
No visible weapon.
Yet the air around them felt distorted.
"Three anchors already," the cloaked figure said calmly. "You move faster than expected."
Ren's pulse spiked.
It was the same presence from the forest.
The same weight.
The Princess stepped forward.
"You dare enter the capital?"
The cloaked figure tilted their head slightly.
"You mistake this for entry."
The air shifted violently.
Pressure slammed downward.
Guards outside the chamber cried out as they were forced to their knees.
The Prince's beast snarled.
Ren felt his bonds flare instinctively.
Fang ignited brighter.
Vale spiraled upward.
The stone-being stepped forward once.
The cloaked figure's gaze settled on Ren.
"You were supposed to stay hidden longer."
"Who decides that?" Ren shot back.
A faint chuckle.
"You are not summoning beasts, Ren."
The use of his name chilled him.
"You are reopening gates."
The Princess's wind blades launched instantly.
They sliced through the cloaked figure—
And passed through like mist.
The figure didn't disappear.
Didn't falter.
It simply stepped forward again.
The pressure in the chamber intensified.
Cracks began forming along the outer glyph rings.
The Prince shouted, "Ren, do not pull again!"
But Ren felt it.
That distant heartbeat.
Closer now.
Not one.
Multiple.
Answering.
The cloaked figure's voice softened.
"Show me the fourth."
Ren's blood ran cold.
"I don't have a fourth."
"Not yet."
The ripple slammed through the chamber.
This time the stone-being staggered slightly.
The glyphs flared white.
The Princess's eyes widened.
"They are trying to force it open."
The Prince turned sharply toward Ren.
"If you pull again here, you risk tearing the capital in half."
The cloaked figure extended one hand.
And the air split faintly above it.
Just enough to show violet light beneath.
Ren's chest burned.
The third bond tightened painfully.
Something beyond the veil pressed forward eagerly.
The cloaked figure smiled beneath the shadow of their hood.
"Let us see what answers you this time."
The tear widened another inch.
The chamber groaned.
And Ren felt the choice forming again.
Pull—
Or let it rip open without him.