Lysara's in the library.
Of course she is. Three years after Umbral Hollow, and that's still her default setting. Me, I'm almost ten. Kaela's eleven. We're... different. But Lysara? She's still Lysara.
Only... this morning, something's... off.
She's not just reading. She's... vibrating. An energy... an urgency... that makes my skin prickle.
She finds us on the training grounds, in the middle of a drill. I'm... dancing... with Kaela, the way Dren taught me. Using the curse's speed, her blade's force. We're... good.
Lysara doesn't even wait. "I need to talk to you," she says. No 'hello'. No 'pardon me'. Just... that.
Master Dren just... looks at her. He sees it, too. "Amaki, Fireborn. Water. Ten minutes."
We follow her. The library smells like old paper, dust, and... something else. Something... rotten.
It's on the table. In a... a crystal. A... a shred... of void corruption.
"Where did you get that?" I ask, my voice too sharp.
She ignores me. She holds up... a journal. Old. Cracked leather. "This... is a problem, Ren."
She doesn't... she's not... tsundere... Lysara right now. This is... scientist Lysara. This is scared Lysara.
"I found it," she says, her voice low. "Two hundred years old. A researcher... who documented... people like you. Before they... turned."
She opens it. The drawings... they're... chilling.
"This researcher... he found a pattern," she says, her silver eyes locking onto mine. "Critical stability points. At... at specific ages. Ten. Thirteen. Seventeen. Twenty."
My... my blood... it just... stops.
"What... what kind of... 'points'?" Kaela asks, her voice... small.
"Points... of failure," Lysara says. "A... a cascade. Full... consumption. Transformation... into... a... 'void beacon'."
I just... stare at her. A... what?
"A creature," she says, her voice flat, "that attracts the void. Like... like a magnet. Like... like what they wanted you to be."
My stomach just... drops.
"When?" Kaela asks. She... she already knows.
"Two weeks," Lysara says. "Ren... you turn ten in two weeks."
Kaela's immediately in 'tell everyone' mode. "The council. Your parents. Seraphine. Now."
"No!" I snap. Way too fast. They... they can't know. Not... not yet. They'll... they'll panic. They'll... they'll lock me up. They'll... they'll send me to those... Spires. I'm... I'm not... I'm not... their lab rat.
And Lysara... she... she knew. She knew I'd say that. She's... so... scary... smart.
She holds up... a scroll. An... official... scroll. "I... I already submitted a request. Three days ago. An... 'authorized expedition'. 'Field research'... into the eastern territories." She looks at me. "The council... they... approved it. This morning. They... they want us to go."
"You... planned this..."
"I planned..." she says, correcting me, "a reason. To get you... away from here. Away from... civilians. To... to test... your stability. Under... stress."
"And... and if it doesn't hold?" Kaela whispers.
Lysara just looks at her. "Then... we're the only ones... who get hurt."
I... I look at the journal. At... at the drawings. At... my friends.
"When do we leave?"
A week. We prep. We... we only tell Master Dren. He's... not an idiot. He takes one look at the... the extra... supplies... and... he just... knows.
"You're testing it," he grunts. Not a question. "It's different out there, kid. Real fear. Real... stakes. The... the curse... it... it's not gonna whisper anymore. It's... it's gonna... scream. You... you be ready... to scream back."
The Eastern Territories. The air... it's sour. The ley lines are... jittery. Like... static. This... this place... is... sick.
Lysara sets up... her instruments. Her... tests.
First test: I... I sit. In a... a blighted... patch of... rot. And I... I just... breathe. The... the curse... it... it loves this. It... it wants... to... merge. It... it feels like... home. But... I... I hold. For an hour. I... hold. When I... I get up... my... my legs... are... shaking.
"Ninety-one percent... stability," she announces. Her... her voice... is relieved.
Second test: Kaela. Sparring. This... this is harder. The... the adrenaline... the... instinct... every time... her... her sword... comes... close... the... the curse... screams... END IT! CRUSH HER!
And I... I just... parry.
I'm... I'm drenched in sweat... when... when we're... done. But... I... I held.
"Ninety-three..." Lysara breathes. "Better..."
Day four. We're packing up. We're... we're alive. It... it worked.
Kaela... she just... freezes. "Feel that?"
The... the air... it's... vibrating. Wrong.
Void beasts.
Three of them.
And... and they're fast.
"Formation!" Kaela roars.
Not... not a drill. Not... a... TEST!
We... we move. The... the triangle... Dren... drilled... into us. Kaela... front. Lysara... magic. Me... back.
But... one... it's... smart. It... it feints. It... it gets... past Kaela.
It's... it's on Lysara.
She... she's... raising... a... shield... but... too slow...
No... time.
I... I just... move.
The curse... erupts.
I... I intercept it. I... I have my... my hands... on it.
And...
Oh... Gods...
The... the curse... it's... it's not screaming... in... rage.
It's... singing.
In... joy.
It... it wants this. This... thing... it's... like it. It's... food. It's... kin.
MERGE, it screams in my head. WE... WE CAN BE... WHOLE. WE... CAN BE... COMPLETE!
The... the power... it's... intoxicating. It's... everything...
"REN!"
Kaela.
Her voice. Not... not the curse. Her.
I... I... look. She's... she's there. Real. Amber eyes. My friend.
I... I choose.
I... I don't... consume.
I... shove. I push the beast... away.
The curse... it shrieks in my skull. A... a sound... of... betrayal.
Lysara's magic... hits it. A... a lance... of... light. It... it dies.
The... the other two... they... they stop. They... they look... at... me.
And... they... run.
They... run.
I'm... I'm on my... my knees.
Lysara's... hands... are... shaking. She's... she's reading... her... instruments.
"Your... your... stability..." she... she whispers. "It... it dropped. Seventy-one... percent..." She's... she's pale. "But... you held. You... chose. ... Oh. Oh!"
"What?" Kaela demands, her... her sword... still... out.
"It's... it's will," Lysara whispers. "It's... it's not fragile. It's... strengthened... by choice. The... the more... you... you choose... the stronger... the... the integration... becomes."
I... I look at my hands. They're... shaking. But... they're... mine.
"So... what now?" I gasp.
"Now..." Lysara says, a... a tiny... shaky... smile... on... her... face. "Now... we go home."
We give Stoneheart... the... the boring report. He... he buys it. We're... 'official scouts' now. Great.
That night. The roof.
Kaela... she's... quiet.
"You... you almost... went," she whispers.
"Almost. But... I didn't."
"Because... I... I yelled?"
"Because... you were there."
She... she takes my hand. Just... takes it. It's... not... it's not innocent. Not... not like... before. It's... it's an anchor. A... promise.
Lysara... she... appears. She... she sits. On... on my other side.
"Your... your stability improved," she says, all... business. "The... the conscious choice... it... it strengthened... the... the bonds. You're... safer now. Than... than... before."
"Is that... what the... the data says?" I ask.
"...Yes. But... it is... also what I hoped. My... my analysis... may have been... biased."
Kaela... she... she grins. That... that old... Kaela... grin. "She means... she was... worried sick... about you."
"I was concerned!" Lysara snaps. "About... team cohesion! Obviously!"
But... there's... no heat... in... her... voice.
I... I just... sit there. Between them. The... the curse... it's... quiet. It's... settled.
It... it knows... who's in... charge... now.
I... I have them.
And... that... that's... the... the real... the... the real... anchor.