The cave felt unusually quiet.
Cadmus and Kallis had been circling the perimeter for the last hour, coils dragging sharply across stone—still on edge from Muir's attack, still tasting the memory of Novalyn's Qilin aura shaking the mountains.
Inside, Novalyn rubbed the ache in her chest. The cubs had been unsettled after the confrontation with Muir… Their souls pulsed like frightened little lanterns, clinging to her magic in small, worried bursts.
"It's alright," she murmured. "I'm here. No one's going to take you."
A soft double-thrum answered—wolf twins pressing warm sparks to her spirit, while the crocodile soul curled under her ribs like a protective shield.
They understood danger.
They also understood defiance.
And they had felt her fury.
Before she could soothe them again, the faint air pressure outside shifted.
Someone was approaching.
Fast—too fast to be prey, too lightly to be a brute, too nervously to be a fighter.
A courier.
Cadmus flung himself toward the entrance with a hiss.
Kallis followed, pupils narrowing into lethal slits.
A young jackrabbit beastman skidded into view—a slim courier marked with the City's red and gold sash. He was panting, terrified, ears flat.
"H–h–holy scaled ancestors—" he squeaked as Cadmus lunged close.
"State your purpose," Kallis snapped, low and venom-deep.
The courier held up a scroll so fast he nearly dropped it.
"I–I carry a summons from the City of Beasts! Direct order from the Four Kings!"
Cadmus's tail slammed the ground, cracking the stone beneath his coils.
"A summons?" he growled.
"For our female?"
"Please don't eat me—my supervisor will be furious if I die—"
Novalyn stepped out of the cave.
All three beastmen froze immediately, instinctively.
The courier stared. Trembled.
And then dropped entirely to his knees.
"T–The Qilin," he whispered, voice breaking. "We were told it might be true… we were told one had awakened… I thought it was just politics, not—"
"Enough," Novalyn said gently. "Give me the message."
He scrambled to offer it with both hands.
Cadmus tried to intercept it.
Kallis tried to intercept him.
Novalyn's voice, firm and sweetened with command, cut them both down:
"Let him breathe."
Both serpents froze like obedient statues.
She took the scroll.
It was sealed with four symbols—
the Leopard King's crest,
the Ape King Bard's heavy sigil,
the Tiger King's mark,
and the Serpent King's coil.
Her stomach tightened.
The cubs felt her fear.
Warm sparks flared beneath her ribs—frantic, concerned.
"It's alright," she murmured again, laying a hand on her belly.
Cadmus stepped closer, voice rough.
"We can refuse. We should refuse."
Kallis's tail tightened behind him like a coiled blade.
"This is political hunger. They want to use you."
Novalyn unrolled the scroll.
SUMMONS OF RECOGNITION:
The City of Beasts hereby demands the presence of the Qilin for formal acknowledgment.
Her status, rights, territory, and alliances must be established under the Four Kings' oversight.
Failure to appear will be considered a breach of peace.
Her jaw tightened.
They weren't even pretending this was optional.
Cadmus slammed a fist into the stone wall beside him.
"They dare threaten peace?"
Kallis slithered forward, voice cold as mountain ice.
"If they touch her, we will raze the city."
The courier whimpered.
Novalyn folded the scroll.
Her heartbeat steadied.
Her aura flickered—soft at first, then bright enough that the courier shielded his eyes.
"I will respond," she said.
Cadmus turned toward her, eyes wide.
"Novalyn—"
"I am not going to kneel," she continued.
"I will not be paraded. I will not be claimed. I will not let the City of Beasts decide my fate."
She lifted her chin.
"But I will speak."
The cubs pulsed softly—worried, but trusting her, pressing their tiny soul-muzzles to her spirit as if saying 'We're with you.'
Cadmus's eyes burned.
Kallis's chest rose and fell like a storm held back by sheer discipline.
Novalyn placed a hand on each of their arms.
"Let me decide," she whispered. "Not out of fear. Not out of anger. But because we choose our future."
The courier trembled as she turned to him.
"Tell the Kings," she said calmly, "that the Qilin has heard their request."
Her aura intensified—warm, radiant, terrifying.
"And that my patience… is limited."
The courier ran.
Cadmus and Kallis watched him flee, trembling with barely restrained violence.
Kallis finally exhaled.
"This will not be the last attempt."
Novalyn nodded.
"I know."
Cadmus bowed his head against her shoulder, voice breaking with emotion.
"Then we will stand beside you. Always."
The cubs pulsed in unified agreement—their fear easing.
Novalyn looked out toward the path to the City of Beasts.
The world had found her.
And it would not stop coming.