Snow began to fall.
Soft flakes drifted across the Northern Ridge, settling on Kai's hair and shoulders as the Seer lowered her staff. But the cold wasn't what made him shiver.
It was the feeling—that heavy, suffocating sensation—that something had shifted the moment the Seer spoke of the Six Wardens.
As if the world… had turned its head.
Lira stepped protectively between Kai and the open ridge. "Seer," she demanded, "who are these Wardens? And what do they want with him?"
The Seer did not respond immediately.
Her head turned slowly toward the dark horizon, where storm clouds churned unnaturally.
"They do not want him."
Her voice was hollow.
"They are drawn to him."
Kai exhaled shakily. "Why? If the Seventh was sealed—why would they still react to it now?"
"The Wardens are tied to the foundation of the world," the Seer murmured. "Each was shaped by a primal law… and each governs a Path's original truth."
She raised one trembling hand.
"Fire. Water. Nature. Force. Ether. Shadow."
Her voice darkened.
"Long before people learned to awaken Paths… the Wardens existed. Watching. Guarding. Correcting."
Lira's eyes narrowed. "Correcting what?"
"Imbalance."
Kai swallowed. "So if they sense the Seventh in me…"
"They will come to judge you," the Seer whispered. "To see if you are a stabilizing force—"
"—or an anomaly that must be erased."
Kai's stomach dropped.
Lira immediately stepped in front of him. "If they try to harm him, I'll—"
"You will do nothing," the Seer said sharply.
"Against a Warden, even the greatest awakened are dust."
Silence crashed over them.
Kai finally spoke, voice low. "You said they'll come. When?"
The Seer's entire body shivered as she answered:
"One has already awakened."
Kai's heart lurched. "What?"
The Seer pointed her staff toward the northern sky.
A faint red glow pulsed through the clouds—slow, rhythmic, like a heartbeat.
Thump.
Thump.
Lira took a step back. "That wasn't there earlier… was it?"
"No."
The Seer's breath came out in cold, rapid bursts.
"It began the moment the Seventh's echo surged through you."
Kai's chest tightened. He remembered the moment: the pressure, the lightning, the voice—
"It responded," he whispered.
"Yes," the Seer said softly. "Across the world. Loud enough for the Wardens to hear."
"Which Warden is that?" Lira asked.
The Seer hesitated.
Not out of uncertainty—
but out of fear.
Finally, she answered.
"Ignovar.
The Warden of Fire.
The Judge of Transgression."
Kai felt his limbs go cold.
"What does he do?"
The Seer's voice lowered to a trembling whisper:
"He burns away what should not exist."
A distant rumble echoed from the mountains—deep, resonant, like the roar of a sleeping beast beginning to stir.
Kai stepped back involuntarily. "Is he coming here?"
"Not yet," the Seer said. "Wardens do not travel by distance. They travel by conviction. As Ignovar's awareness sharpens, his gaze will focus."
Lira's eyes darted to Kai. "And he'll follow the Seventh's trail straight to him."
The Seer nodded.
"Unless Kai learns to mask its presence."
Kai blinked. "Mask it? I can barely control it. How am I supposed to hide something I can't even explain?"
The Seer tapped her staff against the earth.
The ground rippled with faint silver lines—shimmering like veins of light beneath the snow.
"You must learn the discipline of Veilbinding."
"What's that?" Kai asked.
"An ancient method used before Paths became formalized. A way to silent one's resonance."
Her blind eyes turned toward him.
"Only those touched by forbidden forces ever needed it."
Kai exhaled. "And how do I learn it?"
The Seer's expression softened with something like regret.
"By surviving what comes next."
A thunderous boom split the sky.
All three turned sharply as the red glow over the mountains flared brighter—like a furnace door opening somewhere in the heavens.
The Ridge trembled under their feet.
A gust of hot wind blasted across the snow, melting flakes before they touched the ground.
Kai staggered back. "No way—"
Lira grabbed her weapon on instinct. "He's waking up faster!"
The Seer's voice shook.
"He has sensed the vessel's fear."
Kai's breath caught in his throat.
"So what do I do now?"
The Seer raised her staff and slammed it into the ground.
A surge of ancient energy rippled outward, forming a protective barrier around them—thin, fragile, but holding.
"You run."
Kai's heart stopped. "Run?"
"Yes."
She turned sharply toward him.
"You must leave the Ridge before Ignovar fully opens his eyes. If he sees you now, before your power stabilizes—he will judge you an abomination."
The mountains rumbled again.
The Seer's voice grew urgent.
"Go south. Find the Whispering Monastery. The monks there still know fragments of Veilbinding. They can help hide your presence."
Lira grabbed Kai's arm. "We'll leave immediately. With your permission, Seer—"
"Go," the Seer commanded. "Before the first spark becomes flame."
Kai hesitated.
"What about you?"
The Seer lifted her head. For the first time, her expression hardened into something resolute.
"I will delay Ignovar's gaze for as long as I can."
"That's suicide," Lira protested.
"Not immediately," the Seer said simply. "But soon."
Kai felt his chest tighten painfully. "Seer—"
"Do not waste my sacrifice," she said quietly.
She stepped toward him and placed one cold hand against his forehead.
"You are not a harbinger, Kai Umbral," she whispered.
Snow swirled around them.
"You are not a monster."
Another boom shook the sky.
"You are simply a child holding a power too heavy for your heart."
She pulled her hand away.
"And that is why the world fears you."
The sky flared red again.
The Seer shouted:
"GO!"
Lira grabbed Kai's wrist—
And together, they fled into the storm as the Warden of Fire prepared to rise.