Tristan chuckled, that lazy grin spreading across his face. “The Hallowed in the wild. It’s a strange sight to behold.”
Mother, save her.She didn’t have the energy for this.
Elara reached for the book, her fingers hesitating just before she touched the worn cover. “May I?” she asked Tristan, even though she didn’t really need his permission. His eyebrows lifted slightly, clearly puzzled by her formality, but he nodded.
She still wasn’t used to being able to just take a book without asking, especially one so valuable. Old habits—ones built on rules, secrecy, and constant watchfulness—died hard, she supposed. It had always felt like access to knowledge came with conditions. But here she could just... take it. She swallowed down the strange mix of hesitation and excitement, flipping openTranscendental Bonds,and thumbing through the pages until she found what she was looking for.
The Sundering.
According to the text, the practitioner needed to attune themselves to the frequency of the sealed power, matching the resonance of the Echoing Seal with the exact harmony of the bound energy. A single misstep could lead to a catastrophic release—power surging uncontrollably, perhaps violently, through the individual whose essence had been muted for so long.
Elara exhaled slowly, forcing the tension from her shoulders. “Let’s just get this over with.”
The Hunter tilted his head. “Did the Druids teach you ritualized control?” She nodded and he continued, almost—almost—smiling. “I thought so, considering how fast you used theDraoth Cara’slink against me. This is good news. Much of this process is about maintaining control over your own mind. You’ll need to sink deep into your consciousness and stay anchored there while I work. The calmer you stay, the easier it will be to sunder the sigil.”
Her stomach tightened, but she inhaled deeply. “Okay.”
The Hunter extended his hand, and for a moment Elara only stared at it, memories flooding back—how many times she’d slapped it away, shoved him back, resisted. She’d fought him at every turn. She’d even stabbed him once. Bit him, too.
And now…
She took it.
His hand was warm as he led her to an empty spot in the room. They settled to the floor across from each other, knees nearly touching. She felt what was coming settle deep in her bones.
Tristan stepped forward, vial in hand. Elara watched as he poured its contents onto the ground, ash tracing a circle around her and the Hunter—just as Avis had done in the throne room. When the circle closed, she felt the shift. She’d read enough to recognize it now: protection. The ash wasn’t merely a boundary, but a weave of spells—stabilization, balance, containment. A shield meant to keep the volatile energy they were about to unleash from spiraling out of control.
Elara closed her eyes and let her mind sink inward, following the familiar path she’d walked countless times before. It led her straight to the Hunter’s seal, as though it had been waiting. His heartbeat met her there—slow, steady, a rhythm she matched with her breath.
That was the key. The cadence. The vibration. Not just physical, but resonant—something he could feel, looping between the seal and the power buried deep within her. She focused on each inhale, each exhale, letting the rhythm spread through her body and outward toward him.
Elara felt Tristan settle beside her, just outside the circle of ash. His presence was grounding in its own way, but then he began chanting, that rough, guttural tongue she’d heard only from the Druids. Her concentration wavered, trying to grasp the foreign sounds even though she didn’t know their meaning.There was something wrong about the way those words fell from his lips, something unsettling that made her skin crawl.
But it wasn’t just the words—it was the resonance they left behind, humming through the air and settling deep in her chest. The Hunter’s pulse thudded into her awareness, brushing against her own heartbeat—and then she realized it wasn’t aligned at all. It was wrong. A dissonant note cutting across an otherwise steady rhythm. His seal pressed harder now, no longer distant, but insistent, as though burrowing into her.
“Good, Hallowed,” the Hunter said, his voice low and smooth. She didn’t hear it so much as register it, the sound rolling through her like distant thunder.
“Now—hold your breath.”
Elara’s focus slipped. “Hold my brea?—”
A rush of ether slipped into her like a wisp of smoke, threading through her veins and sinking deep. Ether had always been an intrusion—painful, invasive, foreign. This was different. It moved slowly, almost gently, as if testing her.
The resistance she expected never came. Instead, curiosity sparked where fear should have been. His ether wound around her bones, seeped into her marrow, heat trailing in its wake like a hand brushing old scars. Her muscles tensed, a shudder rippling through her as the warmth spread, building higher and higher until it bordered on too much. She could feel it—him—moving through her with unhurried intent.
Then he lingered near her heart.
The seal on his chest flared—a faint glow—followed by a sharp sting in her own. Then it faded, vanishing as though it had never existed. Elara held her focus as he turned to the remaining seals. These were different. More stubborn. His had never fully formed after theDraoth Cara’sinterference, but Avis’s and Dario’s were solid, complete.
Sweat trickled down her temple. The strain set in almost at once, seconds stretching as her muscles began to protest. Her hands tingled; her legs went numb from holding still. She ignored it, forced herself to concentrate, to keep her heartbeat steady and aligned with his. Every inhale. Every exhale. Perfectly matched.
Heat flashed across her chest—then the sting. One seal. Then the other. Gone.
Relief loosened her knees, just enough to feel it. She waited for the surge—for ether, for power—but nothing came.
The Hunter went utterly still. Through their connection, she could almost sense it—his confusion rippling across the link like a flicker of static.
“There’s something else here,” he murmured, and with the softness of a feather brushing against her skin, his ether touched a spot deep inside her—light, so light.
