Blood and ash. That was the scent riding the wind as the forest roared awake.
Calyx's blade met Raven's magic mid-air, the force of it sending sparks into the trees. Lyra, eyes burning silver, summoned the runes beneath her skin—runes that had no name in any book, no safe translation.
They came from the relic. From him.
The blade arced again, but this time Lyra caught it mid-swing with a wall of raw energy. It cracked like glass, not because it broke, but because it was too powerful to be clean.
"You were always dangerous," Calyx spat, circling them. "But this—this is treason."
"No," Lyra said calmly. "This is truth."
Calyx lunged.
Raven moved like smoke—shifting between trees, striking with shadows that bit like flame. He wasn't just defending Lyra now. He was protecting the bond neither of them had asked for—but both had chosen.
And it was choosing them back.
A storm gathered overhead. Not of rain, but of memory. The relic, buried deep in Lyra's robes, pulsed with ancient rhythm. Her body trembled as more visions tried to push through—images of her younger self, bleeding under moonlight, calling to someone she hadn't yet met.
Raven.
It had always been Raven.
Calyx finally landed a strike—his blade grazing Raven's side. Not deep. But enough. Lyra screamed, fire crackling along her fingertips.
She didn't cast.
She commanded.
Roots tore from the ground. The old magic. The forest heard her pain and responded.
Calyx snarled and shattered the roots with a swing, but he was slowing.
"You're not fighting witches," Raven growled. "You're fighting fate."
The hunter hesitated.
And that's when the ground began to tremble.
From below, something ancient stirred—called by the binding spell Lyra had never meant to complete.
"What have you done?" Calyx demanded.
Lyra's lips parted, her voice distant. "I didn't do anything. It did."
The sky split—not with lightning, but light. A vertical tear of golden energy.
Calyx backed away.
Raven grabbed Lyra's hand.
Through the tear, they saw something not meant to be seen. A realm untouched by time. A throne of stars. A voice that echoed without sound:
The bond has awakened. The storm chooses you.
Calyx screamed something—maybe a warning—but they couldn't hear.
They were no longer just Raven and Lyra.
They were part of the storm now.
And it had a will of its own.