The moment it answered, the balance inside Aria shattered. The force crushing her from within did not disappear, but it no longer moved unchallenged. Something else surged up to meet it, something that did not carry the cold precision of the system.
This presence did not feel controlled but it felt aware. Aria’s body remained suspended for a brief second longer before the energy around her destabilized, tightening and snapping in uneven pulses. The pressure inside her chest shifted violently as the two forces collided, neither one yielding.
Her breathing was slowed despite the strain, not from calm, but from something forcing her body to adjust. Her eyes changed, no longer flickering between silver and shadow.
Kael pushed forward against the pressure that still filled the clearing, his
