The Tribunal seeks the second half of the key.
The words were a brand seared into Ren’s mind. The quiet clarity he’d found evaporated, replaced by a cold, sharp fear that was far more focused than any rage. They didn't just want to cage the beast. They wanted to collar the keeper.
“We need to go. Now.” Ren’s voice was a low, urgent rasp. He shoved the folio at Kael, pointing at the frantic margin note.
Kael’s eyes scanned the text, his face hardening into a soldier’s mask. “The vessel. They’re after Lyra.” He didn’t ask if Ren was sure. The truth was in the chilling precision of it. The Tribunal’s moves were never blunt; they were surgical. They had tested Ren with the Echo, probed his stability with the Talon, and now they were going for the foundation upon which that stability was bei
