Elaris burned with tension the moment Ariya and Kiran returned.
Guards escorted them directly to the Council Hall, a tower of red glass at the city's heart. At its peak, seven high-ranking Guardians waited—each a master of an element, an era, or a battle no one dared to name aloud.
Lady Vaela stood at the center, arms crossed, face unreadable.
"You broke the Seal of Shala," she said flatly.
Ariya stood tall. "I didn't mean to. But something inside it… woke when I came close."
"Intent does not excuse consequence," said a deep voice. A bearded man with volcanic eyes stepped forward. "The last time a sealed being escaped, half of Elaris turned to ash."
Kiran moved beside her. "She didn't free it. The seal broke itself. It reacted to her power."
Another Council member, cloaked in wind, studied Ariya. "Or to her bloodline."
Ariya frowned. "You know something."
Vaela nodded. "There were rumors. Whispers of a bloodline tied to the ancient Void Wars. Your mother—Liera—was one of us once. But she disappeared when she learned the truth."
"What truth?"
"That she carried the Mark of the Dusk."
Ariya froze.
"She never told me…"
"Because she feared what it meant," Vaela said. "As do we."
---
Silence hung heavy in the hall.
Then the flame-eyed man stepped forward again. "The girl is unstable. She cannot stay."
"She is stronger than you know," Kiran said coldly.
"She is a threat!"
"I saved this city once already," Ariya snapped. "I faced the Trial. I fought the corrupted beast. I saw the one in the seal—he didn't attack. He warned me."
"Then you're even more dangerous," the wind Guardian said quietly.
Vaela raised a hand. "Enough."
Her gaze locked onto Ariya's. "You are not being cast out. But you will be watched. Closely. If another seal responds to you… we'll know this is fate, not accident."
Ariya took a slow breath. "I'll find the truth. About the seals. About my mother. About who I really am."
The Council parted in silence.
As she and Kiran walked out, he whispered, "That went better than I expected."
Ariya gave a bitter smile. "Then you must have expected them to kill me."
---
Back in her quarters, Ariya sat in silence.
From her bag, she pulled out the broken shard of the obelisk she'd picked up after the seal cracked.
It pulsed faintly in her palm.
> Power… or purpose…
She whispered to the shard, "What if I want both?"
It didn't answer.
But something inside her did.