The flickering torchlight along Brinehook's upper ridge swayed gently in the wind, casting amber glows across the stone walls and winding stairs. Zayn leaned against the rail of the observation platform, watching the distant field where the last of the beast-tag teams cleaned up the remaining hazard from the Trial of the Hunt. His muscles still ached. A faint echo of Emberpulse flickered in his palm before fading.
Nala stepped beside him, arms folded as she stared into the quiet distance.
"That last seal mark... it flared too strong," she murmured.
Zayn nodded. He could feel it too. His Aetheroid core had pulsed with more than just energy. It had rippled outward, a resonance neither clean nor expected. Something had cracked loose during that fight, something raw, like the shell of his core couldn't contain the full depth of what stirred beneath.
"It wasn't just Aether," he admitted. "It felt... colder. Sharper."
Nala didn't respond right away. The silence stretched.
"Someone saw it," she finally said.
He turned to her.
"Who?"
She motioned subtly. A pair of elders in deep green robes, trimmed with arc-threaded patterns, stood at a balcony level higher than theirs. They weren't speaking, only observing. But Zayn could feel their attention like a weight against his spine.
"Local overseers," Nala said. "They weren't at the start of the Trials. They arrived halfway through the Hunt."
Zayn looked away, jaw tight. "Do they know what I am?"
"No," she replied. "But they know what you're not."
The wind picked up. Bells chimed faintly along the rooftops.
Below, the townspeople were gathering again. Brinehook's market square had transformed into a celebration space. A bonfire had been lit. Food stalls steamed with spiced meat, saltfruit juice, and syrup-wrapped seedcakes. Children darted between barrels, their laughter ringing off the stone.
Nala tilted her head. "Come on. If they're going to whisper about you, might as well be while your hands are full."
Zayn chuckled, tension easing slightly. "Alright."
They descended together, blending into the evening pulse of life.
The celebration was more than festive. It was ritual. Those who passed the Trials were invited into a forming circle beneath the bonfire light, where an elder marked a symbol on each participant's wrist using molten ink from an Aether-warmed brazier. When Zayn stepped forward, the elder hesitated a second longer than with the others.
"Your core," she said quietly. "It pulses outside our lines."
Zayn held her gaze. "Still got me through."
She didn't smile, but she marked his wrist with the ink. The pattern shimmered gold for a moment before cooling into a dull, silvery loop.
Nala joined him again near one of the flame bowls where pulseberry cider was passed around. He accepted a cup, the liquid fizzy with tiny bubbles of reactive vapor.
Around them, music began. A stringed instrument Zayn didn't recognize echoed through the canyon, slow and resonant. A few of the locals began dancing, not the kind of celebration rooted in chaos, but one of rhythm, like honoring memory through motion.
Nala's eyes lit slightly. "These kinds of nights... they help people forget. Even for a while."
Zayn nodded, then paused as a flicker passed through his core again. The cider cup in his hand trembled.
"Something's... pushing inside," he whispered.
Nala looked sharply at him.
Before either could react, a deep gong rang from one of the towers.
A voice followed, urgent, panicked.
"Containment breach. South basin cellblock. All active Ascendants, converge. Level Two threat."
Zayn froze. "What did they have in containment?"
Nala was already moving. "I don't know. But we're not going to find out by standing still."
They sprinted toward the lower stairs, weaving past confused townsfolk who were just realizing something was wrong.
By the time they reached the southern quarter, smoke was rising.
A guard slammed into the wall near them, his armor cracked and chest heaving. Another was being pulled out of the rubble by a mechanical exosuit.
Aellor appeared at the breach gate, cloak torn.
"Vaultbeast," he growled. "Was dormant. Something woke it."
The south basin held containment cells for captured beasts and unstable relics. Whatever had broken loose wasn't just strong... it had adapted.
Zayn peered through the breach and saw the creature.
Tall. Twisted. Four-limbed with backward joints and tusks shaped like curled bone. Its chest bore a cracked core-plate. Relic fragments jutted from its sides. Its eyes, if they could be called that... were a hollow glow.
[Entity Detected: Aether-Bound Aberrant - Class C] [Condition: Core Fusion Instable]
Nala summoned her veil instantly, pulse rings swirling around her arms. "It's core-bonded to something unstable. That's not a wild beast. That's engineered."
Zayn activated Space Warp, closing the distance in a blink, striking down with Emberpulse.
The flame burst hit... but the beast twisted unnaturally, letting the attack pass through thin membranes of its chest. Its body wasn't fully solid.
It retaliated.
Zayn barely rolled under the counterstrike. The wind from the swing cracked the stone beside him.
"Don't strike direct," Nala called. "We need to pressure the joints."
Zayn dashed again, this time feinting left and triggering Aetherflow Step to glide under the beast's claw. He struck at the inner knee.
Aether flared.
The beast staggered.
Nala hit it with a burst of pulse force to the head.
It roared, spun, and just for a moment, its roar didn't sound beastlike. It sounded fractured. Like layered voices trying to escape.
Zayn hesitated.
The sound triggered something inside him. Not memory. Instinct.
The Aetheroid core flared again.
But it wasn't flame this time.
It was the old cold. Null energy.
Invisible to most. But not to the beast.
It turned to him with sudden clarity. Its core mirrored his pulse for a heartbeat, then shrieked and charged.
Zayn reacted too late.
The blow struck him square in the chest, hurling him across the breach.
He hit the far wall hard, his vision blurring. He felt the surge of something vile pressing inside. His body convulsed once, then again. Energy leaked outward from his core... black strands, barely visible. Nala's eyes widened.
"Zayn!" she shouted.
He gasped.
[Warning: Core Signature Fluctuation]
[Null Compression Detected]
[Stability at 62%...]
He forced himself to stand. A thin trail of dark mist curled from his fingers.
The elders above, now watching from the high terrace, stepped back.
One of them whispered. "He's not Aether-born. He's something else."
Zayn felt the pressure rise. The air vibrated with judgment.
The beast charged again—but this time, Nala blocked its path.
She released a full Veil Shockwave, her new skill drawn from the bond between them.
The wave hit the creature mid-charge, disrupting its form enough for Zayn to move again.
He didn't hesitate.
He leapt high, blade raised.
Pulsekind Blade: Active.
He struck down, through the crack in its relic-plated spine.
The creature spasmed, then collapsed into light and fragments.
Silence followed.
The guards stepped forward, cautiously.
Aellor approached last, eye narrowed.
"You held it back," he said. "But that wasn't Aether you used at the end."
Zayn straightened, wiping the black mist from his palm.
"I did what I had to."
Aellor's lens spun again. "We'll need to talk. Soon."
The crowd behind them had grown. Some looked in awe. Others... in fear.
Zayn turned to Nala.
"Did I lose it?" he asked quietly.
She shook her head. "No. You held the line."
But her eyes lingered on the fading mist that still drifted around his shoulders.