The Shade stood on four legs.

  For several heartbeats, it did nothing but stand.

  The new body was dense and heavy. The limbs were thicker than before, and their claws dug into the earth without effort. It shifted its weight once, then again to adjust its balance. The tail dragged behind it at first, then lifted slightly as new muscle memory settled in.

  It took a step.

  Then another.

  The motion was measured, almost cautious. Each stride sent faint tremors through the ground as it tested their joints and tendons. The Shade did not need to walk at all, flying was much faster, but learning how to walk didn't harm anyone would it?

  After becoming satisfied of its strides, it crouched.

  The Shade's wings unfolded then flapped with tremendous strenght.

  The air screamed as it launched skyward again, leaving a crater behind where it had stood.

  It did not fly far.

  The land beneath it was dense with lesser life.

  It found something interesting very quickly.

  Wolf-like Dusk-creatures prowled through a broken stretch of woodland, their forms lean and sinewy, their hides were mottled with dark growths that pulsed faintly beneath the skin. They were hunters, but not apex ones. Just small survivors that fed on what remained after stronger things passed through.

  They felt the Shade before they saw it.

  Sharp howls rose and the pack tightened into formation as they tracked the shadow crossing above them.

  The Shade folded its wings and fell down.

  The impact was catastrophic.

  The earth detonated outward as the creature struck like a living meteor, trees snapped and stone shattered as the ground collapsed beneath it. A shockwave rolled through the clearing and threw severa wolves from their feet.

  Dust and debris filled the air.

  When it cleared, the Shade stood at the center of the crater with their wings half-spread and their head lowered.

  The wolves regrouped quickly.

  They circled the crater's edge, growling, hackles raised, eyes burning with feral defiance. Their Corruption flared brighter now, reacting to the presence before them. Some lunged forward only to stop short, instincts screaming warnings they could not articulate.

  The Shade lifted its head.

  "RRRRRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR"

  A wave crushed outward through air and earth alike, rattling bone and shaking leaves from distant branches. The roar carried Corrupted Authority with it and forced itself into every receptive crack it could find.

  The wolves froze.

  Their howls died mid-throat.

  The corruption inside them ignited.

  Black veins surged across their hides and spread like fractured glass. Their bones reshaped with wet, grinding sounds. Jaws elongated, teeth thickened into serrated fangs.

  Their eyes were clouded in black, then cleared again, burning with the same amber malice as the Shade's own.

  One of the wolves convulsed violently, its body seized as it tried to pull away. their limbs twisted unevenly, the corruption surged too fast and tore the creature's muscles as it fought the intrusion.

  The Shade moved.

  In a blur of motion, it closed the distance and drove a claw into the ground beside the struggling creature's head. The impact alone pinned it in place. The Shade leaned closer, its presence pressing down like a crushing weight.

  The resistance broke.

  The wolf's body realigned with a sickening series of cracks. Its transformation completed, spines locking into place, posture lowering into something more obedient.

  Silence followed.

  One by one, the wolves lowered themselves and bowed their heads toward the being at the center of the crater. Their breathing synchronized and their movements stilled.

  There were many of them.

  Too many even.

  The Shade straightened and folded its wings fully across its back, as it surveyed what now belonged to it. The pack waited without moving a single muscle.

  The Shade turned its head toward the horizon.

  Toward denser life.

  The pack rose as one.

  Without a sound, they followed.

  Meanwhile in Almati

  The eastern rampart had been cleared for instruction.

  Three magic cannons stood along the stone edge, their frames bolted deep into the reinforced masonry. Thick rune-etched bands wrapped their barrels, each line glowing faintly as magic circulated through the structure.

  Rami wore her usual battle gear and kept the messy ponytail from last time.

  She stood among a group of Magus arranged in a loose semicircle, other Magis were next to the canon. Safe to say, she stood out like a sore thumb since every Magi present wore academy-issued uniforms and the armour parts that came with it.

  Rami, however, wore the same light armor she had used when going into Kresha. Naro had replaced the heavily damaged parts and repaired what could be repaired.

  'Having a fiancé that knows handiwork and forging was a precious boon!' She thought while smiling.

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  Rami's hands were folded behind her back as she watched the senior Magus from Zyr demonstrate the firing sequence.

  He stood at the front, tall and thin with slicked back black hair. He was wrapped in layered robes reinforced with metal threading. His scarf fluttered in the wind as he spoke without raising his voice.

  "Each cannon requires eight Magi minimum," he said. "Two to stabilize the core rune. Four to regulate output. Two for emergency venting. You do exactly as instructed."

  She crossed her arms.

  'Eight Magus...Per canons??'

  What the hell was this inefficient bullshit?

  Runes hummed as they were activated, overlapping vibrations buzzed through the stone platform beneath her boots. The Magi that were next to the canons moved in practiced lines, adjusting angles, feeding mana into conduits, checking inscriptions for hairline fractures.

  A few of the Magi nodded while taking notes.

  Rami did not do any of that.

  She was watching the cannon itself. The way the runes flared unevenly when mana density spiked, the delay between command and discharge, the fact that the structure drank power greedily but returned it in a narrow, inflexible arc.

  'This thing is made for Ascendants, was it one who designed that thing? Do they not know our mana pools are much smaller than theirs???"

  When the man finished, he turned toward them with a satisfied look. "Any questions?"

  She raised her hand.

  He hesitated, clearly displeased, but gestured for her to speak.

  "What happens after the first detonation wave?" she asked.

  The man did not look at her. "We reposition."

  "And if the Shade doesn't come alone?" she pressed. "If it brings Dusk-creatures with it, or splits its attention?"

  He finally glanced at her, eyes flat. "Then we prioritize the Shade, simple as."

  Rami narrowed her eyes. "Then that leaves everything else to who?" she asked. "The mundane infantry? The Civilians? Naro and Khiel can't be everywhere, as far as I'm concerned."

  A few Magi nearby slowed their movements and listened to the argument.

  The man scowled.

  "The cannons are not meant to solve every problem, we as Magi, act as supports to target the biggest threat. We have Mine-Runes anyways."

  'Those things are one-time use only!'

  Rami shook her head. "That only works if the biggest one is alone. Do you really think the Shade is a noble creature that fights fair??"

  His lip curled. "We have reports that it moves alone."

  She raised an eyebrow "What reports exactly? As far as I'm concerned we have close to zero information on whether it moves alone or not."

  The man exhaled sharply and sneered. "You desert-born always think you know better, why can't you just stay in your place?"

  The nearby students gasped, and Rami's eyes widened.

  He turned away, already dismissing her, and felt the pull at his neck.

  Rami grabbed his scarf and yanked him back hard enough that his boots scraped stone.

  The cannons went quiet.

  She stood close enough that he could see his own reflection in her eyes.

  "Who gave you the right to talk to me like that?" she asked calmly.

  His face flushed in anger. "Release me immediately."

  "I don't want to." She said with a small, sharp smile.

  "You've been throwing those comments all day. I let them pass because we're preparing for war, but you don't get to insult me and then ignore what I'm saying."

  "Your plan has holes, Big ones in fact. You drain your Magi dry on fixed weapons. You burn your mines in one exchange. You assume the enemy will politely line up and die...And you call that a strategy?"

  She tightened her grip just a little.

  "And you...you hide behind affiliations and old titles. As far as I'm concerned mister Zoldik, you have never fought on Authority-heavy ground. You haven't watched civilians panic when plans collapse, all that you're telling us are things you read in books when you were a kid and instruct the same bullshit to us."

  Silence.

  Someone swallowed nearby.

  She let go and stepped back.

  The man adjusted his scarf with shaking hands. His voice was cold when he spoke. "You are relieved from cannon duty."

  Rami laughed bitterly "Oh, you're cutting off a fighter...in times of war?!"

  "ENOUGH," he snapped. "YOU WILL STAND DOW-"

  Much later

  Astor found her sitting on the rampart edge, legs dangling over the city.

  "So..." she said without looking at him. "Apparently I'm grounded."

  Astor sighed. "You didn't make it easy when you slapped him."

  She glanced at him with an amused smile. "Was I wrong?"

  Astor chuckled.

  "No," he admitted. "You weren't, The canons are indeed faulty, but with Forgewright gone I can't really do much about it."

  He sat next to her. "Other than that, Zoldyk made clear xenophobic comments in front of many witnesses and abused his status to make a biased decision."

  She finally turned to him. "Then why am I the one getting punished? All he got was a slap on the wrist by you."

  Astor rested his forearms on his knees. "He's backed by two council families that distribute resources back here, if I overruled him openly, we'd lose more than we gain."

  Rami looked back at the city with a small pout. "So stupid."

  Astor nodded. "Indeed it is."

  They sat there in silence while the cannons hummed behind them, powerful and rigid and blind.

  Eventually Rami spoke again. "I can still fight, right?"

  Earth-shifter hummed. "You can, he only relieved you of canon duty. Other than that, you're free to do as you please but..."

  He looked back at her. "How do you plan on fighting?"

  "..."

  "Do you know why Rit's spells are much more advanced than Zyr's?" Rami asked.

  Astor thought for a bit. "I guess it's because they're more focused on magic weaponry than magic itself, why?"

  Her eyes widened. "Oh...I kinda expected you to not know so I could be a smartass..."

  The Magi shrugged and stuck her tongue out. "Too bad!"

  Rami continued with a bitter expression. "The problem with Zyr is that they're too rigid in their teachings, that's what I noticed back at the academy with Naro...not that he cared about magic that much."

  She raised her index finger and gestured with it while talking. "You can ask a Magus from Zyr to do a fireball spell and fire it at a target, but if you ask them to make the fireball rotate around itself, compress it into something akin to an arrow and fire at a precise point, they'll think you're crazy and avoid you."

  Rami leaned back, both from exhaustion and to also stretch her core. "Gaonians have been around for thousands of years, and somehow we have not learned from each other that much despite our 'harmony amongst kingdoms'."

  She regarded the city again with half-closed eyes. "They say the Devourer corrupted the Guardians but I think it corrupted the mind of the people too, maybe not in the same way...but still."

  Astor finally spoke "I agree with that, but you must also understand that Gaonians were never perfect."

  Rami turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow "How do you know?"

  The green haired Ascendant stood up. "A certain gentle giant told me stories when I snuck out of my parents' house to meet him."

  He waved at her and started to leave. "Don't forget though, no matter what you and Naro do, I will always have your back. bye Rami."

  She waved at him back. "Bye Astor."

  Rami looked at the ground.

  'Never perfect...huh?'

  Some time later, in a cozy house

  "Rami, do you remember someone named 'Khaleid'?"

  Rami looked at him with an empty expression.

  His eyes widened 'Guardians please no-'

  "Yeah the guy who threw a tantrum seven years ago at the sword trial, I was there you know? Why are you asking that?"

  Naro blinked twice. "Huh? I uh...expected you to forget about it."

  She frowned "How could I forget about him? Right after I talked to you after it, he tried going after me until I confessed to you three years ago!"

  "Ah..that's right..."

  Rami exhaled and went toward her room.

  'Wait how can she remember about him?'

  Naro had theorized the reason he could remember about him was because Spike couldn't directly deal with his fate, as the guardian himself said that he couldn't read it.

  He put his fingers on his chin and frowned. 'He must've done something about Khaleid's fate somehow, something that made the world except Rami and I forget about him.

  That still didn't explain why she could remember about Khaleid, however. Was it because she was close to Naro for a long time and thus, her fate became as unreadable as his, or was it because she broke her fate somehow?

  Unaware of his internal turmoil, she came out of the room, holding a strange small device in her hand that had many Runes engraved on it despite the size of it, it kinda looked like an antenna.

  "What is that?" Naro asked his fiancée in front of him with a raised eyebrow.

  "This is a 'communicator'," she said, "I already gave one to Yidra and Astor. Agir already has one since he's the one who made them."

  He took it from her hand and inspected it. "It kind of looks like the device Spike gave you, heck you even gave it the same name!"

  She nodded with a smile. "It has the same function, we'll be able to communicate from a long distance, you just have to put your finger over that rune here!"

  Naro's eyes narrowed a bit 'Her eyes are gleaming weirdly, her smile is a bit far on the left...'

  It could be mistaken as excitement, but Naro knew this expression too well.

  "You have a devious plan in mind. Don't you, Rami?" He asked her with a cheeky smile.

  Rami's eyes widened, then settled as she realized she could not really hide anything from him.

  She sighed. "Yeah, I'm planning a revolution."

  Naro stared at her.

  Then continued staring.

  Then stared some more.

  "...What?"