Morning came with no peace.
The scroll containing the assassin's target list had been locked away in the central vault, but its weight lingered on everyone. Aryan paced outside the command tent, knuckles white around the hilt of his sword.
Inside, Bhairav read the name again. Out loud.
"General Adira."
He looked up at Aryan, eyes hard. "Where did you hear that name?"
Aryan stepped in, voice shaking. "She was my mother. She died when I was five. At least… that's what I was told."
Bhairav didn't answer for a long time. Then he pulled a leather-bound folder from a drawer. Inside were old documents—faded, smudged with ash.
"Your mother," he said finally, "was one of the first Beastbinders to touch an ancient scroll. She wasn't just a general. She was a founder of the Beastbinder Corps."
Aryan's breath caught. "Then why—"
"She went missing during the First Rift War. No body, no trace. Only this…" He slid a torn photo across the table. A woman in armor, smiling. Her beast, a massive winged feline, stood behind her. A toddler—Aryan—sat on her shoulders.
Aryan stared at it like it might vanish.
"So she might be alive?"
Bhairav looked grim. "The Ashborn don't name the dead. If they marked her, they either found her... or they're using her."
The Fire Ring – Training Grounds
Kiva stood on a stone pillar, surrounded by spiraling runes of flame. His beast, Shyra, perched above, watching calmly.
He spoke to Devran, who sat nearby, reading from three scrolls at once.
"He's different," Kiva said. "That Vanara… it's too calm. Too intelligent. That's not normal bonding. That's ancient blood."
"You mean like royal?" Devran asked.
Kiva shook his head. "No. Older. Maybe cursed."
Devran gave him a look. "You're still jealous."
"I'm cautious," Kiva said flatly. "There's a storm coming. I don't like not knowing who I'm fighting beside."
Outer Tents – That Night
Aryan couldn't sleep.
The image of the photo, of his mother's face—clearer now than ever before—burned behind his eyes.
Vaidehi found him sitting near the beast stables, staring at the stars.
"Did she fight for the Empire?" she asked softly.
"She built it," Aryan said. "Or so I'm told."
Vaidehi sat beside him. "My parents were diplomats. One served Suryan. One betrayed it. Now no one trusts me either."
They shared a silence.
Then Aryan asked, "Do you ever feel like your beast knows more than you do?"
Vaidehi smiled. "Sometimes I think Laksha dreams of skies I've never seen."
Aryan glanced at his Vanara. "Mine's dreaming now."
He reached out, touched its fur. It twitched but didn't wake.
Then Aryan frowned.
Something was wrong.
His fingers brushed against something cold—metal. Embedded in the Vanara's shoulder. A rune blade shard.
He leapt back.
"Vaidehi! Someone's tampered with him!"
She rushed to his side, her fan already drawn. Aryan pulled the shard free. The Vanara woke in a frenzy, eyes glowing red for a heartbeat—then dimming again.
Devran arrived just in time.
"That shard," he said, breathless, "it's a control sliver. Old Unbinder tech. They were trying to turn your beast against you."
Aryan stood up slowly.
And across the yard, from behind a tent, Kiva watched them.
Expression unreadable.