"Ren." Julius's voice reached him as if coming from very far away, though he stood only a few meters distant. "What's happening?"
Ren turned slowly to look at his allies. Julius, Selphira, Zhao, all of them watched him with expressions of concern and fascination at the same time.
"The artifacts," Ren said, his voice strangely distant, as if he were speaking through an echo. "They all seek to reach the castles."
"How do you know that?" Selphira asked, her eyes studying the patterns spreading across his skin.
"Because I'm connected to them," Ren replied simply. "And they're connected to me."
Selphira and Julius exchanged a look loaded with meaning.
"Are you... still you?" Julius asked directly.
Ren considered the question carefully.
The roots pulsed more strongly, and he felt that the moment of decision was now. The hybrid power that had been accumulating in his system had reached a critical point. Every cell in his body thrummed with energy that demanded release.
