Silence fell over the district.
The streets stilled. The buildings settled, their warped angles slowly softening back into something resembling their old shapes. The hum inside Arielle steadied, a low, constant thrum that no longer threatened to overwhelm her.
But Kerys was gone. Not destroyed — vanished, her sigils extinguished like snuffed candles.
Selene slumped against a broken railing, their silver glow flickering dangerously. "She'll be back. Severers don't die easy. But you… you pushed her off the board, for now."
Draven's constructs dissolved, his sharp gaze settling on Arielle. "You understand what you just did, don't you? You didn't just fight her off. You woke the city. It won't go back to sleep now."
Arielle exhaled slowly, watching the faint violet light pulse along the cracks in the pavement. The city didn't feel like something she controlled. It felt… alive. A partner. A creature bound to her pulse, but not subservient to it.
"They'll come harder next time," she murmured. "The Conclave won't just send a Severer. They'll bring Spirefire. Enough to burn this whole district down to ash."
Selene pushed off the railing, their stitches weaving a faint barrier around their trembling hands. "Then we make the city harder to burn. If it's alive now, maybe it can protect itself."
Draven tilted his head, a faint smile ghosting his lips. "Or maybe we teach it to fight."
The hum beneath Arielle's ribs pulsed once, like an answer. She didn't know if the city could truly fight — but she knew one thing:
If the Conclave wanted a war, they'd have to face Starlight City itself.