The Falls roared long after he was gone.
Water thundered down twin cliffs like the world splitting open, mist swallowing the space where Raiden had hovered only moments before. Lightning still ghosted faintly in the air — not visible anymore, but felt. Like static clinging to skin after a storm passed too close.
I didn't move.
Couldn't.
His words replayed in my head on a loop I couldn't shut off.
The Water King.
The smiling welcome.
The open sanctuary.
The careful neutrality.
The subtle tension from Tadewi I had noticed.
Still waters hide sharp things beneath.
My stomach twisted.
Storms didn't leave silence behind.
They left fractures.
I stared into the mist where he'd vanished, heart pounding not from fear — but from the weight of what he'd handed me.
Because he hadn't just come to threaten me.
He hadn't just come to declare his claim to the Earth Relic.
He'd given me information.
A weapon.
A destabilizer.
A truth that, if real, could shatter sanctuary itself.
And then the second realization hit.
He hadn't given me one gift.
He'd given me two.
The messenger.
Proof he could reach me anywhere.
Proof his shadows were always there.
Listening.
Watching.
Tracking my movements.
My jaw tightened.
That wasn't kindness.
That was positioning.
Control through knowledge.
And yet…
If he wanted me destabilized, he'd succeeded.
I finally forced myself to breathe and turned away from the basin.
Muir was waiting where I'd left him.
Of course he was.
He stood at the upper ridge, arms folded loosely, posture relaxed but alert — watching the mist like he expected Raiden to burst back through it at any moment.
When he saw me approaching alone, he straightened slightly.
A crooked smile tugged at his mouth.
"Well," he called lightly, "you're alive. I feel like that's a good sign."
I stopped a few feet from him.
Didn't answer right away.
Because the words caught in my throat.
And that alone made his expression shift.
His smile didn't vanish — but it faltered. Just enough for someone who knew him well to notice.
I usually had something ready.
A jab.
A smirk.
A sarcastic comeback.
Today…
Nothing came.
His brow lifted slowly.
"…Okay," he said after a second. "No witty response. That's concerning."
I forced a small exhale through my nose.
"He didn't try to kill me," I said simply.
"That's personal growth," Muir replied dryly.
I almost smiled.
Almost.
But the weight in my chest smothered it before it could surface.
He noticed that too.
Of course he did.
His eyes sharpened slightly as he studied my face — not invasive, just observant.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Nothing," I said quickly.
Too quickly.
His brow lifted higher.
"Lyra."
"I said nothing."
He didn't argue.
Didn't push.
But I could feel the questions stacking behind his silence like pressure building behind a dam.
"Alright," he said after a moment. "We'll pretend I believe that."
I turned toward the cliff edge.
"Can we just go back?"
He hesitated — not because he wanted to stay, but because he knew I was deflecting.
But eventually he nodded.
"Yeah," he said quietly. "We can go back."
The flight home was quieter than any we'd shared before.
Usually, Muir filled the sky with commentary — jokes about wind currents, complaints about cloud density, insults aimed at my flying posture just to provoke me into responding.
Today…
He didn't say much.
And neither did I.
Below us, the Water Kingdom stretched in serene blues and silvers — canals winding through the capital like veins, boats gliding in slow, orderly patterns.
Sanctuary.
It still looked like sanctuary from above.
But Raiden's voice echoed in my skull like a fracture spreading beneath ice.
The one who started it all…
I tightened my grip unconsciously.
Muir felt it.
"You're digging your claws in," he said mildly.
I loosened them instantly.
"Sorry."
He angled his wing slightly, adjusting our altitude.
"Did he threaten you?"
"No."
"Did he try to bargain?"
"No."
He was quiet for a moment longer.
"…Then what did he do?"
I swallowed.
Gave the safest answer I could.
"He talked."
Muir huffed faintly.
"Yeah. That tracks. He always did like speeches."
I didn't correct him.
Didn't tell him what the speech contained.
Because saying it out loud would make it real.
Would make me responsible for what came next.
The refugee settlement came into view along the coastal plateau — canvas shelters fluttering in sea wind, prayer strands swaying between carved posts.
Air Nation survivors rebuilding what they could.
People who depended on Water Kingdom protection.
If Raiden was lying…
Bringing suspicion to the king could fracture their safety.
If he was telling the truth…
They children were already in danger.
My chest tightened.
Muir landed smoothly on the cliff edge near Tadewi's residence, lowering his wing to let me dismount.
I slid off his back, boots hitting stone.
He shifted beside me moments later.
I didn't move right away.
Didn't walk forward.
Just stood there staring toward the refugee dwellings.
Muir noticed immediately.
"Lyra."
I didn't turn.
"I just need some space," I said quietly.
He exhaled through his nose.
"That's not entirely an answer."
"It's the only one I've got right now."
Silence stretched between us.
I expected him to argue.
To push.
To demand clarity.
Instead, he stepped closer — not blocking my path, just anchoring himself nearby.
"Whatever it is," he said, voice quieter now, "you don't have to carry it alone."
That almost broke me.
Because I was about to do exactly that.
I swallowed hard and forced my expression steady before turning to face him.
"I know."
He searched my face another long moment — reading things I didn't want read.
But eventually, he nodded.
"Alright," he said. "Space."
He stepped back.
Didn't follow when I turned away.
Didn't call after me.
But I could feel his gaze on my back the entire time I walked toward Tadewi's dwelling.
The wind picked up as I crossed the plateau.
Sea spray rode the air currents, cool against my skin — grounding, steadying, helping me think past the emotional static still buzzing in my chest.
I needed clarity.
Not comfort.
Not reassurance.
Clarity.
Muir couldn't give me that right now.
He was too close to the problem.
Too emotionally tied.
If Raiden's claim was false, telling Muir would plant doubt where none needed to exist.
If it was true…
He deserved to hear it carefully, not in the aftermath of shock.
Tadewi, though—
Tadewi understood politics.
Power structures.
Manipulation.
And she'd already been wary of the Water King from the beginning.
I slowed near the carved stone steps leading into her residence.
Willows doing I'm assuming.
Lanterns swayed gently outside the entrance, chiming softly in the sea wind.
Inside, I could already feel her presence — calm, centered, watchful.
She knew I was coming.
She always did.
I paused just outside the doorway.
Not from hesitation.
From the weight of what I was about to bring inside.
Because if Raiden was right—
Sanctuary wasn't sanctuary.
It was camouflage.
And if the Water King was truly at the head of the trafficking network…
Then every child taken.
Every ship unaccounted for.
Every rumor Tadewi had uncovered—
All of it traced back to the throne protecting us.
My stomach twisted again.
I reached inward instinctively.
The thread between Raiden and me pulsed faintly in response — distant but present.
Unsettling.
He'd shaken my footing deliberately.
Given me truth wrapped in chaos.
A gift meant to destabilize.
Or prepare.
I still didn't know which.
I pushed the thread away and stepped inside.
Tadewi sat at the low table near the center of the room, scrolls spread neatly before her, tea steaming gently at her side.
She looked up the moment I entered.
And immediately knew something was wrong.
"The meeting did not go as planned," she said calmly.
I exhaled once.
"No," I admitted.
Her gaze sharpened slightly.
"Sit."
I did.
And for the first time since leaving the Falls, I allowed the weight of Raiden's words to settle fully.
Because this conversation—
This was the moment the next storm began forming.
Not in the sky.
In politics.
In trust.
In sanctuary itself.
And the worst part?
I still didn't know if the truth he'd given me was meant to save lives…
Or shatter them.
But either way—
I was going to have to act on it.
Because some gifts couldn't be ignored.
And Raiden had just handed me one that could drown kingdoms.