The cavern was silent.
The storm of binding had faded, yet the air still throbbed with unseen rhythm. The lotus burned faintly upon Draven's chest, pulsing in time with his heart. Feyra crouched at his side, emerald light threading her fur, her sharp eyes alive with new clarity. Stonehide loomed behind, plates veined with glowing runes, its tail coiled with restrained power.
Draven exhaled, steadying himself.
The Codex stirred.
A page unfurled in light, bark and rune woven together, etched with words that appeared as if carved by unseen hands.
[Genesis Codex — Page One]
Name: Solen Draven
Age: 23
Race: Human
Status: Bound • Active
Abilities:
Minor Healing — Lotus mark pulses, knitting shallow wounds and easing fatigue.
Summon Bonded Beast — Recall/swap companions across short range; resonance link grants temporary synergy.
Remark:
"No chains. Only choice."
Title:
Bearer of Life — Seed Blooming
Passive: Enhanced vitality regeneration.
Passive: Healing effects amplified for bonded and linked beasts.
Another page opened, glowing with Feyra's essence.
[Genesis Codex — Page Two]
Feyra — Bonded Beast
Rank: Noble
Type: Fox-like
Abilities:
Healing Pulse — Sends waves of life-energy to mend shallow wounds and refresh vitality.
Verdant Step — Sudden dash leaving pawprints that restore allies who step in them.
Spirit Bond (Minor) — Shares danger-sense pulse with Draven.
Note:
Her evolution into Noble was catalyzed by Codex resonance.
A third page flared with Stonehide's form.
[Genesis Codex — Page Three]
Stonehide — Bonded Beast
Rank: Noble
Type: Stonehide Lizard
Abilities:
Living Bulwark — Plates harden with emerald runes, forming a shield against great force.
Earthrend Slam — Tail strike cracks the ground, staggering foes.
Runic Carapace — Runes spread across scales, reducing damage and shielding allies briefly.
Note:
First true Noble bulwark under Draven's command.
Brief lines flickered across the bark, faint and incomplete.
Linked Bonds (Sanctuary):
Luma (Goat): Wounds sealed; latent growth awakened.
Hound (Scarred): Limp eased; reflexes sharpened.
Mule: Carry capacity doubled; stamina increased.
Ox: Vitality restored; strength steadied.
Birds (Bent-winged): Wings healed; feathers glowing faint.
Pig (Ear-scarred): Flesh renewed; hide toughened.
Another page bloomed, not of bonds but of knowledge itself.
[Genesis Codex — Knowledge Page]
Hierarchy of Beasts
Wildings — Feral, unbound. Lowest rung, no structured gifts.
Servitors — First stable bond form; one gift.
Nobles — Evolved companions; multiple gifts, higher intelligence.
Kings — Regional monarchs; ecosystems bend to will.
Lords — Rare; reshape entire environments.
Overlords — Catastrophic; disasters incarnate.
Apex Beings — Embodiments of Laws; tied to Cosmic Fragments.
Draven lowered his hand, the glow fading. His pulse raced not with fear but with understanding. The Codex was no longer a relic he carried — it was a mirror to his vow, a promise etched into existence.
Then the silence shattered.
Chains rattled in the shadows.
A dozen Wildings lurched into view, their bodies twisted grotesquely. Bone jutted from angles it never should, hides marked with phantom shackles glowing faint green. Their eyes burned hollow, pupils drowned in white fire. They moved like beasts, yet their every motion was jerked, pulled, as if unseen hands were dragging them by those spectral chains.
"Feyra! Stonehide!" Draven barked, the command not of a master but of a comrade.
Feyra sprang first, a blur of motion. Verdant Step left pawprints of light in her wake, each one flaring as she dashed through the horde. One Wilding lunged; her claws ripped across the chain that bound its chest, and the phantom link shattered with a scream. Healing sparks scattered in her trail, sewing closed the cuts she had already taken.
Stonehide thundered forward, scales flaring with runes. It smashed into the pack like a boulder alive, Earthrend Slam cracking stone underfoot, sending two Wildings sprawling as the cavern shook. A third beast clawed down at its neck — Stonehide's Runic Carapace blazed, runes hardening until the claws broke like brittle glass.
Still they came. The chains dragged them forward.
Draven's teeth clenched. He could have stood behind his beasts, let them take the fight, but that was never his path. He seized a rusted halberd from rubble, its shaft pitted with age but still solid, the blade dull yet cruel.
A Wilding lunged past Feyra's flash — Draven met it head-on. The halberd's weight jarred his arms as it smashed through bone and chain alike. The phantom shackle cracked, bursting into sparks of green. Feyra's Healing Pulse rippled outward, closing the gouge on his shoulder even as blood slicked his sleeve.
Another beast came low. Draven twisted, slammed the haft across its jaw, then drove the tip into its chest. Stonehide crashed beside him, tail whipping through two more with thunderous force. For a heartbeat, man and beasts moved as one rhythm, three heartbeats syncing under the Codex's glow.
When the last Wilding fell, its phantom shackles burning away into ash, the cavern stilled again. The freed creature shuddered, its hollow eyes clearing for a breath. It stumbled back into the dark, no chains left to drag it down.
The Codex pulsed once more, bark glowing faint on its open page.
Bond, not mark. Choice, not chain.
Draven leaned against the halberd, chest heaving, the lotus burning at his heart. Feyra pressed close, Stonehide's bulk shielded him, their breaths ragged but alive. Together they stood, the silence wrapping them not as absence but as recognition — the silence after a vow made real.
But this silence did not last.
From somewhere deeper in the Ruins came a muffled echo — metal striking stone, footsteps too steady to belong to beasts. The air trembled with faint shouts, distant but approaching.
Draven lifted his head, breath slowing, grip tightening on the halberd. The Codex at his side fluttered faintly, as though turning toward the sound.
He whispered into the quiet:
"They're here."