The dust from the shattered creature slowly settled.
The old road became still again, like nothing had happened.
Lira stayed in Kael's arms, her body trembling.
"I thought… it was really a child," she whispered.
Kael held her tighter.
That's how it hunts, his intent answered softly. By trust.
The Seer looked down at the broken stones, his face dark.
"That thing wasn't meant to kill you," he said.
"It was meant to weaken you."
Lira looked up.
"We destroyed it."
The Seer nodded.
"Yes. But it still took something."
Kael stiffened.
Lira felt it instantly.
"Kael… what do you mean?"
The Seer turned toward them.
"The road does not hunt bodies.
It hunts resolve."
Lira's chest tightened.
She pressed her hand to her heart.
"I feel… strange."
Kael felt it too.
Not pain.
Not fear.
A hollow space.
Like something small had been pulled away.
Lira frowned.
"My confidence… it feels thinner."
The Seer nodded slowly.
"That is the cost.
The road steals certainty."
Lira's eyes widened.
"So every trap… every test…"
"Strips a little more from you," the Seer finished.
"Until you doubt yourself enough to fall."
Kael's jaw tightened.
Then we don't doubt, his intent pushed forward.
Lira felt it firm, protective.
She reached for his hand.
"I trust you," she said.
"Even if I doubt myself… I trust you."
The bond warmed instantly.
The hollow feeling eased just a little.
The Seer watched closely.
"Good. Trust shared through the bond can replace what was taken."
They continued down the road.
The sky darkened as the sun slipped away.
Shadows grew longer.
Lira walked carefully now, every step measured.
She didn't feel weaker
Just more aware.
Suddenly, she stopped.
"Kael… do you feel that?"
He did.
A pressure ahead.
Not hostile.
Watching.
The Seer slowed.
"We are close."
"Close to what?" Lira asked.
The Seer answered quietly:
"The next choice."
The road opened into a wide, empty space.
At its center stood a single stone marker.
No symbols.
No glow.
Just plain stone.
Lira felt uneasy.
"What is that?"
The Seer spoke softly.
"A boundary."
Kael stepped forward slightly.
Between what and what?
The Seer looked at him.
"Between walking away…
and stepping into the heir's design."
Lira's breath caught.
"So this was never about the boy…"
"No," the Seer said.
"This road was built to guide you here."
The air felt heavy.
Lira felt Kael's focus sharpen.
Whatever waited beyond that stone
They were meant to face it.
Together.