The enclave was quiet when Kael returned, but an uneasy tension hung in the air. A group of survivors had arrived, seeking shelter. Their stories conflicted with the enclave's records, and whispers of mistrust spread quickly. Kael observed them with the Sight, seeing threads of fear, deceit, and desperation. He could sense some of their memories were fabricated, the energy around them fragmented and uneven.
Kael moved among them, cautious, learning to distinguish truth from pretense. The longer he observed, the more he noticed inconsistencies small hesitations, subtle shifts in soul-light, a flicker of concealment here, a false memory there. The Sight gave him insight into the invisible battles being waged in the minds and hearts of the living.
By nightfall, he discovered one had already begun manipulating the dead for his own gain, a desperate attempt to seize power. Kael intervened, using his Sight to redirect the rogue soul threads and restore balance, silently teaching the interloper a lesson he would not forget. The rogue fell back, trembling, realizing that Kael's command was absolute, yet tempered by restraint.
Kael spent hours ensuring no lingering traces of tampering remained, carefully repairing the threads of the dead affected by the rogue's interference. Exhausted, he finally returned to his quarters, reflecting on the fragile balance of trust, control, and morality that now governed both the living and the dead.