The Windless Child was gone.
His place on the training field lay undisturbed—no footprints, no residual distortion.
Only stillness.
The Covenant convened an emergency assembly.
"They removed him," a disciple whispered. "For safety."
Vale stood rigid.
"Where?" he asked no one.
No answer came.
Vale stepped outside the hall.
He raised his hand—not to summon wind, not to call sound.
Nothing responded.
For the first time since his cultivation began, Vale felt it clearly:
The wind was not silent.
It was withholding.
Elder Rin joined him. "This is the end of Resonance," he said quietly.
Vale nodded.
"And the beginning?" Vale asked.
Rin looked toward the horizon. "A path with no echo. And no protection."
Vale closed his eyes.
The wind passed him by.
He did not chase it.