Page 56 of Fourth

Around them, acrowd had gathered.

Hundreds of Elaroins stood in near-silence. Tall, sharp-edged warriors with skin in every shade from pale pearl to deep slate, each marked by unique striping and shimmer. Their ranks dominated the space, awall of silent judgment and strength.Among them were a few women, positioned at the outer edges of the gathering. Their presence was quieter, more observant, not participants but acknowledged witnesses. It wasn’t fear. It wasn’t reverence. It was the kind of watchful, predatory quiet Maya had come to expect from Riv’En’s people.

Third stood to their right, flanked by Fifth and Sixth. Their expressions were set in stone. All of Alpha Unit had gathered here this morning, with Anya beside Third. She gave Maya an encouraging smile.

Vaeyra stepped forward.

Her bare feet glided across the polished stone platform without a whisper of sound. Her dark skin gleamed like oil poured over silver, intricate black markings swirling up her arms and across her exposed throat.

Maya swallowed as the second chime sounded, deeper this time. It vibrated straight down her spine.

“This is the ancient law,” Vaeyra began. Her voice carried clear across the platform, calm and resonant, as if woven into the air itself. It wasn’t technology, Maya realized. It was the planet itself, carrying Vaeyra’s words like a living speaker system.”It is for the bond. For the future.”

Maya’s throat tightened, her breath locked halfway in her chest. She flexed her hands slowly, as though forcing blood back into fingers gone numb. Her gaze caught on a flicker of light rippling through the resonance stones, and for a heartbeat, she focused only on that, connecting herself to the shifting silver rather than the storm building aroundher.

Vaeyra turned her head slowly, scanning the gathered warriors, her gaze a quiet command in itself. When she looked back to Maya and Riv’En, something in her posture changed.Her chin tilting ever so slightly, as if acknowledging them not as individuals, but as something larger.

“When Riv’En, assassin of Alpha Legion, returned to Elaros,” Vaeyra continued, “he did not come as warrior alone. He came marked by anomaly. By change. By bond.”

A ripple moved through the crowd. Faint. Measured.

“His heat flashes marked him unfit,” Vaeyra said, voice sharpening. “His abilities were fractured. His future, uncertain. We have not seen such since the earliest era. But it is not for us to judge whether such can be redeemed. Only for the Chase to determine.”

Maya caught Riv’En’s hand where it rested against her side and squeezed once. The simple contact fortified her, cutting through the swirl of tension. Her breath shuddered out slowly, her pulse steadying just enough to meet what camenext.

“By ancient rite,” Vaeyra said, voice cutting clean through the dawn, “the Bonding Chase must be completed. In the earliest era, it was not merely for union, but for survival. Warriors would chase their chosen through the forests of Elaros, proving strength, proving ability. It was how bonds were sealed, not by word, but by action and by blood. The mate secured. The bond witnessed by all. No less, no more.”

She paused, eyes sweeping over the gathered assembly, her voice steady as stone. “Are there any who claim the right to challenge?”

The gathered voices died abruptly, leaving only the faint pulse of the resonance stones beneath theirfeet.

Even the air went still. The planet seemed to hold its breath.

Then—

A voice. Deep. Rolling out from the back of the crowd like thunder on the horizon.

“I claim the right to challenge.”

Maya’s stomach plummeted. Her pulse stuttered. She turned, searching the crowd, but it was Riv’En who moved first. His hand shifted from her lower back to her hand, steady and possessive, fingers pressing just hard enough that she sensed it through every layer ofskin.

A ripple spread through the warriors, bodies shifting aside. Apath opened.

And through it stepped a man who could only be Elaroin.

Massive. Taller than Riv’En by a head at least. His skin wasn’t the pale pearl or soft bronze Maya had seen among others. It was deep charcoal, almost black, striped with vivid silver markings that pulsed faintly with each step he took. His hair was shaved close to his skull, except for a long braided length that hung down his spine like atail.

His eyes caught hers and held. Asharp chill lanced through her, the kind that tightened every muscle beneath her skin. Her breath stilled, acold knot forming just beneath her ribs. For a flickering moment, all she could see were those liquid, silver eyes, steady and unblinking, as though he already knew her, knew everything that would comenext.

The stranger stopped at the base of the platform. His voice rolled out again, perfectly steady, perfectlycalm.

“I issue formal challenge,” he said. “By right of blood. By right of trial. By Elaroin law. Ienter the Chase.”

For a heartbeat, Maya couldn’t breathe. The quiet didn’t break. It cracked.

Half the warriors shouted in protest—deep, guttural barks that shook the air. The others answered with encouragement, voices rising like a storm front crashing against stone. It wasn’t chaotic. It wasn’t disordered. It was wild, sharp, terrifying.

Maya stumbled half a step back. Riv’En didn’t move except to tighten his grip on herhand.

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