Kael stood on the precipice of a decision that felt more like an abyss.
The new consciousness, the terrified child, had not attacked, not in a conventional sense.
It had simply… been.
And in its being, it had introduced a foreign element into their perfectly ordered reality: fear.
It was a fear born of a lack of understanding, a fear of the unknown.
And it was a fear that was spreading.
He could feel it in the way the colors of the cosmos had subtly muted, in the way the symphony of creation had gained a discordant note.
Lyra had seen a child.
Anya, a problem to be solved.
Silus, a new variable in the grand equation.
And Echo… Echo was silent, observing, becoming.
But Kael… Kael saw a choice.