CHAPTER FOUR: THE WEIGHT OF RETURN (Part five)
Outside the dorm, the rain had softened into mist.
The kind that lingered in the air long after the clouds had moved on.
The kind that made light feel heavier, like the world was trying to remember what came before it turned to storm.
Beneath the outer eaves,
a shadow leaned against the far wall.
Riko.
Arms crossed. Hood pulled low. One foot tapping—light, rhythmic, not out of boredom, but control.
He'd heard enough.
He hadn't heard everything.
But he didn't need to.
Tone told more than words.
Inside, Zephryn stood again.
He walked to the resonance map Kaelen had pinned beside the door—a web of glowing threads, one for each known element, arcing between Pulseborne regions, Lyceum disciplines, and ancient Veilmark lineages.
He traced one thread near the bottom.
It wasn't labeled.
But his finger hovered there for a long time.
Kaelen noticed.
"That one's not registered."
Zephryn didn't look back.
"It's not supposed to be."
Selka shifted slightly.
"Then what is it?"
Zephryn's hand dropped.
"I think… it's where I fell."
Yolti's voice turned sharp. "You mean when you got lost?"
Zephryn nodded once.
But slower.
Kaelen tilted his head. "You remember it now?"
"…No. Just a sound. A feeling. Like water wrapped in silence."
Selka looked up from the scarf.
"And a hum?"
Zephryn looked at her.
"Yes."
The rain returned.
A little harder now.
Not enough to flood.
Just enough to hide footsteps in the hallway.
Outside the door, Riko pressed his shoulder against the frame.
He wasn't angry.
Not yet.
But in his hand, he gripped a fragment of cracked pulseglass—the kind used to record memory slivers.
It glowed faintly.
Reflected four shadows through the window.
Echo Squad.
Together again.
And just beneath his breath,
Riko muttered a single word.
"…Flameborn."