The Solar of Remission was burning.

  Black smoke rose into the sky, and the scent of enchanted oil and dried blood still lingered in the air as Lysa, Kael, Andrel, and Selene left the fortress by the eastern slope, following a hidden trail through the rocks.

  The monster — a titan of stone and amber, which Selene simply called Rukk — walked silently just behind them. His steps made the ground tremble, but he never passed Selene. His eyes, two living embers, remained fixed on her as if no other being in the world existed.

  Andrel cast discreet glances at intervals.

  “Is that... a bond?” he finally asked.

  Selene didn’t respond right away. She touched the side of her neck, where a spiral-shaped scar seemed to glow faintly beneath the skin.

  “It’s not a spell. Or a pact,” she said at last. “It’s instinct. His. And mine.”

  “You control him?” Kael asked, still wary.

  “No. He listens. Because he recognizes me.”

  Lysa stopped ahead, observing the descending plain. In the distance, gray fields and the shattered towers of a forgotten village stretched toward the horizon.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “How did you end up in that cell?” she asked.

  Selene lowered the makeshift hood and stared into nothing.

  “I grew up in the Ashkar Mountains. My parents hunted corrupted beasts. One day, they found eggs. One of them... didn’t break. And inside was something that wasn’t a monster. Or a man. They raised Rukk in secret. When the System found out, they branded my mother with Code Forgery. My father was executed. I... was taken to the Solar.”

  “How old were you?” Andrel asked, his voice gentler.

  “Nine. I spent twelve years there.”

  Kael looked away.

  Lysa nodded, solemn.

  “The System allows no exceptions. And you... are one.”

  Selene stopped, turning to Lysa.

  “And you?”

  “Me too. But my exception is loud.”

  “That’s good,” said Selene. “Noise scares them.”

  They camped at the foot of a ravine. Rukk positioned himself like a sentinel, unmoving as a statue, but with eyes always lit.

  Kael started a fire with a stable heat seal.

  Andrel drew symbols in the dirt, forming a silence field to prevent tracking.

  Lysa watched Selene.

  There was something serene about her — a kind of calm that didn’t come from faith, but from exhaustion. As if she had already faced every form of pain imaginable... and kept going only because stopping would mean admitting they had won.

  “What do you plan to do now that you’re free?” Lysa asked.

  Selene took a piece of dried fruit, bit into it, and replied:

  “Freedom isn’t real yet. As long as the System exists... every cage is just a bend in the same cycle.”

  “Then fight with us.”

  “You want revenge?”

  “I want justice.”

  “Justice...” she repeated, without emotion. “An old word. But a good one.”

  “I have a list,” Lysa said. “People. Places. Cores. Everything that keeps this machine running.”

  “And we want to bring it all down,” Andrel added.

  Selene smiled. A small smile.

  “Give me a name, and I’ll show you what Rukk can do.”