Chapter 492: An Anchor Beyond Weave

Inside the projection, Adrian's future self brought the node closer. "WHAT??? What happened?"

Lara's call ended before she could speak further.

The Adrian in the projection instantly disappeared, leaving the brothers beside the defeated Sect Leaders. The view shifted after him, but before another image could form, cracks spread across the golden surface. The entire projection broke apart and burst, scattering fading light above the table.

"What happened?" Hestia asked, closing her hand around his. Adrian turned toward her, and his gaze stopped on the tear slipping down her cheek. Her lips moved again, but Lara's words were still running through his mind. "Master… is unconscious, and I cannot wake her!" Hestia was sitting beside him, holding his hand, yet he could not stop thinking about what his future self would find.

A thin layer of white-grey Source essence appeared over Adrian's skin without his notice. The space beside his shoulders cracked, and fine dark lines opened around him. His willforce stirred with it, answering the fear and anger rising within him. Willforce is the energy of the mind, intent, resolve, and consciousness itself, and in this moment, due to his emotions, his own surged far beyond the strength he had been using only minutes earlier.

The cup rattled against its lid. Beside it, the alchemical pills lifted from the table and shook in place, while the chairs and shelves around them began to tremble. Adrian had given none of them a command. His attention remained on Hestia's face as his uncontrolled willforce gripped the things around him.

Outside the head chamber, a disciple carrying a tray stopped in the corridor as the cups upon it began knocking together. She caught the tray with both hands, only to feel the same trembling beneath her feet. A chill passed through her body, and she looked up at the empty passage ahead.

Farther down the Crimson Spire, Torvain rose from his desk. He had barely straightened before the hairs along his arms lifted, and his hand caught the edge of the table. He felt as if someone was watching him. He turned toward the door, yet the sensation pressed in from all sides at once: from behind him, above him, as though it had no single origin.

Across the sect grounds, conversations stopped. Disciples looked over their shoulders, while elders extended their perception beyond the courtyards and landing platforms. The starships resting beneath the Spire trembled on their supports. Those standing beside them felt their tools shaking in their hands, along with a sudden fear they could find no reason for.

In the quarters assigned to the brothers, Rethan opened his eyes before the drinking glass beside him began to rattle. Oskel was already sitting upright on the opposite couch, his hands pressed against his knees. Both had been resting after the strain of their earlier defeat, but Rethan's first concern was no longer the pain behind his eyes.

He remembered the moment outside the station when he had felt Adrian watching him. That warning had already been enough to make him search the surrounding void. What he felt now raised the hairs across his entire body and left him struggling to draw a full breath. The earlier chill seemed faint beside this.

"Can you find where it is coming from?" he asked, rising slowly. The glass beside him toppled, but he left it where it fell.

Oskel shook his head. He had lifted his own willforce, but he remained seated with his fingers digging into his knees. Rethan extended his awareness beyond the room, searching for something he could face, only to find the same presence in every direction. He stopped moving with one hand still resting against the couch.

Above Sanguis Prime, a passenger aboard a departing starship dropped the glass he had been lifting to his mouth. It struck the floor between his feet, spilling water across his shoes, but he kept looking around the cabin. Across from him, another traveler had gripped the sides of her seat and was staring toward the empty aisle.

On a cargo vessel following a separate route, a crew member reached to steady a trembling panel. His hand froze against it as the chill passed through him. He looked toward the viewing screen, then behind his chair, unable to understand why both directions gave him the same feeling of being watched.

The disturbance reached far beyond Sanguis Prime and the traffic passing around it. During those same moments, people across Andromeda stopped in their homes, aboard their ships, and within distant sect halls. Objects trembled beside them, and an unseen gaze seemed to rest upon them from every direction.

…

Inside his office at the UNI-Hub, Vaelon pressed a hand against his chest and swallowed. His golden fingers caught the front of his golden robes as he looked away from the report suspended above his desk. Two disciples stood before him, both suddenly silent.

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He searched beyond the walls of the office, trying to find where the presence came from. His attention shifted from one direction to another, but he found no direction to follow. Even when he pulled his perception closer, the sensation remained just as clear.

"What is this consciousness?" he murmured. "How can it be this strong?"

One of the disciples looked toward the door. The other had reached for the back of a chair, his hand trembling against it. Both could feel something, but neither showed the strain spreading across Vaelon's face.

Vaelon's consciousness had already reached Weave, and the more clearly he sensed this strange presence, the harder it became to keep his own mind steady.

In a second, he had to brace himself against the desk, and his knees began to bend despite his effort to remain standing. The awareness surrounding him seemed to grow clearer still, until he could scarcely bear to keep his perception open.

Vaelon dropped to one knee, his hand slipping along the edge of the desk. A disciple moved forward to help, but Vaelon raised his free hand before the man could reach him. His fingers shook as he tried to steady his consciousness.

"Even my master's consciousness has never felt this strong," he said, barely able to believe the comparison himself. "What is someone like this doing in Andromeda?"

Neither disciple answered. Vaelon lowered his hand to the floor, feeling it tremble beneath his palm. He could not tell whether the being was watching him specifically or whether he had simply noticed its presence. Its origin remained hidden from him.

…

Adrian raised his free hand above the table. Golden essence gathered between his fingers and spread into the first lines of another Fate spell. White-grey essence followed, entering those lines as he tried to restore the broken connection.

"Adrian, stop. Do not use the Source yet." Hestia tightened her grip and caught his raised wrist with her other hand. Her fingers were trembling, but she held him firmly and leaned closer. "Look at me."

He turned toward her, the half-formed spell still gathering above his palm. Hestia shook his arm once, and his eyes finally settled on hers. Only then did he notice the white-grey essence moving between his fingers and the narrow cracks opening beside them.

Adrian stopped feeding the spell. Its unfinished lines faded, and he slowly drew the Source essence back into his body. The pills dropped onto the table. The cup gave one last knock against its lid before the shaking stopped, and the cracks around him began closing.

Across Andromeda, the trembling ceased. The people who had turned to search for an unseen watcher were left looking at empty rooms and unchanged skies, while the sensation that had interrupted them vanished as abruptly as it had appeared.

Hestia kept hold of his wrist until the last white-grey trace disappeared.

"Why did you stop me?" Adrian asked.

"You are not in your right mind, Adrian. Think for a moment, first. We could see Orveth and the others, but we couldn't see what happened after that. Don't you feel that something is keeping us away from seeing it?" she replied. "Forcing our way through with the Source could make things worse."

"But we have to find out, Hestia," Adrian said. "Lara said Torvain and Maelis were dead. You were unconscious, and she could not wake you. We do not know who did that, or even what happened to you after the call ended."

Hestia's fingers tightened around his hand. At the mention of her disciples, her eyes shifted toward the place where Lara's face had appeared. She took a moment before answering, and when she did, her voice was quieter. "I heard her, Adrian. I want to know what happened to them too."

Adrian's fingers moved beneath her grip. "The Source could let us see it."

"It might," Hestia replied. "But think about how scrying works before you do that. You felt Navira looking into your fate when she tried it. If someone or something is protecting the fate we were trying to see, they may feel you attempting to break through that protection."

"So what?" Adrian asked. "According to what we saw, they are going to come here anyway. If we know who they are before that happens, we have a chance to prepare."

"The person who comes here may not be the one protecting their fate," Hestia said. "They could have a master, an elder, or someone far stronger behind them. You might be able to deal with whoever actually attacks us, but if you force your way through the protection surrounding their fate, you could draw the attention of someone who otherwise would never have become involved."

Adrian remained silent as she continued. "For now, all we saw was Lara's call. If you use the Source to force an answer, you may reveal your existence to someone who has never noticed you before. Once that happens, we cannot take it back."

The tension within Adrian's fingers gradually eased as he considered her reasoning.

Hestia released his wrist but kept their other hands joined. "And remember what we actually saw. It was one possible future created from the decision to go to Nerath with the brothers. It is not something that has already happened. Torvain and Maelis are alive right now, and I am sitting here beside you. We have a chance to change what we saw before it ever becomes real."

Adrian looked at her. His original plan had been to bring Nerath beyond Orveth's reach so Hestia would never again need to fear that her descendants could be harmed. That problem still existed and still needed an answer, but the possibility revealed by Fate had pushed every other concern aside. The thought of returning to Valtheris no longer occupied the center of his mind. All he could think about was Lara's terrified expression and the future in which Hestia lay unconscious while Torvain and Maelis were already dead.

Adrian closed his hand around hers. Her fingers were still unsteady, and he raised his free hand to wipe the moisture from her cheek. He drew her closer, and she moved into his arms and held him in return.

"Whatever comes, we will face it together," Hestia said. Her voice was close to his ear, and he could feel her hand resting against his back. "That future has not happened."

Adrian held her a little more firmly. The space around them remained still, and when he answered, his eyes glowed with a soft white-grey radiance. "I will stay. Let me see who dares to touch you while I am here."