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“What did that mean in practice?”

“If a beingwilledan oath into truth, it became binding. But over time, the Celestial Plane began distrusting free will and added magical enforcement to oaths.”

“But if will had once possessed such power, does that mean it could be that way again?”

“In theory? Perhaps. In practice? That is a highly complicated and multifaceted matter.” He smiled. “Although, your existence and what I have come to understand of you during our time together would lend weight to it being possible in a way it hasn’t been for centuries.” He gestured at my shadow weaving. “You are doing that, in some respect, on a small scale here, forcing your will through against the restrictions they were employing.”

“Something they can’t employ now that I have access to my full power?”

“Not only that. You are becoming stronger in yourself also. You are coming into who you were meant to be, no longer hiding or running from it.”

As I mulled over his words while continuing on with my shadow weaving, he told me more, “The Celestial Plane once acknowledged Four Types of Celestial beings—Visionaries,Guardians, Healers, and Anchors. But over time, they erased those distinctions.”

“Let me guess… out of control issues?”

“Essentially. Visionaries and Healers couldn't be controlled. Visionaries acted as prophets, seers—but often questioned doctrine. Healers drew power from empathy and instinct, not discipline or structure.” He sighed heavily. “In truth, they’ve long mistaken structure for righteousness.”

“Yeah, I’m definitely getting that message.” Loud and fucking clear.

But the important part was thathewas getting it.

So much so that we were using this session both as training and as investigation into the potential Celestial threat that could be walking on the mortal plane.

The first, non-invasive way was using my shadow weaving to try to ascertain more information, or even a confirmation of such a threat. It was the safest way without us provoking whatever the hell it was, without us tipping our hand that we were onto it—or, worse, working against the will of the Celestial Plane by seeking it out in a bid to obviously remove it.

As I continued shadow weaving, a warmth rushed through me, and it became more than drawing aimlessly in the air, more than a means to ease into it.

I felt it access something else—somethingmore.

And then the weaves altered, becoming determined and driven by urgency.

Cassius drew closer as my weaving sped up, my hands sweeping in arcs rapidly, silver light swirling, creating a specific sigil before us.

It began as a tight silver spiral, but as it extended outward, it fractured and unraveled chaotically, breaking into fragmented arcs. Some sections appeared shattered or incomplete, seemingto mark some sort of destabilization being sensed and coming through in the form of this symbol I’d drawn.

A curse escaped Cassius and I saw him looking distressed.

“You recognize it.”

“It’s a Sundering Spiral. A symbol of disrupted fate and impending catastrophe and also the coming of something unnatural.”

“The threat… the manufactured Celestial energy you read from the magical signature of the coercion magic that was extracted from Caius.”

Cassius took a couple of staggering steps back. “Unnatural… disrupted fate…no, it can’t be. It… it was eradicated from life and death both, from existence itself.”

I disintegrated the symbol, cleared my shadow weaving, and walked to Cassius. “What’s happening? What did you just realize?”

“It shouldn’t be possible… that’s why I didn’t bring it up… but they… they lied. It must still exist. And it’s coming… it’s coming for us all.”

A chill rolled down my spine, both at his unsettling words, and the fact that somebody as formidableandconnected to the Celestial Plane actually looking terrified.

“What is? What’s coming?” I pushed.

“I’m not absolutely certain, but if—”

His words ended on a grunt, and then he was doubling over.

I was right there with him in the next second, a sharp pain shooting through my gut that had me slapping my hand to a nearby tree to steady myself.