That gets his attention.
He turns slowly, expression controlled, but the bond tightens just slightly with his focus.
“Describe it.”
“Brief. Faint. Gone immediately.”
“And his shadow?”
I blink. “You knew about that too?”
“I am observing.”
I almost smile at that.
“It flickered,” I say. “Just once. Subtle.”
Rhazek’s gaze sharpens. “And he noticed?”
“No. Or he pretended not to.”
“Likely both.”
I cross my arms. “So?”
“So,” he says carefully, “something is changing.”
“In him.”
“Yes.”
I study his face. “You’re not surprised.”
“I am not unprepared.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
“No.”
I step closer, lowering my voice. “Tell me what you think.”
He considers me for a moment, weighing something.
Then: “I think the merging did not occur in isolation.”
My pulse ticks up slightly. “Meaning?”
“Energy does not exist in vacuum,” he says. “The ritual, the bond, the destruction of Maltherion’s remnants… all of it created a field. Corin was present. He anchored. He stabilized. He absorbed stress that would have otherwise fractured the structure.”
“And now?”
“And now we are seeing the consequences.”
I exhale slowly. “You think he’s… what? Changing into something like you?”
“No.”
The answer comes immediately.
