I ran.
Not through the halls like a prisoner—through the threads themselves.
The moment the Council dismissed me, I stole a glyph key from the minder's cloak and whispered the ancient words I'd only seen once, in Kael's cell:
"Unravel the watcher. Let me walk between."
Reality shimmered.
And I slipped sideways into the Threadpaths—the glowing veins of magic that wrapped around the Threadspire like roots of a massive tree.
The world blurred. Time bent. I could feel him—Riven—faint, but pulsing like a heartbeat across the distance.
Then a voice met me inside the path.
"You're reckless," Kael said, stepping out of a ripple in the threadspace. "But maybe that's what we need."
I turned to him, breathless. "Can you get me to him?"
Kael didn't answer immediately. Instead, he held up his hand—and summoned a threadblade, dark as midnight and curved like a fang.
"This is a Threadbreaker's blade," he said. "Forged to cut bonds."
I stepped back. "Why would I want that?"
"Because they'll use one on Riven. If they sever the thread without consent, it'll kill him. Or worse—shatter both of you."
My pulse raced.
"So you want me to use it first?"
Kael shook his head slowly. "No. I want you to fake it."
He reached into his cloak and pulled out a twin blade, silver-tipped. "This one won't sever anything. It's an illusion. But it can fool the Council."
I narrowed my eyes. "Why help me?"
Kael's voice grew colder. "Because if you free him… I get my freedom too."
A pause passed between us.
"You'd betray the Council?" I asked.
He smiled faintly. "They betrayed me first."
I took the blade.
Suddenly, a ripple shook the path. Alarms. Wards triggering.
"They know you've left your chamber," Kael said urgently. "Go now—take the lower route through the Echo Archive. I'll stall them from below."
"And if they catch us?"
He stepped forward, voice low and fierce.
"Then we burn this whole tower down from the inside."
I nodded once—just once—and leapt.
Down the threadpath.
Toward Riven.
Toward war.
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