The morning light spilled like silver lace across the Windblade estate as the family prepared for their journey. A gentle breeze brushed the banners, the skies above impossibly clear.
The day had come for Aeris's first spirit summoning.
It was a ceremonial moment, not expected to bear results. Most first attempts failed. Still, it was tradition — and a first step into a greater world. Aeris, with her boundless energy and bubbling nerves, was the center of attention.
Lux watched her from the carriage seat beside their mother. She fidgeted with her cloak, then looked out the window and whispered, "I hope it doesn't go boom."
"You won't make it explode," Ronan muttered from his saddle. "Probably."
"I heard that!"
"Good."
Miriel smiled faintly at their banter, but Lux noticed the subtle tension in her fingers. She held her staff a little tighter than usual.
The forest clearing lay hidden deep within Windblade lands. Centuries ago, it had been sanctified by the Spirit Courts. Old stone pillars encircled a wide moss-covered ring etched with intricate runes that shimmered faintly under sunlight.
Aeris stepped forward nervously, her boots brushing through fallen leaves.
"Remember," Miriel said, her voice gentle. "Don't force anything. A true contract comes with harmony, not demand."
"Yes, Mother."
Lux stood beside Ronan and the guards near the treeline, eyes focused. He felt something heavy in the air—like the hush before a storm. Even the birds had gone quiet.
Aeris took one step into the circle.
She raised her hand.
Then—
She stopped.
"Wait. I didn't—"
The ground beneath her feet pulsed.
The runes flared.
A brilliant white light shot upward like a beacon, blinding, whirling. The circle ignited of its own accord.
Winds howled, knocking loose branches across the glade.
Ronan charged forward, panic breaking through his usual calm. "What the hell did you do?!"
"I didn't even start yet!" Aeris shouted back, shielding her face.
Suddenly—
A ripple of water burst from thin air, not from the forest, but the space around them. And from that ripple stepped a glowing deer-like figure — its body shimmering like a river's surface under moonlight. Its antlers curled like cresting waves, and behind it trailed faint outlines of serpentine heads, hidden beneath the flow of translucent water.
It was a Hydra, ancient and majestic. But it bowed not to menace.
It was Miriel's familiar — a Spirit of Water.
The guards froze, unsure whether to run or kneel. But the spirit moved with swift purpose, positioning itself between the children and the raging circle.
A low, echoing voice flowed from the hydra-deer's throat, soft but immense:
"This energy... it does not seek the girl."
Miriel's eyes narrowed. "Then who—?"
The spirit turned its gaze, and all its watery forms aligned as one — staring directly at Lux.
"The flow... is toward him."
Everyone went still.
The wind dropped. The light pulsed brighter.
No more words came.
Only that terrible silence as the runes surged again — and the truth stood clear in the firelight:
It was not Aeris the spirits had come to answer.
It was Lux.