“Bryn, today you have achieved something few in the kingdom ever do,” Viper said. “With this token, you are officially a Talon. Designation: Raptor. In service to the Second Prince, Sirius Velmine.”

  He held out a small, dark insignia etched with a mark I had seen only in sealed records.

  “You answer only to the Prince, the Hand, and the King himself. This token will open every door within our lands overseen by the Crown. Your aetheric imprint has been attached to it allowing you to use your abilities within cities without triggering their wards. Should you ever abuse that authority, you will meet your maker before you realize you are being hunted.”

  There was no doubt he meant it.

  Viper, the Leader of the Hand, was a terrifying man. His presence pressed down on the room like a blade balanced just above the skin.

  I bowed, precise and formal, and accepted the token.

  Without another word, he turned and seemed to vanish before our eyes through the Bastion gates. The doors closed behind him, and it was as if he had never been there at all.

  “Bloody hell,” Milo muttered. “That man is terrifying.”

  I couldn’t help but chuckle.

  “He’s served the Crown for three centuries,” Sirius said calmly. “And he’s likely the most powerful person in the kingdom outside of my father. He should terrify you.”

  Milo shuddered as if trying to shake the feeling loose.

  “Congratulations, Bryn,” Malorn said, giving me a nod. He smiled — just slightly — at Milo’s discomfort.

  “Yes,” Sirius added, turning to me with a grin. “Congratulations. And I’ve got something for you. A gift and a celebration of sorts.”

  That caught my attention.

  “The last few years,” Sirius continued, “Captain Rhael and the Hand have searched for additional ways to help you assess your growth. Tablets, devices, aetheric means and methods other races rely on. None of them worked for you.”

  He paused, clearly enjoying this.

  “My father, however, remembered an option. One that hasn’t been used in centuries. He approved me offering it to you, now that you’ve accepted your role as my Talon.”

  My heart picked up.

  “Come on,” Sirius said, already turning. “Let’s go.”

  “You don’t have to tell me twice.”

  I followed immediately, with Milo and Malorn right behind me.

  I had returned from my final mission nearly a week earlier and had been ordered to wait at the Bastion until one of the Hand arrived. The time had been spent in debriefs, reports, and patrols with my team to knock the rust off after our time apart.

  Now, Sirius led us into the depths of the Bastion.

  We took a lift down, far past the usual levels, and into corridors I had never seen. The stone here felt older. Thicker. Warded in ways even my tremor sense couldn’t fully unravel.

  Sirius stopped at a single door set into the wall. The ward across it was dense, layered, and sealed to anyone but a very short list.

  He pulled out a token identical to the one I just received and pressed it to the frame.

  The ward dissolved silently, retreating into the stone as if waiting to be recalled.

  Sirius opened the door.

  The room beyond was lined with shelves stocked with weapons, armor, artifacts, trinkets, and objects whose purposes I couldn’t begin to guess. Power clung to the air like static.

  Milo let out a low whistle. “You’ve been holding out on us, Your Highness.”

  Sirius smirked. “No. You just haven’t done anything noteworthy enough to earn something from here.”

  “You wound me,” Milo said, clutching his chest dramatically.

  Malorn ignored him. “What is this place?”

  “One of the Bastion’s hidden vaults,” Sirius replied. “There are several. But what I’m looking for should be…”

  He scanned the shelves, then stopped.

  “…there.”

  He pointed toward the back left corner of the room.

  Sirius crossed the space and reached for a small metal object resting in a shallow tray among several others like it. He lifted it carefully and held it up between two fingers.

  “This was recovered from a rift that no longer exists,” he said. “The world on the other side relied on technology instead of aetheric magic. Many of our aetheric and technological advancements came from what passed through that rift.”

  He turned the object slightly, so the light caught it.

  “This,” he said again, “was used to take aetheric readings from bonded companions. It allowed its users to understand how a bond could grow or how that growth might be guided.”

  None of us spoke.

  “We’ve since developed other methods,” Sirius continued. “And because these are a finite resource…” He gestured to the shelf behind him, where only a handful remained. “They’ve been kept here. Reserved for very specific circumstances.”

  He looked at me.

  “You fit that description.”

  He placed the object into my hand. It was light and cold.

  “My father believes this may succeed where everything else has failed,” Sirius said. “It was designed for monsters and bonded companions. With your unique shard bond making other assessments impossible, this may be exactly what you need.”

  I lifted the object and examined it more closely.

  It looked like a tiny spiraled arrow, etched with fine channels. Small articulated limbs folded tightly against its body.

  “What am I supposed to do with it?” I asked.

  Sirius hesitated.

  “…You place it in your ear,” he said carefully. “It drills into the brain, then anchors itself. Once fused, it grants access to the interface.”

  I stared at him.

  “This thing is going to drill into my brain.”

  “That might solve a few of your problems,” Milo said helpfully.

  “Maybe we should get you one too,” Malorn replied without missing a beat.

  Dusk shifted beside me. Her gaze stayed locked on the device, wary and alert.

  “My father assured me the process is considered safe,” Sirius added quickly. “It applies a low-level healing regeneration throughout the integration.”

  He paused.

  “Not that you need that. But this is the best chance we’ve found to give you the answers you’ve been searching for.”

  The object rested in my palm. Well, I don’t have anything to lose and I doubt it could harm me with my regeneration.

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  “Here goes nothing…”

  I moved the object up toward my ear. I hesitated for a second and then placed it inside.

  The whirring sounds began and the little object came to life, crawling deeper into my ear. There was a small flash of pain and then nothing.

  I blinked a few times and looked back at the group.

  “Uhm… nothing is happen—”

  Suddenly, an obsidian-shaded transparent screen flashed in front of my eyes, shining with purple and white streams of light slowly folding into words.

  “What the…” I said as I waved my hands in front of the screen. My hands passed through it as if it weren’t there.

  In seconds, the screen formed into coherent phrases.

  Bryn.

  Task complete.

  Advancements available. Pausing all growth until a path is chosen.

  Choose now?

  Not knowing what else to do, I just thought, yes.

  Additional paths available due to delayed advancement and additional achievements:

  Stalker

  Stoneguard

  Ravager

  Pathseeker

  Voidtouched

  Riftwalker

  The list continued on through hundreds of options. If I thought about a name, it opened a small description of what that path was. The overviews showed connections to frontline fighters, aetheric magicians, and other strange combinations.

  “Guys, I am seeing a list of names that I am supposed to choose from,” I said. “As a path for future growth or something. I am a bit confused.”

  “My father said these worked differently depending on the host,” Sirius replied. “With all before you being monsters or bonded companions, I am not sure we could help. The bonded would communicate with their companions for making decisions but that’s all I know.”

  “I believe my father also mentioned that when these were used, creatures were able to grow in unique ways and almost control their desired changes. It was something we have not been able to mirror with our other methods of reading,” he continued.

  “I may need some time to work through this,” I said after another moment.

  Malorn looked to Sirius. “Could we leave him here and come back to check on him in a bit?”

  “That should be fine,” Sirius said.

  “That’s fine with me,” I added. “I have a token that can open and close this door anyway.”

  “If you finish before we come back, just make sure to lock the door on your way out,” Sirius said.

  They exited the room, leaving Dusk and me to figure this out.

  —

  I spent hours working through the interface, learning all that I could about how it functioned.

  It seemed that once I chose a specific path, I would gain certain traits, talents, or benefits that aligned with that path. Over time, they could grow. At this point, I did not know what allowed them to grow, but I felt I had a general understanding of what I was supposed to do.

  This was very different from how other people advanced. They used tablets to assess their potential and then figured out ways to maximize it with shards, alchemy, or other means. It differed from race to race, but that was the general way people grew and planned their futures in order to maximize their strengths.

  As of now, there was nothing but these paths to choose from. There were no statistical readings on my strength, agility, or aetheric affinities, as was normal.

  I had narrowed the paths down to three that felt like the best possible options for me. The descriptions made them seem like the most desired potential paths.

  Hunter:

  Skilled in tracking, killing, searching, and finding beasts, monsters, men, or treasure, this path will guide you to whatever you are searching for.

  This path made sense based on my desire for adventuring. I believed it would be best suited to grant me things that would aid that part of my future.

  Shade:

  Skilled in stealth, shadows, infiltration, and agility, this path will guide you through the world unseen.

  This path aligned perfectly with being a Talon. It was likely that it would give me additional tools that made it easier to accomplish tasks I might be given by Sirius, especially those that benefitted from the types of abilities this path could grant.

  Child of the Deep:

  Gifted with powers from the depths, this path will guide you into greater power and the resources needed to survive where others would perish.

  This one stood out like a sore thumb on the list. Everything else was straightforward, using the same definition style and language as Hunter and Shade.

  Child of the Deep felt different. It seemed to directly reference the power I gained from my Wyrm shard integration. It implied that choosing it would both increase that power and grant additional resources connected to it.

  I had absolutely no idea what that truly meant. But what set me apart from others was surviving my unique shard integration. This path felt like doubling down on what had allowed me to achieve everything I had up to this point.

  Just thinking about how much changed when Dusk and I bonded made me believe this could bring us to even greater heights.

  After hours of deliberation, I finally chose.

  Child of the Deep.

  —

  Path Chosen: Child of the Deep

  Path Level: 3

  Current Traits 3 of 6 at current path level:

  Tremor Sense

  Regeneration

  Lithocurrent

  Available options based on shard integrations at current path level:

  Poisonous Touch

  Gravity

  Scaled Skin

  Piercing Fang

  Molten Blood

  Tremor Sense+

  Regeneration+

  Lithocurrent+

  Available options based on bonded equipment at current path level:

  Predator’s Vector

  Raptor Leap

  Starbound Momentum

  Available interface options at current path level:

  Harvest

  Detailed Map

  Quest Reward System

  Bond Interface

  This was a lot to take in. But once I slowed down, the shape of it started to make sense.

  Based on my path level — which I still wasn’t entirely sure about — I was given a limited number of traits to choose from a much larger list. Some were already familiar. Tremor Sense and Regeneration were there, listed as innate traits I’d gained immediately upon integrating the shard. Lithocurrent was listed as well. That had to be the ability I’d gained through my bond with Dusk — the way we could swim through solid stone and keep near-perfect footing above ground.

  Most of the remaining options seemed to be connected abilities. Wyrm traits, or at least what the interface believed a Wyrm should have. Since that was my only integration so far, the list made sense. More options would unlock as I leveled.

  There were also upgrade paths, one for my bonded astral bracers, and another for the interface itself. Both hinted at deeper growth, with more branches opening at higher levels.

  I spent time examining each option carefully.

  Poisonous Touch would let me apply toxin stacks with any attack. The poison would grow stronger as I leveled.

  Gravity granted a passive aetheric field, increasing gravity in a sphere around me. Enemies inside it would feel constant pressure, wearing them down more rapidly as the time went on.

  Scaled Skin offered natural body armor, similar to Dusk’s scales. It wasn’t clear whether that meant literal scales or just reinforced flesh, which made me hesitate.

  Piercing Fang allowed me to ignore armor with unarmed or short-blade attacks. Certain runes or high-grade aetheric enchantments could hinder it, but not fully negate it.

  Molten Blood transformed my blood into something closer to magma. Any creature that injured me physically would damage itself in the process, melting weapons, burning flesh. With my regeneration, I doubted magma would actually spill from my wounds much, but the trait would make close quarters combat extremely costly for anything foolish enough to engage me.

  The three traits I already possessed each offered upgrade paths. Lithocurrent could be enhanced to let me pull enemies into the earth with me, within a limited range. Tremor Sense could gain greater distance or the ability to push through certain wards. Regeneration could expand beyond my body and mind, extending to my aetheric pool or even pieces of equipment.

  The next section focused on my bonded astral bracers.

  Predator’s Vector allowed thrown blades to lock onto a target, making subtle mid-flight course corrections.

  Raptor Leap enhanced jump height and distance while granting midair control. Paired with my ability to erupt from the ground, it would give me far more precision in movement.

  Starbound Momentum caused thrown weapons to accelerate the farther they traveled. Air resistance and minor obstacles were ignored, and damage scaled with distance, an enormous boost to my throwing attacks.

  Finally, I reached the interface upgrades.

  Harvest allowed me to instantly loot slain enemies. Anything of value — shards, alchemical components, monster parts — could be sent directly to my storage space or appear where the body fell. It was efficient, and incredibly useful.

  Detailed Map created a living map within the interface. It tracked everywhere I’d been, integrated external maps, and corrected inaccuracies automatically. Combined with Tremor Sense, it would be frighteningly precise.

  Quest Reward System was… harder to understand. It created a task-based reward structure tailored to missions, roles, or objectives the interface deemed significant. Upon completion, rewards were generated directly from aether. I didn’t even want to think about how that worked.

  The final option was Bond Interface. Simple, but incredibly important. It would extend the interface to Dusk, adapting itself to her understanding.

  That’s what Sirius had meant. Bonded companions could understand their own personalized interfaces in the past, but if the interface shaped itself to the creature, most people would never truly know what their companion could do or become because they wouldn’t understand it.

  If both Dusk and I had access, we could grow together. Coordinate. Plan.

  That made this choice obvious must have.

  Which meant I only had two other selections left for now.

  I needed time to process all the options it would be easier with the help of my friend.