The corrupted Binder let out a shriek that shattered several of the floating orchard trees. Void tendrils lashed through the air, severing branches and warping the nearby terrain. The Skyroot pulsed behind it, entangled in dark chains, flickering between states of being—solid, mist, memory.
Kaelen threw a warding sigil to shield Mira as the creature lunged, its many eyes glowing with inverted starlight. "Don't let it pull you into the slipstream!" he shouted. "That's not just shadow—it's broken time!"
Mira spun with her twin blades, slicing through one of the tendrils, but her movements slowed slightly—trapped in a moment that didn't belong. Orin surged forward, the two anchor marks on his chest burning like twin suns. He held out his hand, and the skyfire surged forward in a beam of light.
The Binder reared back and roared in pain.
"You can't destroy it," Kaelen said. "It is the lock. You must convince it to release."
"Convince it?" Mira shouted. "It's trying to eat us!"
Orin focused.
The fire inside him wasn't just energy—it was memory. The Skyborn legacy. Their grief, their purpose, their hope. He reached out with that flame, letting it burn in patterns only the Binder could understand.
> We are not here to break. We are here to restore.
The Binder paused.
Its many eyes flickered.
> "You… bear the burden willingly?" it whispered.
> "Yes," Orin said, voice steady. "Let go. Let me carry it."
The void chains shimmered—and cracked.
With a hiss like the last breath of a star, the creature withdrew, curling into itself, shrinking until it was no more than a single orb of light.
The chains fell away.
The Skyroot, tall and brilliant, stood free. Its bark shimmered like comet glass, and its branches reached out across the floating orchard, restoring what had withered. One leaf detached and floated toward Orin, embedding itself in his palm. The third anchor was bound.
The sky trembled.
Far above, the clouds split again. But this time, it wasn't just the Hollow Star watching.
It was something else.
Another force.
Older. Angrier.
Kaelen knelt beside the Skyroot and touched its trunk. "The final anchor lies in the Skygrave. Beyond the broken ring."
Mira glanced up at the sky. "And whatever's waiting for us there… it knows we're coming."