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The connection struck not like a whisper but like a blade drawn from a sheath.
Kai's heart clenched the moment the soul link started to form. The world around him—burnt forest, cracked moss, pale mushrooms glowing faintly. It faded into the background. The glow behind his eyes shifted, and warmth slid down his spine like water meeting flame.
Then came silence.
Not emptiness, but a charged stillness, like the moment before thunder. The link held. He could feel her—close, yet distant. Her soul, once familiar, now coiled like a tightly wound string. Guarded. Shaken.
Then the connection sparked softly, like a thread of silver light weaving through Kai's soul. No heat. No sound. Just a slow, creeping warmth that pierced across the distance like the tide kissing an untouched shore.
He didn't speak. Not yet. He was afraid of what her silence might mean. And on the other end…
