The Pathway revealed itself at dawn.
Not as a gate, nor a wound—but as a wrongness in the land. The earth dipped unnaturally, stone folding inward like flesh remembering an old scar. Runes lay half-buried, cracked and misaligned, their light flickering as if unsure which world they belonged to.
"This na am," the elder said softly. "Where seal first break."
The air tasted metallic. Every breath scraped the throat.
Imade lifted her rod, feeling resistance in the air itself. "We tread careful. One mistake fit tear am wider."
Seyi walked past her.
Straight toward the Pathway.
"Stop," Adaeze barked.
He did not.
The ground reacted instantly.
Shadow surged upward like black water, coiling around Seyi's legs, his waist, his chest. Runes flared in alarm. The twins cried out as fire and water flinched violently within them.
"E dey pulling him!" Kafé shouted.
"No," Zoba said, eyes wide. "E dey recognizing him."
Seyi looked down at the shadows climbing him—not afraid, not angry. Curious.
"So this na where everything dey leak from," he murmured. "Messy."
Imade ran forward. "Come back! You no know wetin you dey invite!"
He turned to her, calm as stone. "I know exactly. This place need decision. Not debate."
Orunmare's voice slid into the space, satisfied. "Yes. Touch am. See how it respond to certainty."
Adaeze snapped. "Don't listen to am!"
Seyi placed his palm against the fractured rune.
The Pathway screamed.
Light and shadow tore at each other, the land convulsing. The seal widened by a finger's breadth—and the sky darkened in answer.
The elder collapsed to his knees. "You don cross line!"
Seyi pulled his hand back slowly. "I stabilized am."
"No," Ngozi whispered in horror. "You fed am."
From the widening fracture, something reached through.
Not Orunmare.
A herald.
Its form was wrong—too many joints, too many eyes, all fixed on Seyi with reverence. "Marked one," it hissed. "You open. We answer."
Before anyone could react, Seyi moved.
He stepped forward and drove his blade through the herald's core, twisting hard. Shadow exploded outward, rattling the forest, knocking everyone to the ground.
When the light settled, the herald was gone.
The Pathway was quieter.
Smaller.
But changed.
Adaeze staggered to her feet and struck Seyi across the face.
The sound cracked through the silence.
"You don lose your mind?" she shouted. "You nearly doom us!"
Seyi did not react. He only touched his cheek, considering. "The breach stopped growing."
"For now," Imade said hoarsely. "But you showed it how to respond to you."
The twins approached cautiously.
Taye's voice trembled. "The Pathway remember you."
Kafé added, "You becoming key… or lock."
Seyi met their eyes. For the first time, something like doubt stirred. "I did what worked."
"And crossed a line," Adaeze replied coldly, lowering her blade. "Some lines bleed."
---
That night, no one sat near Seyi.
The fire burned low. Trust burned lower.
From the Pathway, faint light pulsed—steady, patient.
Far beyond sight, Orunmare smiled.
"One more step," he whispered, "and they will push you to me themselves."
The Resistance slept in pieces.
And the line Seyi crossed did not close.
It waited.