The next morning arrived with the kind of tension that made even the horses step very carefully around camp. Arslan and Erlan somehow managed to radiate silent hostility at each other from opposite sides of the fire, while Ayisulu drank her tea and prayed for a day without drama. Naturally, the world ignored her request.
Kereg approached, looking like a man about to announce his own execution.
"We need two scouts for the northern ridge," he said flatly. "Prince Arslan. Erlan. You'll go together."
The silence that followed was catastrophic.
"No," Arslan said immediately.
"Not happening," Erlan added.
Ayisulu massaged her temples. "Both of you. Go. Now."
They obeyed instantly.
Temir gasped loudly. "AYISULU IS THE CHOSEN COMMANDER OF TWO ALPHAS!"
Kanykei shook her head. "They've been alphas for five minutes. She's been in charge since day one."
With the two would-be protectors gone, Ayisulu wandered toward a ring of ancient stones on a nearby hill — a shamanic meditation site. Something in the air tugged at her bones, urging her closer. She seated herself on the cool ground and closed her eyes, trying to reach for that strange shifting awareness she'd felt during the battle. For a moment, nothing happened.
Then everything happened at once.
Wind rushed upward around her legs, lifting dust in glowing spirals. The air tightened. Whispered. Swirled. A small vortex formed around her, pulling her hair loose and crackling with energy.
"Oh no," Ayisulu muttered. "I didn't mean that."
From below, Temir screamed, "AYISULU IS SUMMONING A TORNADO AGAIN!"
Kanykei shouted back, "You don't know it's a tornado—"
A low rumble echoed through the stones.
Kanykei groaned. "Fine. It's probably a tornado."
At that exact moment, Arslan and Erlan returned over the ridge — both dust-covered, irritated, and equally bruised, which meant they had either fought something together or fought each other and pretended it was teamwork.
They froze when they saw Ayisulu hovering in a whirl of wind.
"Ayisulu—!!"
"Ayisulu!!"
Both ran toward her, collided violently, fell, argued, then scrambled upright again in perfect synchronization.
Ayisulu sighed. "I'm FINE! Just—don't run into each other again, please."
Arslan paced at the edge of the vortex, sword drawn. "Ayisulu, step back!"
"I CAN'T!" she shouted. "The wind is… listening too hard!"
Erlan cupped his hands around his mouth. "Tell it to stop!"
"How?!" she screamed. "Say 'no thank you'?!"
Temir yelled, "TRY YELLING AT IT IN SEVEN LANGUAGES!"
The wind grew louder, sparks of dust lighting like fireflies around her. Ayisulu closed her eyes and searched desperately for the stillness she felt before her visions — the calm in the center of the storm.
The vortex slowed.
Softened.
Faded.
Then vanished completely.
Ayisulu stumbled forward—
—straight into Arslan's arms.
At the same moment Erlan caught her other arm.
They froze like a statue group titled "Three Idiots and Fate."
"I hate this," Ayisulu whispered.
"I love this," Kanykei commented.
"PLEASE DO IT AGAIN!" Temir shouted.
Before anyone could recover, a sudden cold swept over the stones. A bluish wolf-shaped spirit emerged from the air, tall and translucent, its eyes hollow as the night sky.
Temir immediately hid behind Bair.
Bair hid behind a horse.
The horse regretted everything.
The spirit's gaze locked on Ayisulu.
"Dream-walker," it whispered. "You walk the ancient path. But the Falcon seeks your shadow."
Ayisulu shivered. "My… shadow?"
"Not the girl you are," the spirit said. "The seer you will become."
Arslan stepped in front of her with a snarl. "He is not taking her."
Erlan mirrored him on Ayisulu's other side. "He'll have to go through us."
Temir, peeking from behind a saddle, whispered, "Oh no… TWO overprotective idiots… the world is doomed."
The spirit's final words echoed in the rising wind:
"Your heart will guide your power. Choose carefully who holds it."
Ayisulu turned scarlet.
Arslan blinked hard.
Erlan blinked harder.
Kanykei clapped slowly. "Well. That's going to be awkward at dinner."
When the spirit faded, the wind softened again. Ayisulu walked away from the group to a quieter hill, needing space to breathe. The sky stretched endlessly over her as she sat in the grass, picking at a blade between her fingers.
A moment later, she sensed footsteps.
Arslan sat beside her without a word.
"You scared me today," he said quietly.
Ayisulu huffed. "You scare me every day. You run into danger like you're late to a meeting."
He didn't laugh. His expression was softer than usual, almost unguarded.
"Ayisulu… that spirit—what it said—"
"Please," she interrupted. "Not tonight."
He hesitated, then nodded. But he leaned closer, shoulder brushing hers lightly, sending her heart into chaos.
"Whatever power awakens in you… you're not facing it alone. Not while I'm alive."
Ayisulu's breath caught in her throat. She turned toward him too quickly—and suddenly their faces hovered far too close, their breaths almost touching.
The air between them tightened.
Kanykei's voice suddenly cut across the wind:
"DINNER IS READY, YOU OVERLY DRAMATIC TURTLEDOVES!"
Arslan closed his eyes in pain.
Ayisulu groaned.
Temir yelled, "DID THEY KISS? DID THEY FINALLY KISS?"
"No," Kanykei replied. "They have the romantic speed of injured snails."
Ayisulu laughed helplessly, the tension drifting away like dust in the wind. Arslan exhaled and stood, offering her a hand. She took it.
Even if fate was a mess, even if her power terrified her—
For that moment, walking back beside him, Ayisulu felt steady.
And that was enough.