Chapter 123

Seraphina's POV Three days had passed since the binding ritual, and I was still discovering the extent of what we had become. The physical changes were the most obvious—my hair now held permanent streaks of silver that matched Kaelos's dragon marks, while Ruvan's eyes had taken on the same golden fire that burned in mine. But the mental and spiritual changes ran far deeper. I could feel them constantly now, Kaelos and Ruvan, like warm presences at the edge of my consciousness. Not intrusive—we had learned to maintain our individual thoughts—but comforting. When I walked through the rebuilt settlement that had grown around the gate, I experienced it through three sets of senses simultaneously. "You're doing it again," Callista said, waving her hand in front of my face as we sat in the makeshift council chamber. "That distant look. Are you having a three-way conversation?" I blinked, returning my full attention to the present. Around the rough wooden table sat the leaders of both worlds—