And Theo sang.
One by one, they stopped shouting.
“We need to bind the island,” Elara told the Conclave of Deans. “Not with magic or steel. With a shared purpose. A highered unity .” higheredunity
The seven notes merged. Not perfectly—it was scratchy, hesitant, full of old grudges. But they held . The rift flickered. Living roots from Rynn’s hands, guided by Juna’s clockwork lattice, wove into the stone. Mira’s alchemy turned the anti-matter into harmless light. Kael’s map showed Dorn exactly where to brace. Vex’s equations made the rift forget it had ever existed. And Theo sang
When it was over, they stood in a circle, exhausted, covered in sap and soot and magic residue. No one apologized. But Kael handed Mira a new abacus, silently. Juna oiled Rynn’s scratched wrist. Dorn offered his canteen to Theo. Vex nodded once—a gesture that, from them, was a hug. “Not with magic or steel
So he did something reckless. He sat down in the middle of their bickering and began to sing the Binding Hymn—alone, off-key, in a language no one else understood.
They named the new bridge Highered Unity . And every year, the seven students—now teachers, friends, and sometimes still rivals—walked it together.