Something had been building before Dustin even noticed. The Dao pact brought power — not darkness, not corruption, just more. More energy in the notes, more weight behind the melodies, more force in the room when he played. The remixes of Ode to the Giants were the first signs — arrangements that pushed past folk into something grander. Bagpipes, celtic drums, a sense of scale that hadn't been there before.
By Triboar, the shift was undeniable. The Ballad of Triboar's Triumph was a battle hymn with an intensity the wandering bard had never reached. The folk foundation was still there — you could hear it in the structure, the storytelling, the flute — but something was surging underneath, amplifying everything.
The audiences noticed the change, though they couldn't quite name it. Neither could Dustin.
