THAT NIGHT — IN THE INNBack in our room, I studied the map with Igor and Felix. A candle flickered on the table, and rain tapped at the wooden windows like impatient fingers.“Three entrances,” Igor said. “All narrow. Traps for sure.”“Won’t be able to bring Flare or any heavy gear,” Felix added. “We’ll have to crawl half the way in.”I nodded, then tapped the stethoscope in my hand—the same one I’d used to listen in on the royal council.“This time, we get the evidence. We catch them plotting. And we drag their names into the light.”“But what if it’s a trap?” Felix asked.I looked up at him. “Then we fight our way out.”I wasn’t afraid anymore. Not of Ferdinand. Not of traitors in silk robes pretending to serve the king. Not even of what waited in the shadows below that cursed theater.Because the king and queen believed in me.Because my people were safe—my town, my farm, the lake, the resort.Because Silvarya was waiting. Because I wasn’t just a stranger anymore.I was Dirk Robin

MORNING OF FLIGHT, A MORNING OF HOPEThe sun had just begun its golden climb, casting warm amber light across the forest treetops and the gently rustling fields of the west. A breeze, cool and touched with the scent of wet soil and new stone, drifted over Dirk Village.From high above, the scene looked almost surreal.Silvarya sat behind me, arms gently wrapped around my waist as we soared across the sky atop Flare, whose massive wings beat steady and strong. The sun glinted off her crimson-gold scales, catching the eye of villagers below who paused in awe. Flare let out a playful snort of flame—not threatening, but proud—before she began her descent, gliding in smooth spirals toward the cleared grounds just outside the village’s eastern wall.The wind picked up as her talons hit the earth, dust swirling around us as we landed. People were already gathering, their smiles wide and eyes sparkling with anticipation. Children ran barefoot through the short grass, shouting my name while cl

Within minutes, the two kings were gliding—awkwardly at first—across the smooth stone paths of the skating arena. Elvie and Ella clapped and cheered from the side, while the villagers who happened to pass by couldn’t believe what they were seeing.Two kings—skating, laughing, stumbling, and shouting in challenge.“I haven't done anything this ridiculous since I wrestled a golem in my youth!” King Valler boomed, nearly spinning as he rounded a curve.King Ernest, with more control, zipped past him and shouted, “Try to catch me, stone-head!”Their laughter echoed across the resort. It was pure. And human. Something many forget kings could be.After that, we settled under the plaza's canopy, munching on cotton candies so sweet they sparkled with faint mana threads, and chocolate bars so rich they left divine warmth in the mouth.“These treats…” King Valler muttered as he bit into a caramel swirl, “What sorcery is this?”“Filipino sorcery,” I said with a grin. “And a little help from the

Everyone was ready. Or so we thought. The smell hit us first.It crawled into our nostrils like a living thing—rot, sulfur, and old magic. Not just death, but ancient decay, as though the nest sat atop something older, deeper, and more cursed than any of us could understand.Inside, the cave stretched like a cathedral carved by madness. The ceiling was lost in shadow, but faint glimmers danced along the bones embedded into the walls. Columns of frozen stone towered on either side, shimmering faintly in the glow of our torches, now burning blue thanks to their enchantment.Then we saw them—eggs. Hundreds of them.Lined up in rows, embedded into ice cocoons or laid into mossy pits that steamed with unnatural heat. The shells were almost translucent. We could see movement inside—heartbeats, twitching limbs, tails coiled in slumber.But it wasn’t just the eggs.All around the ceiling, the walls, and tucked into crevices, were adult flying lizards. Dozens of them. Claws latched into stone

Within the hour, every major leader was in the chamber—silvarya, Felix, Igor, Elvie, Miss Agnes, the Queen’s emissaries, Kael and Karl, the Black Dagger scouts, even Flare curled near the hearth with smoldering eyes. Tension choked the air.On the table lay the bodies of the men we’d recovered from the southern defense point.Or what remained of them. Their skin had bloated, warped. Arms withered into long, jointless limbs. One man had a mouth growing on his thigh. Another had eyes blinking from the soles of his feet. They looked like meat puppets crafted by some cruel, blind god.Elvie covered her mouth in horror. "Dear Ancients…""Igor said their entire squad was ambushed at once," I muttered. "No signal. Just… wiped.""They didn't just die," Felix added, jaw clenched. "They mutated.""This is what the Fifth Bone began," the King said softly, placing a gloved hand over his chest. "Ferdinand’s ritual failed, yes. But fragments of its magic still corrupted the land. It’s spreading. Th