The aftermath of the Black Tower's destruction lingered like smoke in Rey's lungs. Ash clung to his cloak, sweat and soot plastered to his skin as he carried Elira’s unconscious form through the back corridors of the academy. Her breathing was shallow, but steady. Zayne ran just behind him, eyes blazing, jaw tight. The sky outside churned with unnatural crimson hues—a sign the Empress had noticed. Or worse, that Kaelen had.They found sanctuary in the old observatory—a forgotten room on the academy’s upper west spire. Zayne had discovered it months ago while evading a prank gone wrong. Now it served as their refuge.Rey gently lowered Elira onto a padded bench, brushing her silver hair from her eyes. He could still hear the screaming walls of the Black Tower as they crumbled beneath fire and sabotage. He should have been faster. He should have stopped Drax."She'll live," Zayne said, panting, kneeling beside them. "But that bastard... he knew. Drax knew she was with you. He set that t

The air crackled with tension. Rey stood in the silent ruins of the Wyrmforge Caverns, his hand bleeding, his pulse ragged. Emberclaw had vanished.Not dropped. Not lost.Gone.Only a scorched outline remained on the stone slab where the relic blade had once rested. As if it had never existed.He stared at the mark, chest rising and falling like a beast chained too long."This isn't right," he muttered. His voice echoed in the emptiness.Behind him, the shadows of the cavern rippled. The glowstones embedded in the ceiling dimmed, and a soft wind swirled through the depths. It carried no scent, no chill—only a question."Are you sure you want the truth, brother?"Rey jerked backward, eyes wide."Who…?" He turned, fists raised, the taste of iron thick on his tongue. The voice hadn't come from around him. It had come through him. Inside his bones. Through the very marrow of his blood.The Dragon System pulsed, flickering with strange symbols. Ones Rey had never seen before.> SYSTEM ALER

The moon over Velundar hung like a glass eye—cold, pale, and watching. From the highest balcony of the Celestial Citadel, Empress Solaria Lux stood cloaked in silk woven from starfire, her hands folded like talons on the black marble rail.Below her, the city pulsed with life. Thousands bowed to the weight of her name, the might of her army, and the sacred image of her command. But tonight, her thoughts were not on the present. They drifted far to the east, beyond the Red Wastes and across the scorched bones of the past. To a flame.A boy."You confirmed it?" she said softly.A figure stepped from the shadows. Dressed in ink-black robes stitched with crimson runes, the High Void Scribe knelt at her feet."Yes, Your Radiance. The bloodline stirs. The boy bears the Mark of Flame."Solaria turned slowly. "Rey Soren... or rather, Rayden Drakar."The name curled from her lips like poison. Her golden eyes narrowed."He should have died that night. We purged them. We burned their bones to as

The winds howled above the Iron Spire like the cries of forgotten gods, swirling with stormlight and fear. The spire—tall, grim, and cruel—rose like a dagger through the heart of Velundar’s eastern cliffs, encased in cursed steel and lit by shadowflames. No prisoner ever walked out of its gate.But Rey Drakar had never been one to obey rules—especially not those written in blood."We go at dusk," Rey muttered, eyes fixed on the map spread across the stone table in the crypt beneath the academy. His finger traced a red line through the mountain tunnel system. "Through the catacombs. The Iron Spire connects to the Empire’s lower dungeons by a forgotten shaft here. That’s how we get in."Zayne cracked his knuckles. "And how do we get out?"Rey looked up, and there was fire in his eyes. "We don’t leave without her."Aeris Dawnvale stood in the shadows, silent. Her white hair shimmered in the torchlight like snow reflecting flame. She'd listened to the plan without interrupting, her mind a

The prison reeked of rusted iron and burned flesh.Rey moved like a phantom between shadows, Emberclaw’s flame muted to a low, flickering pulse in his palm. Zayne’s breath came in slow, controlled puffs behind him, while Aeris glided across the bloodstained floor like an icy wraith, eyes narrowed and Rune Constructs dancing faintly across her fingertips.The Iron Maw Prison had not seen visitors in a decade—not the kind who came to rescue the dead.Yet here they were.“North wing. Third cell from the bottom,” murmured Elira’s voice in Rey’s ear, speaking through the crystal embedded in his collar. Her words were distant—slurred slightly. The Oracle was still recovering from her injuries during the Black Tower fire. But her sight remained sharper than any eye.They reached the cell.A twisted slab of enchanted steel marked with suppressing glyphs loomed in front of them. Rey raised his hand, the flame of Emberclaw licking up his wrist, burning with quiet sorrow.He didn’t need Elira to