Evilside’s tent glowed warm with candlelight, a rare softness in a world carved by war.Dendra sat cross-legged on the thick furs, looking less like a god of mischief and beauty, and more like a man who had finally found the one thing he couldn’t joke his way out of losing.Evilside sat opposite him, eating berries from a shared bowl, her hair unbound, her face relaxed in a way no one had seen for centuries.They laughed quietly about old battles, old grudges, and the chaos they had caused across realms.Then,Dendra cleared his throat.“Eyela,” he said softly, “I made something… a long time ago.”He reached into a small, velvet box, old, worn, clearly carried for centuries.When he opened it, candlelight caught the ring and made it blaze.The RingA marquise-cut stone that shimmered like starlight captured in crystal.Held in yellow gold, wrapped in tiny leaf and vine motifs, life twined with destiny.Paired with curved enhancer bands that embraced the main ring like armor.Wild yet

The battlefield had gone silent around them.For the first time in centuries, the world watched one of the Big Four stand alone on scorched earth, no armies, no shields, no distractions.Tan’s voice cracked with rage and exhaustion:“You have always been a plague, Dendra! Even when you knew Ciria loved me, you still pushed.”Dendra lowered his blade slightly.His voice was calm, too calm.“You do not truly believe Ciria loved you, Tan.”Tan snarled.“Denial suits you.”Dendra gave an exasperated scoff.“I don’t need to deny the obvious. I have Eyela… someone real, someone who chooses me.”Tan’s rage trembled.Dendra continued, voice sharpened by centuries of truth:“But Ciria? Ciria was a cunning, manipulative, grief-stricken woman. She loved one thing: the attention we gave her.”Tan’s eyes widened with fury.Dendra stepped closer.“I once considered her as a wife…yes. But her personality struck me as wicked. So I walked away, hoping YOU would see what I did.”Tan shouted, voice crac

The City of Second stood quiet again, not with fear this time, but with solemn respect.The gods gathered around the pyres erected at the far edge of the valley, where the flames burned blue and gold: the colors of endings.Tan’s wives, children, and favored kin, those who had stood with him in cruelty and refused peace, were laid upon separate platforms.Even the gods who had killed them now stood beside the bodies, silent, heads bowed.Day was the first to speak.“Death is not punishment,” she said.“It is a return. May their souls heal beyond the veil.”Harp stepped forward next, plucking one sorrowful note on his celestial lyre.The sound echoed across the valley, vibrating through every bone, stirring memories and regrets.Delia approached Tan and Felt’s joined bodies.She placed a single flower, the silver bloom of Dren, symbol of release, upon Felt’s chest.“Sister,” she whispered, “at last your suffering is over.”Then she looked at Tan.“You could have chosen love. But now yo

The Founding Laws of the New EmpireWhen Snake was crowned, the valley fell silent as he stepped onto the obsidian dais.He raised his serpent-twined staff, crafted by Rebellion and blessed by Cirax, and spoke:“No empire stands on blood alone. We will build this one on balance.”Thus began the Laws of Second:Liroid PrinciplesHonor before fear.Family before power.Every child, liroid or mortal, was protected by sacred decree.Any god or liroid who raised arms unjustly would face the Circle of Roots.Mogro PrinciplesSnake kept the good mogro laws:Equal justice regardless of race or bloodline.Trial by truth stone.Mercy granted to the repentant.New LawsThen Snake added his own:No throne may be taken by force again, only chosen by the Council.Sons and daughters of Tan may never claim dominion over any realm.A king must have advisors from all three worlds: liroid, god, and mortal.The Goddess Evilside has full authority over the realms of death, rebirth, and balance.Dendra has

Stories are living things.They grow in the dark, in the quiet corners of the mind, shaped by every heartbeat that aches for meaning. This book began with a single spark, a question of what happens when love, war, heritage, and destiny collide, and it grew into a world woven with magic, bloodlines, betrayal, and unbreakable devotion.From Snake, whose soul carried a thousand scars yet never ceased to protect the people he loved… To Evilside, who wandered through grief only to rebuild herself into a force that could change ages… To Dendra, whose rage, loyalty, humor, and stubborn heart turned him from a reckless god into one worthy of love and legacy… And to every liroid, goddess, child, and fallen house in between, this story became larger than any one character.It became an entire world surviving its own history.In these pages, gods fought and fell, families shattered and healed, lovers challenged fate, and a broken realm found a second chance, a chance called Second. Yet even vi