In the spacious office of Lord Commander Theron, the air felt tense and sombre."Where is the Princess?" the Duchess demanded, turning on Theron. "Princess Isolde was seen leaving the palace hours ago! Is she safe? Is she down there in that filth?"Theron didn't turn around. His eyes were glued to the combat."My Knights are scouring the city, Duchess," Theron said, his voice smooth and detached. "Princess Isolde is resourceful. She is most likely watching the show from a safe distance.""Most… Likely?!" The Duchess shrieked. "If anything happens to her, Lord Commander, the Royal House will have your head! The Princes will act!""The King is dead," Theron cut her off, his voice flat. "And the Princes are busy playing war. I am handling this.""You call this handling it?" Lord Yunis spoke up, his voice cracking. "The Shadows are winning! If the other Kingdoms see this... if Bryngard sees us struggling with a handful of terrorists... they will invade within the week! We look weak, Thero

Theron needed to be sure. He didn’t want any loose threads.He looked closely at the ruins.There were no bodies because the Eclipse Battery vaporized organic matter at the epicentre, but on the fringes...He narrowed his eyes."Report," he said into his communication stone.Commander Erebus's voice came back, smooth and dark. "The target area is neutralized, Lord Commander. No signs of life.""And Fenris?" Theron asked.There was a pause."Unknown," Erebus said. "We have lost contact with his tracking signal. Presumed dead."Theron frowned.Fenris was resilient, a beast bred for survival.If he was dead, then Pyralis had most likely met the same fate.But if Pyralis was dead... why did Theron still feel like he was in check?"Send a recovery team," Theron ordered. "I want confirmation. I want ashes. I want teeth.""At once, Lord Commander."The stone went dead.Ther

Elara looked at the strange, beautiful woman and tilted her head a little.She was getting a sense of familiarity but then she lost it."Nice to meet you, Aris. So, what brings a girl with nice boots to the mud district? Running away from a husband?"Aris snorted, a surprisingly un-ladylike sound.She took a larger spoonful of soup, seemingly determined to conquer it."Running away from my family," Aris corrected. "They are... suffocating. Everyone expects me to be this... perfect, porcelain doll. To smile, to wave, to marry who they say, to rule what they say..." She trailed off, realizing she'd said too much. "To... run the family business."Elara nodded sympathetically. "Families are the worst. I don't have one anymore—lucky me—but I have a boss who thinks he's the centre of the universe. Silver-haired, arrogant, thinks he's a genius because he can read a map..."Aris's eyes lit up. "Oh, I know the type! My... cousin... is exactly

Fenris didn't need to be told twice.With a roar that shook the rust from the rafters, he charged.Despite his injuries, the werewolf covered the distance in a blink.He launched himself into the air, claws extended, aiming not for a tactical strike but a sheer, overwhelming crush.He wanted to pin Pyralis to the grate and tear the truth out of him.Pyralis didn't block though. Blocking a charging werewolf on a suspended walkway was suicide.Instead, he dropped down, slamming his metal heel onto a rusted release pin he had identified hours ago.The section of grating beneath him swung open like a trapdoor.Fenris, mid-air and committed to the lunge, sailed right over Pyralis's head.But Fenris was a hunter.As he flew over the gap, his tail—a thick, muscular limb—lashed out, wrapping around a support beam. He swung, using his momentum to pivot in mid-air, and landed on the railing of the gantry with cat-like grace."Terrain traps?" Fenris growled, his eye narrowing. "You think falling