An hour later, they walked back into the house only to find Kai in the exact same spot they had left him: the dining table.Lynxe, still clutching the bundle of clothes and blades to his chest, shook his head at him. “I can’t believe you’re still sitting there.”Kai ignored the jab but turned his gaze toward them anyway. “Lynxe!” he snapped the name with a flash of irritation. “What the hell are you doing with a longsword?”Lynxe looked up at the ceiling, trying to backtrack through his own memory. “Ummm…” he said, reaching a half-assed conclusion, his face a mask of pure confusion. “What I got?”Kai tutted and shifted his stare to Nox. “What did I tell him to get?” he asked.Caught off guard, Nox stammered, “Umm, I wasn’t really listening.”Kai shook his head and finally turned to Soren. Though Kai was seventeen—the same age as Soren and only a year older than Lynxe and Nox—his demeanor suggested he was three times more mature than the rest of them combined.“Two fits, a boomerang bl

A void it was, until a fire lit up.But it lit up nothing. The flame burned in the darkness, yet it illuminated no surroundings. From that fire, a shadowed throne appeared directly in front of it. Then another appeared. Then another.One by one, ten thrones manifested within the void.Nine occupants sat upon them, all silhouettes—dark shadows resting upon their seats.“I know we haven't been having these meetings regularly, but isn't it too soon since the last one?” the silky voice of a woman spoke over the burning flames. Even as a shadow, her shape was that of an hourglass.“Shut up, Tyra,” the voice of a young girl challenged the receding voice. Her shape was that of a child, probably thirteen or fourteen years old. Kyo.Another shadow with the appearance and grace of a woman placed her elbow on the armrest of her throne and rested her chin in her palm. “So what's this about?” she asked lazily. “We're all in different kingdoms, suppressing our powers so the Kurai doesn't track us.

Storm Front stood on the southern border of Blitz, the most fortified state in the realm. Its soldiers were carved from constant readiness, born into a culture of war. From its gates, the road to Ignis was a straight, wide-open plain—a terrain where every movement kicked up a choking veil of dust.To the far edges of the horizon, mountain ranges rose like natural walls, their steep, rocky slopes creating an impenetrable barrier. There were no passes and no hidden routes; there was only the vast, exposed throat of the plains between two stone giants.During the intense warfare four hundred years ago, both nations established lookout posts along this road. Ignis and Blitz were perpetually at each other’s throats, and since this path offered easy access to either nation’s backyard, keeping an eye on the enemy's knife was the only way to stay alive. Historically, Ignis had been the aggressor, raining attacks down this road until Blitz poured its vast resources into fortifying the state. N

Blitz’s middle flank, led by Rios, circled behind their own left wing and dove headfirst into the rising wall of dust.The Ignis Right Flank stood paralyzed and blind. The only warning they had was the rhythmic thunder of hooves and the growing roar of voices drawing nearer."Loose!"A thousand arrows hissed from the dust cloud."SHIELDS!" the commander yelled.Klink. Klink. Thwack."Oof! No!"Arrows bounced off the heavy plating or slipped through the narrowest cracks, slaughtering the men behind the wood. "Replace him!" an officer barked, and infantrymen scrambled to hoist the shields of their fallen allies. The volley stopped as suddenly as it had begun, replaced by the terrifyingly clear sound of screaming men and galloping horses.The soldiers stared into the swirling grit, their hearts beating faster than the ground rumbling beneath them. They knew what was coming. In those final seconds of realization, some wiped sweat from their eyes, some dropped their weapons in despair, and