The third black pillar towered above the horizon like a scar carved into the world. From the fortress windows, people across the capital could see it clearly; panic followed almost immediately. Bells rang throughout the city. Guards rushed through the streets; citizens abandoned markets and homes as rumours spread faster than anyone could control.The ancient prison.The place where the buried entity had first been sealed, now a pillar, stood directly above it.Eron stared through the window. “Tell me this is not as bad as it looks.”Kael remained silent; that answer was bad enough. Outside, the current trembled violently. Fear flowed through it from millions of people scattered across the world. The buried entity fed on every drop.Tavin entered the chamber moments later; he looked exhausted and angry. “The city is becoming unstable.”Eron turned. “How bad?”“Bad enough.” Tavin threw several reports onto the table. “Fights in the southern districts.”Another report landed. “Human mer

The image vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared, yet nobody inside the council chamber forgot what they had seen. The crowned silhouette remained burnt into their minds; the shape had not been clear, and the details had not been complete. Still, everyone recognised it. The crown, the presence, and the overwhelming authority looked like the Creator God.Silence settled over the room after the vision faded; even the captured divine remnant no longer smiled. His confidence had disappeared; something about the appearance had frightened him too. Eron noticed immediately; that bothered him more than the vision itself.If the people trying to open the gate were afraid of what stood behind it, then the truth was likely worse than anyone imagined. Kael stepped away from the map and moved toward the nearest window. Outside, the black pillars still scarred the horizon.The current felt unstable, the world felt unstable; everything balanced on the edge of another disaster.Tavin broke the

The words remained written across the ancient page; the jailers were gone, and the first prisoner had awakened. No matter how many times Eron read them, they did not become easier to accept. The library had fallen silent; books lay scattered across the floor from the recent tremor, and dust drifted through the air. Somewhere outside the fortress, alarm bells had begun ringing again.The world seemed determined to move from one crisis directly into another.Eron looked at Kael. “What does it mean?”Kael stared at the page for several moments before answering. “It means the gods were never the final guardians.”The answer made Eron’s stomach tighten. “And the prisoner?”Kael slowly closed the ancient book. “I do not know.”That response frightened Eron. Kael had spent years carrying answers nobody else possessed, and now uncertainty appeared more frequently. The change felt wrong; the tremors continued through the night, not constant, just enough to remind everyone something beneath the

The news about the wardens spread through the fortress like wildfire; nobody slept well that night.Nine wardens.Nine wardens, each stronger than the one Eron had barely managed to defeat, loomed heavily over everyone. For years, people had feared gods, and then they had feared catastrophe. Another threat had appeared, from a time older than both. The council chamber remained crowded long after midnight; maps covered every table, and reports arrived continuously.Messengers moved in and out of the room; military leaders argued over defences; scholars searched ancient records for answers; everyone looked toward Kael. That habit had become second nature. Whenever disaster appeared, people waited for Kael to tell them what to do.The difference this time was that Kael no longer had the power to carry the burden alone, and Eron noticed it before anyone else. Kael sat at the centre of the room, studying reports; he looked focused, calm, and controlled. Yet beneath that calm, exhaustion li

Nobody spoke after Kael’s words; the council chamber remained completely silent, and the sentence lingered in the air like a storm cloud.Eron stared at his brother. For a moment, he hoped Kael was wrong; he hoped exhaustion, corruption, and months of pressure had led him to a terrible conclusion. Unfortunately, Kael rarely reached conclusions without reason.Tavin broke the silence first. “Explain.”Kael remained standing beside the table; the copied inscription rested beneath his hand, and his expression had become thoughtful and careful. He wore a look that resembled the one he had when assembling pieces of a puzzle that nobody else could see.“The eye beyond the fracture recognised me,” Kael said.Nobody disagreed; they had all witnessed his reaction.“It said it finally found me.”Queen Seraphine folded her arms. “And now this inscription speaks about a lost heir.”Kael nodded. “Yes.”King Halric looked troubled. “You believe that heir is you?”Kael hesitated, and that hesitation