The cathedral ceiling continued to fracture as divine light forced its way into the mortal world.Stone groaned like a wounded beast. Long cracks spread across the painted dome, splitting saints and scripture apart as golden radiance poured through widening gaps.Kael did not hesitate. He lifted Eron into his arms.Eron’s body felt fragile, yet impossibly heavy at the same time, as if the divine sigil burning on his chest weighed more than flesh and bone should allow. The boy’s breathing was uneven, and his fingers still clutched Kael’s sleeve weakly.“Stay conscious,” Kael said quietly.Eron tried to respond, but only a faint sound escaped his throat.The divine voice echoed again above them.“Judgment descending.”The pressure in the cathedral increased until even the stone pillars began to bend.Priests fell to their knees.Knights dropped their weapons.Valther struggled to remain standing.“You cannot escape divine judgment,” Valther said, though his voice trembled.Kael looked a

The forest clearing became silent after Kael stopped running. Church knights approached slowly through the trees, forming a tightening circle around him and Eron. Their armor reflected the faint gold light filtering down from the heavens, and their weapons trembled in their hands despite their training.Kael stood still. Eron remained in his arms, weak but awake and the divine glow in the sky flickered like a watchful eye. No one moved first. Valther stepped forward cautiously. “Kael,” he said. “Do not make this worse.”Kael’s voice was steady.“You already know I cannot surrender,” Kael replied.Valther’s expression hardened with pain rather than anger.“The Church must protect the hero,” Valther said.Kael answered immediately.“That is exactly what I am doing.”Eron shifted weakly.“Father Valther… please,” Eron said. Valther’s gaze softened for a moment, but it did not last.“I believe you trust him,” Valther said to Eron. “But trust alone cannot silence what we witnessed.”Eron tried

Morning came slowly to House Varyn. The estate stood on the western edge of the capital, surrounded by stone walls and old cedar trees that had grown there for generations. Servants moved quietly through the halls, unaware that the air itself carried tension like a distant storm.Inside his private chamber, Kael’s mother sat at a writing desk near the window.Lady Seris Varyn had not slept. She held a sealed letter in her hand, turning it slowly between her fingers as sunlight crept across the wooden floor. The wax bore the unmistakable crest of the Church.She already knew what it contained. She had known the moment the messenger arrived at dawn. A soft knock came at the door. “Enter,” she said.A steward stepped inside and bowed. “My lady, Church officials have arrived at the outer gate,” he said.Seris closed her eyes briefly.“So it begins,” she replied.At the estate gates, six Church knights stood beside two inquisitors dressed in pale ceremonial robes. Their presence alone cause

The decree reached Kael before the ink had fully dried. He stood on a narrow ridge overlooking a barren stretch of plains when he felt the shift in the world’s attention. The air carried a faint tremor of divine authority, the kind that accompanied official judgment. It moved like an invisible wave across the continent, imprinting law into the fabric of society.Kael closed his eyes. He did not need to hear the words spoken aloud to know what they contained. House Varyn dissolved, titles revoked, and lands seized.Kael Varyn was declared an enemy of the divine order, and Execution authorized on sight. He exhaled slowly, but his chest tightened rather than eased.“My mother,” he murmured. He had felt the rupture in their connection hours earlier. He had felt something severed and reshaped. Now he understood. She had sacrificed her influence, she had severed the political shield that once protected him, and she had likely done it to prevent the Church from using the estate as leverage.

Steel rang against stone as Ardenthal soldiers poured into the chamber.Their captain pushed forward through the narrow doorway, eyes wide at the sight before him. The glowing summoning circle still burned faintly on the wall, and Eron stood directly in front of Kael, his posture protective despite having just stumbled through divine light.“Stand down,” the captain ordered his men, though uncertainty edged his voice.No one lowered their weapons. Kael remained still behind Eron, he did not reach for power, he did not step forward, he watched.Eron’s breathing steadied.“I did not come here to fight,” he said clearly.The captain’s gaze flicked between the two of them.“You appeared in restricted territory through unauthorized magic,” the captain replied. “That qualifies as aggression.”Eron shook his head.“I did not choose to cross,” he said. “The Church pulled me.”The soldiers exchanged uneasy looks. The golden circle on the wall flickered once and then faded completely.Kael finally