All Chapters of THE THRONE THAT HEAVEN FEARED : Chapter 11
- Chapter 20
95 chapters
CHAPTER 11: THE HEADMASTERS TRAP
The searchlights of the Academy gunships sliced through the midnight haze like celestial blades. High Headmaster Valerius stood on the observation deck, his golden aura suppressed into a simmering, volatile edge. Beside him, Archon Vane clutched a silver tray holding a single, shimmering needle."You’re certain of this, Archon?" Valerius’s voice was a low growl. "A Blood Census? The students are already on the verge of a riot.""Let them riot, Headmaster," Vane replied, his eyes cold. "The 'Phantom' moved through the Spirit Vault and the Underworld with intimate knowledge of our protocols. He didn't just bypass the sensors; he erased them. That isn't the work of an outside terrorist. It’s the work of a ghost living in our own dorms.""The Thorne boy," Valerius spat the name. "You think he’s hiding in plain sight?""I think he’s wearing a student uniform," Vane said, gesturing to the courtyard below. "The DNA of a Thorne is unmistakable. Their blood carries the ancient Cinder-Strain. O
CHAPTER 12 : THE ALCHEMY OF THE DAMNED
The needle was a hair’s breadth from my skin when a sudden, deafening feedback loop shrieked from the Academy’s PA system. The distraction was only a second, but it was all I needed to pull my hand back into the sleeve of my oversized janitor’s tunic."Stable your hands, janitor!" Vane hissed, his silver needle trembling with his own frustration."The wind, Archon," I said, my voice as cold as the marble beneath us. "It’s hard to stay still when the Headmaster’s aura is trying to crush my lungs."Valerius sneered, waving a dismissive hand. "Get him out of my sight. If he’s a Thorne, he’ll be back. If he’s trash, he’ll rot. Archon, we have three thousand students to test. Move!"I didn't wait for a second invitation. I slipped into the shadows of the North Corridor, my heart hammering a rhythm that felt like a death march. I had minutes, maybe less. The Blood Census was a dragnet, and the next time Vane caught me, there would be no feedback loops to save me."You need to change the rec
CHAPTER 13: THE SECRET MENTOR
The air in the hidden sub-basement of the Alchemy Wing was thick with the scent of formaldehyde and ancient, rotting scrolls. Cassian leaned against a workbench, his lungs burning from the blood-masking potion, when a shadow detached itself from the far wall."You’re sloppy, Cassian. A Thorne shouldn't leave a trail of ozone behind him like a common spark-mage."Cassian spun, the violet lightning already dancing on his fingertips. "Who’s there? Hekate?""Hekate is a coward who hides behind beakers," the man stepped into the dim light. It wasn't Hekate. It was Professor Silas, the Academy’s most reclusive history teacher—a man known for his glass eye and a limp that clicked with every step."Silas?" Cassian gritted his teeth. "What do you want? I don’t have time for a history lesson.""Is that how you greet your father’s primary strategist?" Silas asked, his glass eye reflecting the purple glow of Cassian’s hand.Cassian froze. "Strategist? My father’s strategists were all executed in
CHAPTER 14: THE WINTER BELL
The smell of roasting meat and expensive perfume was enough to make me gag. I moved through the Great Hall of Phoenix Academy, wearing the stiff, white-collared uniform of a servant. In my hands, a silver tray held crystal flutes of vintage nectar—each glass worth more than a janitor’s life.This was the Winter Ball, the pinnacle of high-society decadence. The men laughing in the center of the room weren't just nobles; they were the butchers of the Seven Stars Alliance."Hey, boy! Over here! Are you deaf as well as poor?"A heavy hand slammed onto my shoulder. I didn't flinch. I turned, keeping my eyes cast down, and saw Lord Kaelen—the man who had personally set fire to my family’s library. He was red-faced, sweating beneath his velvet doublet."My apologies, my Lord," I said, my voice a flat monotone."Less talking, more pouring," Kaelen grunted, snatching a glass from my tray. He looked at me for a second, his eyes narrowing. "You look familiar. Have I kicked you before?""Most lik
CHAPTER 15: THE HEART OF GLASS
The shadows in the West Wing of the Spire didn't just hide me; they felt like an extension of my skin. I moved through the stone corridors, bypassing the rhythmic patrol of the Sentinel Golems. The air grew colder as I approached the bridal chambers. The Alliance had Elena under a "Soft Lockdown"—no bars, just ten stories of sheer drop and a door guarded by two Tier 5 knights.I didn't use the door. I scaled the outer masonry, my fingers digging into the frost-covered stone until I reached her balcony. I slipped inside, the heavy velvet curtains muffling the sound of my boots.Elena was sitting at a vanity, staring at a reflection that looked like a ghost. She wore a gown of white silk that felt more like a burial shroud. In her hand, she held a small, jagged shard of glass she’d hidden under a pile of lace."That glass won't cut through his protective aura, Elena," I said, stepping out of the dark.She spun around, the shard raised, her eyes wild with a mixture of terror and hope. "C
CHAPTER 16: THE HUMILIATION
Rafe’s shout for the guards died in his throat as I took a single step forward. The air in the bridal chamber curdled, growing heavy and thick like cooling lead. He looked at me, then at the dagger in his hand, his lip curling into a sneer that didn't quite hide the tremor in his fingers."You really think you can just walk in here and take her?" Rafe chuckled, the sound brittle and sharp. "Look at you. Still in that tattered cloak. Still a ghost. Do you know what the Academy does to ghosts? They exorcise them.""You talk too much, Rafe," I said. "It’s a habit of the weak.""Weak?" Rafe’s face turned a blotchy crimson. He stepped toward Elena, grabbing her by the arm and yanking her toward him. "I am a Valerius! My father owns the sky you breathe! And you? You're a stain on the floor I haven't scrubbed yet.""Let her go," I said. The Void-Devouring Seal began to pulse, and the floorboards beneath my feet groaned as the gravity in the room shifted."Kneel," Rafe commanded, his voice ri
CHAPTER 17: LUNA'S ULTIMATUM
The moon hung like a jagged bone over the Academy spires. I was moving through the rafters of the Great Library, my cloak a shadow among shadows, when the air in front of me crystallized."Running won't help you tonight, Cassian."Luna stood on the narrow wooden catwalk, blocking my path. She didn't have her rapier drawn, but her silver aura was humming at a frequency that made the nearby books rattle in their shelves."I’m not running, Luna," I said, my voice vibrating with the Void. "I’m navigating. Now step aside before I decide you’re another piece of Academy furniture I need to break.""Big words for a man who just crippled a Valerius," she countered, stepping closer. "My uncle thinks Rafe had a seizure. My father, however, isn't so easily fooled. He’s already reviewing the mana-traces from the bridal suite.""Then he’ll find exactly what I want him to find," I growled, the black lightning licking at my knuckles. "Nothing.""You’re wrong," she said, her voice dropping to a whispe
CHAPTER 18: THE FORTRESS INFILTRATION
The wind howled through the Shattered Peaks like a dying god. Every gust felt like a serrated blade against my skin as the transport carriage skidded to a halt at the edge of the precipice. I stepped out, the "Void" in my chest vibrating in sympathy with the jagged, obsidian mountains ahead. "We’re here," Luna said, her voice barely audible over the gale. She pointed toward a needle of black stone piercing the clouds. "The Iron Bastion. My father’s playground." "It looks like a tomb," I muttered, looking at the monolithic walls. "For most, it is. But you aren't most people, are you, janitor?" Luna looked at me, her silver eyes sharp and questioning. "The perimeter is crawling with motion-sensors and mana-tripwires. Even a bird can't fly in without being incinerated. How do you plan on getting us through that gate?" "I’m not a bird," I said, my voice dropping an octave. "Then show me. Show me how a Thorne enters a house that was stolen from him. Or is your talk as hollow as your pu
CHAPTER 19: EATING THE BEAST
The containment array at the Iron Bastion had been a feint, a desperate play by Malphas that Cassian had shattered with a surge of raw, unrefined spite. But the escape had pushed him into the frozen gullets of the mountain peaks surrounding the fortress. His core was a jagged mess, a dry well demanding a flood."You’re pale, Thorne. Even for a ghost," the First Overlord’s voice rasped in his mind. "If you don’t feed that seal now, the vacuum will invert. You’ll implode before you can even look Malphas in the eye."Cassian stumbled into a cavern that smelled of sulfur and ancient, rotting meat. The ground shook."There," Cassian hissed, his eyes catching a rhythmic, emerald glow deep in the darkness. "What is that?""Dinner," the Overlord chuckled. "A Grade-A Hydra. Nine heads, nine cores, and enough concentrated Ether to restart a dead sun. But look at you—you can barely hold a mop, let alone a beast of that caliber.""Watch me," Cassian muttered.He stepped into the center of the cav
CHAPTER 20: THE DEATH OF THE FIRST STAR
The air inside the Iron Bastion’s inner sanctum tasted like ozone and ancient rot. Lord Malphas of the Seven Stars sat atop a throne of jagged obsidian, his armor shimmering with a grotesque, pearlescent light. It wasn't just metal; the plates were inlaid with ivory fragments that pulsed with a ghostly, rhythmic thrum."You’ve grown quite a bit since I watched your father’s head roll, Cassian," Malphas said, his voice echoing through the vaulted chamber. He stood, his armor clanking with the sound of a thousand dry whispers."I’ve spent ten years scrubbing your floors, Malphas," I said, my voice vibrating with the Void. "I’ve learned a lot about what hides in the cracks. Like the fact that you’re a thief who can’t even power his own gear."Malphas laughed, a sharp, grating sound. "Thief? This is the spoils of war, boy. These bones belonged to your ancestors. The Thorne Patriarchs. Their marrow is the most stable Ether conductor in existence. Why let them rot in the dirt when they can