The silver whistle’s silent frequency vibrated through my marrow, turning my blood to sludge. Malakor’s smirk was the last thing I saw before the world tilted into a grey haze. He walked away, heels clicking on the stone, leaving me to the three Inquisitors."Bag him," the lead Inquisitor barked. "And keep the Solar-Runes active. If he twitches, burn his limbs off."I was on my knees, my chest a furnace of stagnant energy. The Black-Iron core felt like a jagged stone grinding against my ribs."He looks smaller up close," the second Inquisitor mocked, stepping into the cellar’s center. He raised a glowing, mace-headed staff. "Not so hungry now, are you, Void-rat?""Wait," I wheezed. The darkness in my eyes wasn't gone; it was condensing."Wait for what? Your execution?" The Inquisitor laughed, raising the mace. The Solar-Rune on its head flared with the intensity of a forge. "The King wants you alive, but he didn't say you needed all your teeth."I reached out, not with my hands, but w

The orange glow in my veins wasn’t a triumph; it was a death sentence. As I stood in the wake of the shattered barrier, my skin felt like it was being stitched together with rusted needles. The "Ever-Fire" I’d swallowed was fighting the Black-Iron core, two apex predators locked in a cage that was my ribcage."Jack! Vent it! You’re glowing like a dying star!" Silas shrieked. He scrambled out of my pocket, his straw limbs smoking and brittle."I can't," I rasped. Every word felt like I was spitting liquid lead. "If I let it go here, I level the square. The girl is still in that cathedral.""If you don't let it go, you’re the one who levels!" Silas hopped onto a stone gargoyle, looking down at me with frantic red eyes. "Listen to me, you stubborn fool. The Void-Grasp isn't a stomach; it’s a door. You’ve let too much through. You’re getting the Fever."My vision blurred. A wave of nausea hit me, followed by a bone-deep chill that made my orange skin steam. I stumbled, my knees hitting th

"Move, Jack! The garrison is regrouping, and I can't carry you and Silas both!" Elara’s voice was a jagged whip, cutting through the ringing in my ears.I stumbled through the hidden drainage tunnels beneath the Royal Square, my boots splashing in stagnant water. The Void-Fever was a physical weight now, a sludge of violet and orange fighting for dominance in my veins. Behind us, Silas—his straw exterior frayed and scorched—floated in the air, his red eyes dimming."The cavern," I wheezed, leaning against the damp stone. "Just through the sluice gate. It’s an old smuggling route.""You better hope it’s empty," Elara muttered, her white hair matted with the Titan’s blue dust. "Because if I have to kill one more Inquisitor today, I’m going to start with you for being so heavy."We burst into a high-vaulted chamber, the walls weeping with salt and ancient magic. It was silent, isolated, and cold. I collapsed onto the cavern floor, my skin vibrating with a frequency that threatened to sha

The Black-Axe descended with the weight of a falling mountain, the volcanic glass screaming as it tore through the mountain air. The Unseen bandits held their breath, their eyes wide with the expectation of seeing my head roll into the pine needles."Jack, move!" Elara’s scream was a sharp blade in the silence.I didn't move. I didn't even blink.The leader of the Unseen, a brute named Korg, let out a guttural roar as the axe hit its mark. But there was no spray of blood. There was only the sound of a heavy mallet hitting a solid block of iron.I caught the blade. My bare hand closed over the jagged edge of the volcanic glass. The "Ever-Fire" in my veins surged to meet the impact, and the Black-Iron core in my chest pulsed once, a deep, resonant thrum that vibrated through the ground."What?" Korg gasped, his muscles bulging as he tried to shove the blade through my palm. "How? This is soul-drinker glass! It should have inhaled you!""It’s hungry," I said, my voice sounding like grind

The air at the summit was thin enough to bruise the lungs. Every step toward the Forge felt like wading through freezing mercury. Behind us, the "Purge-Legion" was a smoldering memory, but the silhouette of the Apprentice still loomed in my mind like a stain."Walk faster, Jack! The frost is starting to settle in my joints, and I don’t fancy being a frozen centerpiece," Silas rattled, his straw head tucked deep into my collar against the biting wind."I'm moving, Silas. My legs just feel like they’re made of lead," I rasped. The orange light in my veins was dimming, replaced by a cold, hollow ache. "Tell me about him. The Apprentice. He knew the First King."Elara wiped a layer of frost from her brow, her daggers sheathed for once. "He didn't just know him, Jack. The legends say the First King had a circle of twelve. The Apprentice was the youngest. The brightest.""And the first to sink the knife," Silas added, his voice dropping to a gravelly whisper. "His name was Malakor. Before h