Power roared through the air like a storm breaking loose.Valerius’s form began to shift.The cracks in his stone skin glowed bright.Molten gold poured through them like liquid fire, sealing them shut.His body grew denser. Sharper. Stronger.The dull green glass of his eyes ignited, shining like emeralds under sunlight.Behind him, the steel throne groaned and twisted, reshaping itself into something grand and towering.The air hummed.The entire chamber vibrated.Then, Silence.The light faded slowly.Ronan lowered his arm.Valerius stood before him.Still stone.Still steel.But no longer worn or fractured.He pulsed with life now. With strength. With something vast and steady.He looked whole.He looked like a king.Valerius turned his emerald gaze toward Ronan.For the first time, there was something softer in his eyes.Something almost warm.“You have my gratitude,” Valerius said. “Little perfect one.”Ronan let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.“And my word,”

For now, they were equal.For now.Kaelen stood at the edge of it all.He didn’t lift a finger.He didn’t need to.His arms were folded as he watched Ronan fight through another wave of enforcers.A faint smile touched his lips.“Wear him down,” Kaelen said softly.An enforcer near him nodded. “Yes, Scion.”Kaelen’s eyes never left Ronan.“Don’t kill him,” he added. “Break him.”Ronan blocked another strike, twisted, and drove his knee into someone’s stomach.His breathing was heavier now.His movements slower.And Kaelen’s smile grew wider.He wasn’t here to help.He was here to wait.And when Ronan finally fell, Kaelen intended to be the one standing over him.Ronan saw it clearly.Kaelen wasn’t worried.He was waiting.He wanted Ronan tired. Bleeding. On his knees.Then he would step in and finish it himself.Slowly and personally.Ronan wiped blood from his mouth and smiled faintly.Let him wait.He closed his eyes for half a heartbeat and dug deeper.The Crimson Pulse answered.

Kaelen flinched.For a long second, no one moved.Then Ronan exhaled.Slowly.He lowered his hand.Kaelen sagged against the wall. Relief flashed across his face and humiliation burned right after it.Ronan crouched down slightly, close enough that only Kaelen could hear him.“Next time,” Ronan whispered, voice flat and cold, “I won’t listen to the old man.”He leaned closer.“Next time, you die. Remember that.”Kaelen swallowed but said nothing.Ronan straightened and turned his back on him.He walked away without looking back.Kaelen Obsidian remained on the stone floor broken, breathing, alive.Valerius’s throne room looked like a battlefield.Stone was cracked and uneven. Dust filled the air.Obsidian enforcers lay trapped in thick roots or sealed waist-deep in rock. A few groaned. Most stayed very still.The elder was pinned upright against the wall, arms locked in solid stone, unconscious. The shadows around him were gone.The surviving Obsidians huddled together near the far

The name stayed in the air like the last smoke from a dying fire.“Lyra Obsidian.”Ronan stared at Arbor. He searched the old Anchor’s lined face for any sign of a lie.“Kaelen’s sister wants to meet me?” Ronan asked slowly. “The same Kaelen I crushed in front of his whole squad?”“The same,” Arbor said calmly.Ronan let out a short breath. “You’re joking.”“I do not joke about the Obsidian Line.”Ronan ran a hand through his hair. “Why would she want to see me? After what I did to her brother?”Arbor folded his hands behind his back. “Because family politics are never simple, little root.”Ronan frowned. “Explain.”“The Obsidian Line has three children,” Arbor said. “Kaelen. Lyra. And the eldest brother, Dravin. Dravin rarely leaves the Spire. The three of them compete for power. For influence. For the right to lead when their father falls.”“So they’re fighting each other,” Ronan said.“They are always fighting,” Arbor corrected gently. “Sometimes in public. Often in silence.”Ronan

“And the rest?”“You handle.”He watched her carefully.“And what do you get, besides leverage?”Her gaze hardened slightly.“I get to prove I am not the weaker child.”There it was.Not jealousy.Not rage.Determination.Ronan nodded once.“You really do want to win.”She didn’t deny it.“Yes.”A distant roar echoed through the tunnels.Both of them turned slightly toward the sound.Then back to each other.Ronan exhaled slowly.“This is insane,” he said.“Yes,” she agreed.He almost laughed.He looked at her one last time.“If you betray me”“I won’t,” she interrupted calmly.“That’s not what I was going to say.”She waited.“If you betray me,” he finished, “I won’t run.”Her eyes darkened slightly.“I would expect nothing less.”They stood there in the ruins of an old world, surrounded by broken stone and silver light.An alliance forming.Or a disaster waiting to happen.Lyra extended her hand.“Three nights from now,” she said. “Be ready.”Ronan looked at her hand.Then at her ey