The world outside the Grey Domain was a place of endless suffering. It was a landscape of red mud, sharp rocks, and the smell of rotting meat. For days, a long line of people had been crawling across this wasteland. These were the survivors of Empire’s Reach. They had left their golden cage, and now they were paying the price in blood and sweat.The line of humans looked like a wounded snake moving across the dirt. There were nearly three thousand of them. Their beautiful white silk robes were now rags, stained with the red dust of the Blight-lands. Their boots were falling apart. Some people had no shoes at all, their feet bleeding into the mud.At the front of the line was the little girl with the tattered doll. Her name was Mia. She was only seven years old, but her eyes looked like the eyes of an old woman. She walked with a limp because a sharp stone had cut her heel two days ago. Behind her, an old man leaned on a stick, his breath coming in short, wet gasps."Is it much furt

The golden needle was still buried in Elijah’s obsidian chest. It was a small thing, no longer than a finger, but it glowed with a light that was older than the world. It was a Fate-Stitch, a tool of the Seventh Sister. It was designed to tie a person’s soul to a specific ending. For Elijah, that ending was supposed to be a slow, agonizing death as his own power consumed him.Elijah did not scream. He did not even flinch. He looked down at the needle with his gold and black eyes. He reached out with his ash-colored hand and gripped the golden metal.Crrr-ack.The sound was not the needle breaking. It was the Law of Fate shattering. Elijah pulled the needle out of his chest as if he were pulling a thorn from a rose. He didn't bleed gold. He didn't bleed starlight. The hole in his chest simply filled with gray smoke and closed.He crushed the needle in his fist, turning the Archon’s tool into a cloud of useless gold dust."The Seventh Sister thinks I am a character in her story," Elij

The Obsidian Spire was a giant machine made of black glass and frozen shadow. Inside, it was quiet, but it was not a peaceful quiet. It was the quiet of a clock ticking. Every floor of the tower hummed with power. The Essence Wells glowed with a soft silver light, and the purple crystals in the ceiling made the halls look like a dream of the night.Elijah sat on his throne of jagged obsidian at the very top. He did not move. He did not need to sleep. He was connected to the Spire. He could feel everything. He felt the weight of the three thousand people in the Hive below. He felt the heartbeat of Marcus in the training halls. He felt the cold wind hitting the top of the tower.His gold eye was open. It was the eye of "Order." It saw the world as a grid of glowing lines. Each person in the Hive was a tiny purple thread connected to the central shaft of the Spire. This was the Intent Feed. When the people felt safe, the threads were smooth and strong. This gave the Spire more power t

The Obsidian Spire was a giant of black glass. It was silent, but it was not empty. Inside the tower, there were two worlds.The first world was the world of the Marked. These were the Shadow Legion. They had skin like marble or obsidian. Their eyes were purple fire. They did not eat. They did not sleep. They were beautiful and scary. When they walked down the halls, their boots made a sound like heavy stones.The second world was the world of the Unmarked. These were the three thousand humans. They still had soft skin. They still had red blood. They were dirty, tired, and scared. They lived in the lower halls. They ate simple soup and sat on the floor.The air in the Spire was good for the Marked. It made them feel strong. But for the Unmarked, the air was heavy. It felt like walking through a thick fog.Marcus walked through the Hive. He was the Commander of the Legion. His skin was pure white marble, and it shone in the light of the purple crystals. He was carrying his obsidian s

The Triumvirate stood up. They looked at the King. They knew that power in this world always cost something."I am the Anchor of this world," Elijah explained. "But if I fall, the Spire falls. If the Spire falls, you all turn to ash. To prevent this, I must tie you to the stone. I must make you a part of the Domain."Elijah raised both of his hands. The World-Heart Fragment at the bottom of the tower let out a massive, red pulse.Three chains of glowing gray energy erupted from the floor. They weren't physical chains. They were made of law.The first chain wrapped around Marcus’s chest. The second wrapped around Lyra’s waist. The third wrapped around Sarah’s heart.They all gasped. They felt a sudden, terrifying heat in their blood. It felt like their souls were being pulled out of their bodies and pushed into the black glass of the tower."The Soul-Link is active," Elijah intoned.[System Notification:][Triumvirate Established.][Unit: Marcus (Iron Marshal) - Immortal Status: Active