The gates of the Citadel Arena groaned shut. Jamie stepped out into the sprawling public plaza and the oppressive noise of the crowd faded into a dull hum behind him. The atmosphere in the capital had drastically inverted from the morning hours. The arrogant bravado and the mocking laughter that once filled the streets had vanished without a trace. A profound silence blanketed the high districts.He walked down the wide marble steps and headed toward Bishop's Gate. He still wore his dirt stained canvas trousers and his simple linen tunic. He carried his unsheathed longsword in his right hand. The tempered steel bore the scuffs and scratches of deflecting a lethal magical tide but it remained unbroken. The elite citizens of the capital saw him approaching from a distance. Wealthy merchants and senior knights froze in their tracks. The absolute terror he had instilled in the arena permanently shattered their false sense of superiority. They did not draw their weapons or hurl insults fr

Dawn broke over the capital. The bronze bells of the grand cathedral rang across the city to signal the mandatory summons for the vanguard. Every sworn soldier of the Church needed to report to the Citadel staging grounds before the sun fully cleared the horizon.Jamie stood in the private armory of the Bishop's Residence. He lifted the chest plate of his newly requisitioned armor. The metal felt cold and unforgiving against his padded linen gambeson. Jolie stepped forward to help him secure the leather straps across his back. She pulled the buckles tight with practiced efficiency while her hands remained remarkably steady.Janie handed him his iron gauntlets. The young girl did not cry or tremble this time. She looked at the steel and offered a brave smile. Jamie accepted the gauntlets and fastened them to his forearms to finish the defensive suit."The gates are locked and the perimeter is secure," Jamie told his mother. He picked up his tempered longsword and attached the scabbard

The toxic gray ash fell in thick heavy flakes across the staging ground of Sitluh. Jamie adjusted the rigid leather straps of his vanguard armor and turned to face his squad. The twelve soldiers stood in a tight column ready to march into the alien basin. They did not look like the pristine elite knights of the upper capital districts. They looked like scavengers preparing to enter a nightmare.Emeric knelt in the dark mud and slammed his rusted broadsword into its worn scabbard. The veteran shield knight carried a web of pale scars across his jaw and an iron tower shield on his back. Godric finished rubbing the hardened animal fat onto his bowstring to protect the fragile cord from the damp freezing cold. Camilla secured her satchel of medicinal herbs and tossed the last of the sabotaged rotting bandages into a nearby fire pit. Finn leaned against the wooden wheel of a supply wagon and casually flipped a hunting knife into the air. "We travel light and we stay close," Jamie instruct

Jamie led his twelve soldiers away from the smoky tavern and back into the freezing gray ash. The brief warmth of the cheap ale faded from their blood within seconds. They marched through the twisting dirt alleys of Alabaster Street toward the center of the district. The architecture grew larger and more imposing as they progressed.They reached the High Estate at the heart of the settlement. A towering stone wall surrounded the compound. Heavy iron spikes lined the top of the masonry to impale any beasts attempting to vault the perimeter. Six armed guards stood before a pair of thick oak doors bound in dark iron. The local survivalists held loaded crossbows and watched the approaching squad with undisguised hostility."Halt," the captain of the guard ordered. He raised a hand and leveled his crossbow directly at Jamie. "Capital soldiers have no business here.""I am Knight Hades," Jamie replied. He kept his hands away from his weapons to avoid triggering a violent panic. "I carry off

The harsh whisper drifting down from the dark roofline carried the weight of a physical threat. Jamie froze instantly and drove his hand backward to slam flat against Finn's chest. He forced the scout to halt mid stride in the center of the narrow dirt alley. They pressed their backs against the cold brick wall of the nearest building and held their breath. Sixty seconds passed in pure agonizing silence. The toxic gray ash continued to fall and coated their leather shoulders in a pale dust. Jamie did not move a single muscle and he kept his eyes locked on the dark slate roof directly above them. He could hear the frantic rapid beating of Finn's heart echoing in the tight space between the abandoned buildings. The sheer absence of ambient noise made every tiny physical shift sound like a breaking tree branch. A shadow detached itself from the edge of the roofline. The figure dropped fifteen feet through the freezing air and landed in the ash right next to them. The impact made zero