Refusing to let her husband be insulted and slandered like this, Aria stepped forward, her fury overflowing. Her eyes flashed with the raw anger of a wife whose honor had been dragged through the mud."Enough of your vile mouth!" Aria snapped, her dignified voice cutting through the square. "Maybe I should shut it for you!"Aria threw back her cloak. In a flash, two magnificent, feathered wings unfurled from her back, kicking up a gust of wind that sent dust swirling across the square. Without a moment's hesitation, she dove through the air, charging straight at Vanya.Watching the threat rush toward her, Vanya didn't flinch. She simply threw a cold side-eye to her companion."Sebastian, handle her," Vanya said flatly.Sebastian gave a sharp nod. With a frigid stare, the shaman thrust his hands out, pooling pitch-black magic in his palms to launch a lethal counterattack against the diving Aria."Aria, stop!" Ryker shouted, caught off guard by his wife's rash move.Before Ryker could i

"Ryker! What did you just say?!" Aria screamed, pointing a trembling finger at Lyra kneeling helplessly in the dirt. "You're claiming this blind, crippled outcast as your mate?! In front of our whole village?! Right in front of Cora and me?!"Even Cora, usually the calmer and more compliant of the two, couldn't hide her shock and disapproval. She closed the distance to Aria's side, her hand gripping her sword hilt tightly as she glared at Ryker, demanding an explanation."Chief Ryker, please reconsider what you're saying," Cora pleaded, her voice shaking with suppressed emotion. "Our village is under attack by a dark hex! The people are panicking, and you're making a massive choice like this without even talking to us first? This is no time for an impulse decision just to shield a dragon female who rolled in yesterday!"It wasn't just Ryker's wives; the beastkin mob exploded into a fresh wave of uproar. Vanya's poison about "divine retribution" and a "dirty secret" suddenly seemed com

Under the lingering golden glow in the sky, Ryker stepped toward Lyra, looking up at the dragon female standing tall on her own two feet.With a subtle smile filled with respect and affection, Ryker placed his right hand over his chest and offered a slight, formal bow—the highest sign of reverence for a Queen."Welcome back, my Queen," Ryker said, his deep voice smooth and tender.Lyra froze for a heartbeat, her crystal-blue eyes welling with tears. Completely ignoring the hundreds of kneeling villagers around them, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Ryker's neck, burying her face into his chest—the chest of the man who had saved her life and soul."Thank you... Thank you, Ryker..." Lyra rasped, holding him as tight as she could. The warmth radiating from his body melted away years of suffering, pain, and isolation without a trace.Ryker wrapped his arms around her slender waist, pulling her close and kissing her forehead tenderly in full view of everyone. The sweet gestu

There was no mercy left in Lyra’s eyes—only a cold, empty abyss.She took a step toward Vaelor as he crawled in the dirt, helpless. Looking down, she glared at the man she once loved with every ounce of disgust she could muster."Save you?" Her voice was barely a murmur. "Why would I save a spineless monster who believed the word of a snake over his own wife?"Vaelor coughed, thick blood spattering from his lips. "I-I was blinded...""You weren't blinded, Vaelor. You were pathetic," Lyra snapped. "You were too weak-minded, too arrogant, and too rotten to see the truth. You cast me out into the dirt to die, stripped me of my titles, and let that viper laugh at my suffering. Now, as you bleed at the feet of a man far more worthy to rule than you ever were, you beg me for your life?"She knelt, bringing her face level with his, and leaned in. Her next words were the coldest he had ever heard."Listen to me carefully. The love I had for you is dead, burned to ash by your cruelty. You are

"Ryker? What are you thinking?" Cora asked gently, breaking the silence as she noticed his face suddenly darken with intense focus.Ryker paused his hand mid-air and looked at his three mates one by one. "We don't have time to sit around praying for rain, and we can't let Vaelor burn this land to ash. I have a plan. We're making our own rain.""Artificial rain?" Aria raised an eyebrow, adjusting her wings with a slight rustle. "How are we supposed to force water out of a sky that dragon bastard is actively scorching with his Solar Mirror?""Leave the technical stuff to me," Ryker answered firmly.Without another second's delay, Ryker cashed in thousands of his banked System Points. In an instant, a massive pile of bizarre, futuristic hardware—equipment no native of this land had ever laid eyes on—materialized in the palace back courtyard. There were heavy, high-pressure iron canisters, pure Silver Iodide cloud-seeding agents, specialized moisture-absorbing salt compounds, and several