The Sovereign transport dragon cut smoothly through the dense morning mist, its massive, leathered wings gliding toward the border lines of Askheim.Setting out for Askheim at dawn was a necessity Kaedric couldn't compromise on. Leaving Solveig behind in Vanaheim was out of the question—she had dropped to her knees in the Citadel courtyard, desperate and pale, begging to travel under Kaedric's protection.Her father’s dark web of informants had already compromised the Vanaheim outer guard, and without Kaedric’s shadow shielding her, she would have been dragged back to the Svartheim blood-altars before midday.Inside the transport’s private rear cabin, Solveig sat near the window, quietly sipping spiced tea while Liv sat across from her.Liv had deliberately engineered the seating arrangement before they took off. Her mind had been spinning all night over the mention of Kaedric’s lost sister.She needed answers—unfiltered, raw answers—and she knew the best way to get them was to keep S

The crowd scrambled out of the way as Kaedric walked down the grand stairwell into the lower square, followed closely by the weeping blacksmith, Liv, Solveig, and the elders. In the center of the square, two men lay motionless on the cobblestones. Thick, jagged black briars—soaked in the sick, poisonous magic of Svartheim—were wrapped tight around their chests and limbs, slowly draining the life out of them. Astrid hid her face in Kaedric’s shoulder. “Father... are those men sleeping?” “They will wake up soon, little one,” Kaedric murmured. Kaedric stepped up to the frozen bodies. He reached down with his free hand, pressing his open palm directly onto the poisonous black briars. The Svartheim curse tried to bite into Kaedric’s skin—but the moment it touched his dragon-blood, a blinding, golden eruption of light shattered the darkness. BOOM! A wave of golden dragon-briars burst from Kaedric’s hand. The golden roots devoured the Svartheim curse, spreading rapidly across the cobb

The moment the thick oak door of the inner sanctuary clicked shut, Kaedric’s composure completely shattered. He collapsed against the cold stone wall, sliding down until his knees hit the floor. His breathing came in ragged, painful gasps. His hands shook violently as he brought them up to his face, dark veins pulsing dangerously against his pale skin. He was completely running on empty. Summoning the Valkyrie to fulfill his bargain with Lord Aurelius at the Citadel had drained him to absolute nothing. He didn't have enough left in him to light a candle, let alone obliterate an army of five hundred seasoned killers. Askheim's wards were in ruins from Gunnhild’s betrayal, the city was vulnerable, and he was currently nothing more than a mortal wearing a god's reputation. If the enemy realized his aura was a bluff, Askheim would fall before sunset. Suddenly, a burning heat flared on his inner forearm. The ancient sigil—the same one he had opened to ask about the existence of his

In Lady Skadi’s mind, the situation was starkly clear.Kaedric wasn't standing on the parapet in total silence because he was bluffing—he was standing there because he truly had nothing to lose. His unnerving composure told her everything: if her ice magic failed to halt the charge, he would simply step forward, unleash his own terrifying power, and obliterate the five hundred traitors himself.This is my only chance to save my son, she thought, her pulse racing.She didn't hesitate for another second.Skadi raised both hands, her pale fingers tracing intricate, glowing marks in the freezing air.CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!A blinding wave of white frost erupted from her palms, cascading over the stone battlements and tearing down the hillside like a frozen tide. The air went from cold to killing in the space of a breath.The front line of the invading horde didn't even have time to scream. Two hundred armored mercenaries, dark cultists, and twisted war-beasts were frozen solid mid-stride. The

The dark, damp floor of the swine pit was the only world she knew.For three days, the young woman whom her cold-hearted mistress simply called Elira had huddled against the filthy wooden planks, shivering in the dark. She had tried her absolute best not to touch the pigs’ slop troughs, but her throat burned like raw fire. Extreme thirst had driven her to crawl on her hands and knees, lapping at whatever liquid remained in the wooden troughs.But today, even the troughs were dry.Elira sat in the darkness, her sightless, milky-blue eyes staring blankly into the shadows. Tears tracked clean paths down her soot-stained cheeks.I’m sorry, she wept silently, clutching her bruised knees against her chest. I’m sorry for whatever I did wrong last night, mistress. Please... just a drop of water...Just when her chest threatened to heave with a desperate scream for mercy, the heavy iron bolt on the door screeched open.Sunlight blasted into the pit.Elira immediately scrambled forward and pres