The silver spear flew through the darkness. For one impossible second, everything on the mountain seemed to stop. The wind stopped screaming across the ridge, the warriors stopped shouting, and even the enormous shadow tendrils surrounding Moros seemed to freeze in midair as Elara's weapon crossed the distance between them. Then it struck. The spear pierced the exposed Void Anchor in Moros's chest with a sound that was neither metal nor thunder. It was a deep, resonant note that seemed to come from beneath the earth itself, and the moment it entered the black core, a ring of silver light exploded outward. Moros staggered. His enormous body tilted backward, sending cracks racing through the frozen ground beneath his feet. The titan's shadow tendrils whipped violently around him, but they no longer moved with the precision they had possessed before. They were panicking. "Kael!" Elara's voice barely reached him through the roar. Kael looked up. The silver spear was glowing brig

“Aurelian.” The name echoed across the battlefield. Kael didn't understand it. He had heard his grandfather called the Stone King, the Last Blue Lycan King, the fallen ruler, the cursed monarch, and even Vael. But never Aurelian. Never the name Moros had spoken with such certainty. Kael took a step forward. “What does that name mean?” Moros stared at him. For the first time since the titan had risen from the mountain, he looked less like an ancient monster and more like a man carrying the weight of a terrible memory. “Aurelian was the name of your grandfather before the world erased him.” Kael's throat tightened. “My grandfather had a name.” “He had a kingdom.” Moros's voice weakened. “And he had a choice.” The Void Anchor suddenly cracked again. A sharp line of silver light traveled across Moros's enormous chest. Elara cried out. “Kael!” He turned. The Silver Spear was shaking violently in her hands. The weapon wanted to come free. “No!” Elara shouted. She plan