2025-12-02 13:03:15Long tables stretched under banners of Veridale and Stormhaven in the banquet hall in the royal palace, their colours forced into harmony for the night. Servants glided between nobles with trays of wine, every glass catching flame from the chandeliers overhead.
Kael felt the weight of the place the moment he entered. His squad moved in behind him, close but not too close, part of the decor as much as the guards stationed at the edges.Jared walked at the front, head high, shoulders set with pride. To anyone watching, he looked born for this hall. Kael saw the strain in his jaw.Reyna leaned closer, whispering, “He’s walking like the room belongs to him.”“It nearly does,” Kael murmured back.Jared didn’t turn, but his voice reached them. “You’re both loud enough for me to hear.”Kyna smirked. “Maybe you should stop listening then.”Jared shot her a look, then returned his attention to the dais where the royals were alrea
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The cabin’s hearth crackled warmly, the scent of pine and wood smoke filling the small, sturdy room. Outside, snow blanketed the rolling hills, glittering under the afternoon sun, but inside, the air was alive with laughter, voices, and the quiet comfort of family. Years had passed since the war, since the Rift had been calmed, since Veridale had been rebuilt. The scars of battle remained in memory alone; the world outside was safe, thriving, alive.Kael sat at the head of the long wooden table, Reyna beside him, their four children bouncing with boundless energy, chattering over cups of hot cider. Their eldest, a boy with Kael’s dark eyes, attempted to wield a wooden sword, while the youngest girl laughed as she tried to mimic Reyna’s graceful movements with a tiny bow. Kael’s heart swelled in a way it never had during the chaos of war—here, among his family, the future felt tangible and bright.Uncle Fred, grinning, poured another cup of cider for Liam, who now ruled Storm
Chapter 126
Kael stood atop the steps of the Great Hall, his cloak catching the breeze, the Rift’s energy quiet now, simmering beneath his skin like a coiled serpent. The battlefield behind him was cleared, the corpses of Thorian, Elric, and Velreth gone, their armies either defeated or dispersed, broken in body and spirit. And the citizens, once cowering in fear, began emerging from the shadows, eyes wide with disbelief, hope slowly replacing terror.Reyna moved beside him, her hand brushing his arm, grounding him as she had so many times before. “It’s real,” she murmured. “We survived.”Kael’s jaw tightened. “Yes… but at a cost.” His gaze drifted over the square, the faces of those who had fought and bled with them, and the empty spaces where the fallen should have stood. Ember, bruised and bandaged, carried herself with quiet dignity, mourning her losses silently. Liam knelt beside the small memorial they had erected at the edge of the courtyard, placing a hand on the stone they had
Chapter 125
The moment Queen Lauren collapsed into Kael’s arms, the battlefield shifted. It wasn’t the sounds—the screams, the clash of steel, or the pulse of Rift storms ripping the air apart—that changed first. It was the atmosphere. A pressure. A pull. A force so ancient and venomous it made even the blood-soaked wind hesitate.Thorian had arrived.And with him… Elric.Kael lifted his head as a ripple of distortion split the sky in two. Lightning—red and sick with temporal corrosion—forked downward, slamming into the ground with a thunderous crack that threw soldiers and corpses alike into the air.From the crater emerged Thorian.His armour was a grotesque fusion of flesh and metal, fused with forbidden runes, pulsing as though alive. His eyes were nothing but voids—black pits drinking in the Rift’s light. Behind him, a tide of soldiers poured out of shimmering portals, twisted by his unnatural experiments.And then came Elric.The King stepped forward with calm
Chapter 124
Smoke and fire streaked the morning sky, and temporal rifts cracked across the battlefield, bending reality in chaotic pulses. Every soldier, loyalist or traitor, moved through distorted time, their steps unpredictable, their strikes doubled in speed or delayed in deadly hesitation.Kael stood on the shattered parapet of the central tower, sword in hand, the Rift pulsing violently beneath his skin. Ember flanked him, glaive raised, eyes burning with unyielding fury. Liam, Reyna, and Jared moved strategically among the troops, protecting civilians and striking down enemy forces wherever they could.“Stormhaven’s forces are splitting!” Liam shouted, dodging a rift-distorted volley of arrows. “They’re trying to flank us from the east!”Kael’s eyes narrowed. “Then we give them what they didn’t expect. Draw them into chaos—split them further.” His voice was steady, cold, and commanding, cutting through the roar of battle.The first wave of Thorian’s soldiers crashed again
Chapter 123
The battlefield around Dawnreach was a fractured chaos of smoke, fire, and the hum of the Rift. Kael’s forces clashed with Thorian’s soldiers, the ground trembling with every strike, every collapse of shattered stone. Ember moved like a living storm, cutting through enemy ranks despite her lingering wound. Liam coordinated flanking maneuvers with surgical precision, while Kyna darted from one skirmish to another, her spear and instincts saving countless lives.Amid the chaos, Kael’s focus was razor-sharp, every movement guided by the pulse of the Rift. Sweat stung his eyes, the metallic scent of blood heavy in his lungs. He moved with precision, a whirlwind of steel and energy, carving a path through the enemy while his thoughts remained tethered to the names etched in Archon’s journals.A distant sound—a high, resonant hum—caught his attention. The air shivered as if vibrating with invisible weight. Kael froze mid-strike. Reyna’s voice came sharp in his mind: “Kael… that’s
Chapter 122
Kael’s forces regrouped, panting and bloodied, but alive. Ember leaned against a crumbling wall, the sweat and ash streaking her face, her hands still trembling from the raw exertion of the northern assault. Kyna tended to the wounded, her own injuries barely acknowledged, while Liam coordinated reinforcements from the shadows. Reyna stayed close to Kael, her presence a steady anchor amidst the chaos.The Rift pulsed faintly under Kael’s skin, sensing tension, danger, and opportunity. Every step he took across the battlefield felt like a calculated gamble, every glance scanning for Thorian or any sign of Elric’s manipulation.A horn sounded from the horizon—deep, commanding, unmistakable. Thorian’s banner rose against the burning sky, his warship cutting through the remnants of smoke like a knife through silk.Kael straightened, jaw tight. “He’s here,” he murmured. “And he’s not alone.”Reyna’s hand found his, squeezing. “He wants something,” she said. “A negotiation
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