The high road shook beneath their steps.
Flames licked the skyline, Kaelis's roar still splitting the air, the Nova Sanctum's cannons pounding the quarters below. The city was broken, its panic spilling through every street like blood from an open wound.
Karl, grinning wide, fire dripping from his claws, strode at Lucian and Lucy's side. Every breath he took carried laughter, as though the chaos around him existed just for his amusement.
Then the air shifted.
The laughter stopped.
A golden glow bloomed at the far end of the road. The smoke parted as if cut by a blade, and through it stepped Kael.
His cloak burned faint with aura, his golden eyes steady, his stride unhurried. Behind him, guards followed in fractured formation, but they were nothing more than shadows at his back. All the noise of the burning city seemed to dim, replaced by the quiet weight of his presence.
