Location: Skyfortress Aegis – Above the Arcadian Divide
The wind roared outside the glass walls of the Aegis, but inside, the war-room was silent.
Aeris stood at the center table, the holographic map casting blue light across her face. Her hair fell in loose waves, untamed from the hours of travel. Her fingers drummed against the surface—steady, measured, but hiding the way her pulse refused to slow.
Lucien leaned against the wall, watching her.
She wasn't wearing the crown anymore—hadn't for months. But every movement, every glance, carried the weight of someone who had once ruled the world.
Only now… the world wasn't sure if it wanted her back.
---
"The Forgotten Ones are moving," Lucien said finally.
Aeris didn't look at him.
"They're not moving. They're hunting."
Her voice was sharp enough to cut the air.
"They've awakened, and they're choosing pieces from the board before I can reach them."
Lucien's eyes narrowed. "Pieces… or people?"
Aeris' gaze lifted from the map, meeting his.
"Both."
---
She turned away, walking to the edge of the war room, where the glass opened to the endless clouds below. From this height, she could almost forget the ground was drowning in shadows. Almost.
Lucien moved to her side. His voice dropped.
"They'll try to claim you again."
"They'll fail," she said, her tone as cold as the glass under her palm.
"They failed before," he countered. "But they've learned. They know your weaknesses now."
Her lips curved into the faintest smile—bitter, almost mocking.
"Then they'll come for you first."
---
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then he stepped closer, so close the space between them was filled with heat and memory.
When he spoke, his words were low enough that they brushed her ear.
"They'd have to kill me first."
He paused.
"And Aeris… I'd make that cost unbearable."
Her breath caught—not because of the threat, but because she knew he meant every word.
---
Location: Blackroot Crypt – Minutes Earlier
Deep underground, the pod holding Seraphine was no longer dormant.
A thin crack had formed in the glass.
It wasn't from the outside.
---
Location: Skyfortress Aegis – Present
Aeris turned back to the map, forcing herself into the rhythm of war—calculating routes, anticipating their enemy's next strike. But the images from the crypt wouldn't leave her mind: the cold blue light, the rows of failed creations, and her mother's eyes opening in the dark.
The Forgotten wanted her alive.
Her mother might want her dead.
Either way, both wanted the same thing:
Control.
And Aeris would give them nothing.
---
Lucien's voice cut into her thoughts.
"I need to know you won't run from me if this turns into a war we can't win."
Her gaze snapped to him, sharp as a blade.
"I don't run."
His jaw tightened.
"You've left before."
"That was before I had something to lose."
The words slipped out before she could stop them. His expression softened—just enough.
"What do you have to lose, Aeris?"
She didn't answer.
Not out loud.
---
The fortress shuddered—once, hard enough to knock the map offline.
Lucien's hand went to his weapon.
Aeris' voice was calm.
"They've found us."
---
Far below, a streak of black fire tore across the clouds, splitting the sky in two. And at the heart of it was something Aeris had seen only once before—in her mother's archives.
A ship that should not exist.
A ship older than empires.
The flagship of the Forgotten.
---
Lucien's voice was a whisper.
"They're not here to destroy the Aegis."
Aeris' eyes darkened.
"They're here to board it."
And somewhere inside her, the words of her mother's projection echoed:
"Every queen wears a crown. Even the one who swore to burn hers."
The glass wall before her fractured, just enough for the first shadow to slip through.
And the chapter closed in silence.
---