đ Chronicles of the Watchers
Chapter 21: The Sun-Throne Beckons
The soldiers came like a tide.
Liora cut through the first wave, blade flashing with fury, but for every helm that fell, two more closed in. Selene's lantern burned bright, searing the armor of those who dared approach, yet the crystal at the priest's staff countered its glow, swallowing light into its core.
Kairo tried to fight, but the mark on his chest surged violently, stealing his strength. He staggered, gasping.
The golden-masked priest extended his staff. "Do not harm him. The Sun-Throne has waited too long."
Chains of light coiled from the crystal, wrapping around Kairo's limbs. He struggled, but they tightened, sinking cold fire into his flesh.
"No!" Liora leapt toward himâonly for a soldier's spear to catch her side. She fell, bloodied, rolling into the grass.
Selene's eyes burned. She dropped the lantern, whispering a word in the old tongue. It shattered, exploding in a blast of blinding fire.
Smoke. Screams.
When the air cleared, Kairo was goneâdragged in chains toward the fortress-city.
The soldiers searched the grass, but Liora and Selene were gone too, vanished into the whispering plains.
---
Kairo awoke to silence, shackled in a carriage of black iron. Through the barred window, the city of Kaelith rose closer. Its walls gleamed with runes of binding, its towers crowned with sun-discs that spun slowly, casting light even in shadow.
The priest sat across from him, mask gleaming in the dimness.
"You feel it, don't you? The stirrings of your blood. The mark is not a curse, Vesselâit is a crown. Kaelith does not fear you. We will guide you, shape you, raise you to what you were meant to be."
Kairo clenched his fists. "I won't be your pawn."
The priest tilted his head. "All pawns dream of kingship."
---
From the hills beyond, Selene and Liora watched the caravan snake its way toward the gates.
Liora's wound was bound, though she winced with every move.
"We should have died fighting. Letting them take himâ"
Selene's hand tightened on her arm. "No. If he is in their heart, we are closer to theirs. Kaelith may think they own him, but as long as we breathe, the Vessel is not theirs to keep."
Below, the Sun-Throne's gates yawned wide, swallowing Kairo and the priest into the city's shining maw.
---
⥠End of Chapter 21.