Thorns of the Moonlit Throne
Volume 2 — Chapter 7: Chains of Radiance
Writer: Sabbir Ahmed
Aryn Vale stood at the heart of the Sunfall Reliquary, bound by chains of living light.
They burned without flame, searing not flesh but will. Each link pulsed with holy runes, reacting violently to the shadow threaded through his blood. Around him, towering pillars of gold and crystal rose toward a ceiling lost in blinding radiance.
"You see?" High Inquisitor Caelum Virex said, circling slowly. "Shadow cannot exist without corruption."
Aryn clenched his jaw. "Balance frightens you because it cannot be ruled."
Caelum smiled. "Order must be absolute."
At the chamber's center hovered the Solar Crucible—a relic older than Sunfall itself. It screamed silently, rejecting all that was not pure light. The air warped around it, reality bending under its judgment.
"You carry her influence," Caelum continued. "The Moonlit Queen has poisoned even her champions."
Aryn met his gaze. "She gave us a choice."
Caelum raised his staff. "Choice breeds defiance."
Light surged from the Crucible, tightening the chains. Pain lanced through Aryn—but beneath it, something else stirred. Memory. Not his own.
He saw ancient battles where light annihilated entire cities. He heard prayers unanswered, lives erased in the name of perfection.
"This relic doesn't protect the world," Aryn said hoarsely. "It erases it."
Caelum's smile faltered—just slightly.
Far away, Lyriana felt it.
The Balanced Crown throbbed violently, its harmony strained to breaking. She staggered, gripping the throne as Aryn's pain echoed through their bond.
"They are tearing balance apart," Eryon said urgently. "The Crucible cannot coexist with harmony."
Lyriana's breath steadied. "Then it must be confronted."
She rose, cloak billowing as the crown flared bright and dark as one.
"Prepare the Gate of Convergence," she commanded. "I will go myself."
Eryon hesitated. "If the Crucible rejects you—"
"Then it will learn," Lyriana said, eyes blazing, "that balance does not beg for acceptance."
In the Reliquary, the Crucible pulsed faster—reacting.
Caelum looked up sharply. "What is happening?"
Aryn smiled through the pain. "She's coming."
Above the Sunfall capital, the sky split—not with fire, but with moonlit shadow.
And for the first time, the light trembled.