Night returned with unsettling stillness. The victory over the Crownroot echoed across the fractured territories, but deep beneath the ruins, far from the reach of any queen or sword…
Something was awake.
Below the shattered chamber, beneath layers of frostbitten stone and ancient root systems, a cavern pulsed with residual energy. The flickers of the Crownroot's destruction had disturbed more than just Caelen's ambitions—they had cracked open something older than bloodlines.
A single flicker of movement disturbed the darkness.
A spark—then a hum. Soft. Ancient. Mechanical.
A vault door hidden beneath centuries of petrified root slowly hissed open, steam curling into the void like a warning breath. Within it was a stasis chamber. Long-forgotten. Sealed not by science, but by intent.
Inside…
A figure slept.
Suspended in pale blue light, their face obscured by a crystalline mask, they floated—still, but not dead. Symbols carved into the glass pulsed now, glowing faintly, responding to the changes above.
The awakening was incomplete.
But inevitable.
A voice whispered in the cavern—a memory caught between time and eternity.
> "If the daughters break the chain… the hollow king will rise."
---
Above Ground – Frostspire Command
Isabella stood atop the outer ramparts of Frostspire, overlooking the battleground now scattered with tents and healing units. The once-dreaded fortress had become a symbol of something else entirely—a new beginning.
Shade joined her silently, her eyes following the stars as they pierced the thinning clouds.
"They're rebuilding," Isabella said. "Different nations. Different leaders. But they're talking."
Shade nodded. "The old blood would never have allowed it. That's something to protect."
Isabella hesitated, then turned to her. "Do you feel it?"
"The shift?" Shade's eyes narrowed. "Yes. Like we've cut off one head of the beast… but it was never the only one."
"Something moved beneath the ruins," Isabella whispered. "I felt it."
"So did I."
They stood in silence for a long while, wind tugging gently at their cloaks.
And then Shade murmured, "What if Caelen wasn't wrong about everything? What if the Crownroot was just a gatekeeper—not the throne itself?"
Isabella's jaw tightened. "Then we'd better pray the next king doesn't wake."
---
Elsewhere – Unknown Coordinates
Far beyond the borders of Frostspire and the ruins, a cloaked traveler crossed the ice alone. A figure wrapped in red and iron-gray, carrying a strange compass that no longer pointed north… but downward.
Toward the Hollow.
Toward the next war.
---