The streets of Velderis bustled with hovercrafts, drone sentries, and soldiers in gleaming armor, but Rin Solas walked among them unnoticed,just another young noble clad in a plain travel cloak.
Emotionless.
He had once dreamed of walking beneath these golden skies, exploring the grand cities of the East with wide-eyed wonder. But the torment inflicted upon him by Valen had drained him of that spark. The pain, the hopelessness, the feeling of being torn apart again and again,it had hollowed him. He now moved with mechanical purpose. His eyes were glassy, his steps light but unfeeling.
He boarded a public flying car, the hum of its engines whispering as it soared across vast deserts and sprawling plains. The world below was beautiful, lakes, towering white trees, and shining citadels. And yet, none of it reached him. This world had no joy. Only war. The technology here had evolved for one thing: conquest. No social networks. No entertainment empires. Only tools to kill faster and defend harder.
Within an hour, the capital came into view: Syrinthal ,a fortress city of obsidian towers and gold-plated walls, built on top of a canyon that split the continent like a scar. At its heart loomed the palace of Kaelion Solas, First Fang of the East and the man who now ruled their father's country.
As Rin approached the gates, four guards in red-gold armor blocked his path. They scanned him with suspicious eyes,until one of their lenses beeped in recognition.
"Apologies, Your Highness," one said, voice stiff with discipline. "We weren't aware of your return. Lord Kaelion will be arriving in approximately twenty-thirty minutes. Can you please wait in the atrium."
Rin nodded silently.
The palace was a monument to dragon-blooded power,elegant, yet sharp. As he waited beneath the massive glass dome of the atrium, he caught his reflection. Scales still shimmered faintly beneath his skin. The horns didn't show unless he summoned them, but his aura had changed. Stronger. Tighter.
The doors hissed open.
Kaelion Solas entered.
He was a man in his late thirties, towering, with deep silver eyes and long white hair tied behind him in a warrior's knot. His expression was unreadable,icy, calm, calculating.
"So," Kaelion said, voice echoing through the marble hall, "you've finally returned from your vacation."
Rin blinked. Vacation?
"Yes," he replied carefully. "It was... necessary."
Kaelion nodded once, his gaze sharp. "Three months. No word. No reports. Then you return stronger than before. You're now over 40%, aren't you?"
Rin remained still.
Kaelion didn't press. He stepped forward, arms folded behind his back. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. You are Father's son after all."
That name, Father,felt strange. Foreign. But Rin didn't show it.
Rin then asked about the ongoing war and about valen solas.
Kaelion turned, pacing slowly. "You've come at a difficult time. The North is lost. Walk a week through it and you'll find nothing but bones and ash. Cities leveled. Forests scorched black."
Rin's chest tightened. "Valen?"
Kaelion stopped, casting a glance his way. "Who else?"
There was a pause. Then Kaelion continued, his voice quieter now. "The West and South formed a joint front to stop him. Fleets, armies, beastmasters ,everything. He tore through them. Killed a dozen generals, razed an entire kingdom, and then…"
He frowned.
Rin leaned in. "What happened?"
"He vanished," Kaelion said, voice low. "One month ago, just after the last assault. No sightings. No attacks. No aura. Not even a whisper."
"Did they hurt him?" Rin asked quickly. "Did someone manage to stop him?"
Kaelion slowly shook his head. "That's the strange part. No. He wasn't defeated. He simply... disappeared."
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Rin tried to process it. Disappeared? Valen Solas,the man who had shattered his soul, who declared war alone on the entire world was just gone?
Why?
What was he doing?
What was he planning?
Kaelion stepped toward him again, sharp eyes locked onto Rin's. "You've been gone a long time. Tell me, Rin… what are you planning to do now? Are you going back to the gates? Or… something else?"
The question lingered in the air like a blade waiting to drop.
Rin didn't answer immediately.
He wasn't sure he knew.