The smoke from the Iron City could be seen for leagues.
Merchants whispered of ghost-fires that still glowed where the forges once burned. Scholars redrew their maps. And in courtrooms, war councils, and sect strongholds across the realm…
Everyone paused.
For centuries, the Iron City had stood unchallenged. It was more than a fortress—it was a legacy of dominance, of fear, of conquest.
Now it was gone.
---
IN THE NORTH — THE FROST MONARCHY
Queen Veilith, draped in silver furs, stared into her scrying mirror for a full hour before speaking.
QUEEN VEILITH
"The boy erased a bloodline. Not conquered. Not crippled.
Erased.
We shall not test him."
She canceled her winter expansion plans that very night.
---
IN THE WEST — THE GOLDEN SCEPTER SECT
The High Elder tapped his ring three times on the marble armrest of his throne, then murmured:
HIGH ELDER
"The child of stardust has shown his teeth.
Delay the envoy. Offer tribute instead."
The students of the sect began studying beast bonding the next week.
---
IN THE SOUTH — THE BANDIT COALITION
Three warlords sat around a fire, watching the flames twist. One reached for his blade.
The second stopped him.
SOUTHERN WARLORD
"You thinking of marching east?
Better to drown yourself in that fire than walk toward it."
They burned their war maps. Built farms instead.
---
RUMORS, FEARS, AND TITLES
In the taverns and temples, new names were whispered:
The Beast Sovereign
The Iron Ender
Starborn Flame
Children mimicked Zaxton's stance when they played.
Veteran cultivators began seeking apprenticeships under Stoneveil's banner.
And every time a foreign power thought to act—
They remembered the Iron City.
And thought again.
Daggers in the Smoke
Peace was never silent.
Stoneveil bustled with new life—schools, marketplaces, even festivals. Beasts danced in the square with their bonded partners. Children laughed, soldiers trained, and the Academy flourished under its Grandmaster.
But beneath it all...
someone kept turning the lock.
---
A WHISPERED WAR
It started small.
A council member poisoned.
A cache of beast eggs mysteriously shattered.
A promising young tamer found dead in the marshes—his spirit beast gone mad with grief.
The Council grew uneasy.
Thalos blamed incompetence. Sister Yen warned of spiritual corrosion. But Mara... Mara found the seal on a shattered egg. A coin. Small, obsidian black.
The sigil of the Loc Empire.
---
THE LOC EMPIRE
The Loc had no armies of glory, no banners of flame.
Their empire was built in shadows—their influence like smoke in noble halls, poisons in royal teacups.
They feared Stoneveil's rise. They feared what could not be bought, manipulated, or quietly erased.
So they tried to end it the way they knew best:
From within.
Assassins. Spies. Rumormongers. Cultivators paid to spark internal rebellion.
But they hadn't accounted for one thing—
Stoneveil's people.
---
LOYALTY UNBROKEN
The people remembered. They remembered the chains. The famine. The Warlord's lash.
And they remembered the boy who came from the forest with beasts at his side and stars in his voice.
Zaxton hadn't just protected them.
He'd freed them.
He'd believed in them.
So when spies tried to bribe farmers, they were turned in.
When assassins crept into the Academy, they were surrounded by students—barefoot, half-trained, and fearless.
One even made it to Zaxton's chambers.
She found him meditating, unarmed.
She left in pieces.
---
A LINE IN THE STARS
Zaxton stood on the great balcony of the Citadel. Below, tens of thousands of citizens and beast companions gathered, roaring for truth.
He raised his hand. Silence fell like a blade.
ZAXTON
"The Loc Empire has tested the walls.
They've sent daggers in the night, whispers in the dark.
And they've learned something simple."
He turned slightly. Korrin growled beside him. Ashra ignited, haloed in flame.
ZAXTON (cont.)
"You cannot kill what is loved."
He pointed toward the east, toward the glimmering black cities of the Loc.
ZAXTON
"From this day forward—
Stoneveil is at war with the Loc Empire.
Not to conquer.
But to cleanse."
He paused. His eyes shone like twin moons.
ZAXTON
"For every life they've stolen.
For every child they silenced.
For every city they've drowned in secrets—
We will answer not with whispers…
But with thunder."