The wind above Cael'Thorne was not a breeze, but a presence. Sentient, ancient, and full of judgment.
Seris felt it the moment they breached the lower clouds—Kaelen's airship slicing through the silver-grey sky, its wings crackling with static. Lightning arced around them like hungry vines, but the ship held steady under Kaelen's command.
"You said the skies were watching," Seris said, gripping the railing. "You didn't mention they were this angry."
"They're not angry," Kaelen said, adjusting the wheel. "They're remembering."
"Remembering what?"
He glanced back at her, the weight in his eyes unmistakable. "That a Stormforged royal returns with fire in her blood."
The clouds parted.
And there it was.
Cael'Thorne.
A kingdom of floating citadels, suspended in the eye of a roiling tempest. Great arcs of crystal floated like ships anchored in thunder. Palaces sculpted of white stone hovered midair, bound by bridges of pure lightning. Towers spun slowly on their axes, each one trailing storm-clouds like royal capes.
It was breathtaking.
It was terrifying.
And all of it had once belonged to Kaelen's family.
---
They docked at a lower spire—one of the few still tethered to the mountains below.
A squad of sky-knights in armor of chrome and wind waited at the platform. At their front stood a woman with Kaelen's eyes—but colder.
"Lady Arin," Kaelen said. He stepped forward with a deep, formal bow. "Captain of the Vaultguard."
Arin didn't bow back. "You bring fire into the sky, brother. Do you think that wise?"
Seris tensed. Kaelen raised a hand. "She is with me."
"She is fire," Arin said sharply. "And the last time fire entered this city, our father died."
Seris stepped forward. "And the last time my people trusted the sky, you left us to burn."
The tension crackled like a lightning rod.
For a moment, it seemed Arin would order them arrested.
But then she said: "Very well. If you want to stand before the Eye, you'll do it together."
---
The Eye of Cael'Thorne was not a throne room.
It was a storm itself, suspended at the center of the kingdom's great prism tower. Lightning spun around it in endless spirals, and in the eye's center hovered a sphere of blue flame, ever-changing.
The Eye was their Oracle—their crown. Their judge.
Seris and Kaelen stood together as it shimmered to life.
"Kaelen Thorne," the Eye whispered, its voice wind and rain and memory. "Son of storms. You return unbidden."
Kaelen knelt. "I return with warning."
"And with fire," it answered.
Seris lifted her chin. "I came willingly."
The Eye shifted. "Then speak, Fireborne."
So she did.
She told it of the Ember Vault, of the Mirror Queen, of the twin crowns that pulsed in different lands—and of the prophecy now unfolding.
She told it what few others knew: that the fire didn't whisper anymore. It screamed.
---
The Eye fell silent.
When it spoke again, its tone had changed.
> "The Second Crown. The Stormforged Diadem. Hidden since the sundering. Guarded by oath and storm. Now awakening."
Kaelen frowned. "Where?"
The Eye pulsed. "In the Vault of Echoing Wind."
Arin stepped forward, alarmed. "That vault was sealed with mother's dying breath. It cannot be breached."
"Unless," Seris said slowly, "someone already has."
The Eye pulsed again.
> "One moves to awaken the crown not to rule—but to unmake. If the Second is lit, the First will die. If both awaken, the Flame and Storm may clash—or bind. The choice is not yet made."
---
They left the Eye shaken.
Kaelen paced their temporary quarters high in the tower while Seris stood at the balcony, staring out into the clouds.
"The vault's in the Skyreach Cradle, isn't it?" she asked.
He nodded. "A ruin now. Guarded by winds strong enough to tear airships apart."
"Then we go on foot."
Kaelen looked at her. "It's madness."
Seris met his gaze. "So is prophecy."
---
That night, a storm rolled in—thicker and darker than the others.
Seris stood by the glass, lightning dancing across her face. Kaelen joined her, quiet.
"You believe the crowns can bind," she said.
He nodded. "I do."
"And if I fall?"
"I'll catch you."
She turned to him. "And if you fall?"
His voice was soft. "Then fall with me."