The Gathering Storm
But as alliances formed, so did resistance.
Kael and Rian intercepted a courier's satchel just beyond the city walls. Inside, encrypted orders, bound in a silver seal:
Initiate Protocol Ashfall.
Burn the records. Silence the witnesses.
Let the next war come. We will rise from the ruin.
Signed with a mark neither of them expected:
The Thorned Hand—a secret organization older than the council itself. Hidden within the kingdom's nobility, untouched by borders or law.
"They've been planning this war for decades," Kael said grimly, scanning the sigils. "Waiting for another Ember heir to surface so they could blame it all on magic again."
"A war built on fear," Rian added. "And they'll sacrifice the whole realm to spark it."
Elira's voice was quiet, but unshaken.
"Then we stop it."