The heavy silence inside the timber cabin was thick enough to choke on.
Elder Vane’s words hung in the warm, pine-scented air like a death sentence. High-yield industrial lasers drilling directly into the core of the Blood Vault. Marcus and Vance were going to shatter the ancient seal, completely ignorant that they were about to release the Shadowborn Prime upon the valley.
"They think they're opening a vault of unlimited magic," I whispered, my left palm throbbing with a dull, warning heat beneath my glove. "They have no idea they're breaking a cage."
Gideon’s jaw clenched so tight I heard the joint pop. He turned away from the door, his amber eyes burning with an intense, terrifying clarity as he looked at the weathered tactical map pinned to the cabin's timber wall.
"We can't breach
