The journey back from Solis was no longer a silent trek through the snow. Now, every breath Kaelen took vibrated in the back of Elara’s throat. Every flare of his protective instinct hit her like a physical wave of heat. The Blood-Union had turned the air between them into a living wire, humming with the static of a thousand unspoken apologies and ten thousand lingering resentments.
As they crested the final ridge overlooking the Embassy of the Tides, the golden light of the newly stabilized Sun-Core trailed behind them like a royal mantle. But the sight that greeted them was not one of celebration.
The Great Hall’s obsidian gates had been wrenched open. The iridescent Moon-Ferns that lined the path were trampled into the mud, their silver sap bleeding into the earth. Standing in the cen
