The gates of Crescent Moon were wide open when Ivy and Kael arrived.
That was the first sign something was wrong.
The second was the silence.
No guards.
No warriors.
Just stillness.
“I don’t like this,” Kael murmured, his hand already shifting, claws half-formed.
Ivy stepped forward, the seal burning hot on her wrist. She could feel it—the wrongness. The magic in the air was twisted. Familiar.
“It’s not just quiet,” she said. “It’s controlled.”
They reached the council chamber to find chaos.
Iliana stood in the center, blood on her face, her eyes wide.
“They turned,” she gasped. “The eastern warriors. They said you were corrupted. That the seal made you unfit to lead.”
Kael’s eyes darkened. “Who led them?”
Iliana hesitated.
“Cain.”
The betrayal hit Ivy like a blade.
Cain. T
