Someone had already opened the gate.
The words echoed through the clearing.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Elira stared at the Oracle.
No.
That wasn't possible.
They had spent weeks chasing Varyn.
Weeks believing he was trying to unleash the darkness.
Weeks believing they could still stop it.
But if the gate was already open...
Then what exactly had they been fighting?
A cold knot formed in her stomach.
Because suddenly nothing made sense.
The clearing had gone silent.
Hundreds of soldiers stood frozen before the statue of the First Heir.
Even the wind seemed reluctant to move.
King Aldric stepped forward.
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
The kind of calm people used when they were barely holding themselves together.
"What do you mean?"
The Oracle's sightless eyes remaine
