Kaelis POV
The Seed is quiet.
Not dormant—never that—but observant. It listens the way predators listen, the way inevitability listens. It does not hum or glow or demand reverence. It waits, secure in the knowledge that time bends toward patience far more reliably than it ever bends toward force.
I understand that kind of power.
I keep the Seed wrapped, hidden not just from sight but from attention. Magic notices attention. It responds to fascination, fear, worship. I give it none of those things. I treat it the way I treat every advantage I possess—with respect, calculation, and absolute ownership.
Blake believes the fortress makes him unreachable.
Stone layered over stone. Wards fed by dragon blood. Fire seals that answer only to him. Allies who would gladly die before letting an e
