The temple ruins were cloaked in a heavy mist, the air dense with the scent of blood and ash. Elizabeth Stormborn stood at the shattered threshold of the Sanctum of the Flame, her golden eyes narrowed as she took in the corrupted altar at its heart. The crimson light flickering from within cast long shadows over her armor, igniting the phoenix-forged plates with an otherworldly glow.
Lucian stood at her side, his midnight-black armor gleaming with the dew of the marsh. Behind them, the elite guard warriors of Crimson Ridge and Moonspire alike waited in tense silence. The twins, Aria and Liam, had not been brought. This battle was not for heirs, not yet. This was for the present, for the ones who bore the scars of prophecy and betrayal.
Elizabeth stepped forward, the soles of her boots cr
