POV: Mason
The attack came at dawn.
It always does.
That quiet moment when the world feels safest—when guards grow tired, when warriors loosen their grip on their weapons, when even fear dares to rest for a breath.
That’s when the horns screamed.
I was already moving before the sound fully reached me. Instinct snapped through my body like lightning as the eastern sky exploded with fire and shadow. The wards along the border flared one by one, bursting into white-blue flame as something massive slammed against them from the outside.
“They’re here,” I growled.
Walls shook.
Stone cracked.
And then the first ward shattered.
Darkness poured through like a living tide.
“ALARM THE INNER RING!” I shouted, shifting mid-stride as I ran. Bone ripped, heat tore through muscle, and in second
