The morning sun barely touched the city as Kael, Selene, and Lynox prepared to infiltrate the palace once more. The safehouse had been their refuge for a fleeting moment, but now, the weight of their plans pressed down on them. Time was running out. The rebellion was gaining strength, and the forces behind the masked figure were pulling strings that threatened to unravel everything Kael had worked for.
But the palace—once the heart of the empire—was now a crumbling shell of what it had been. The attack the night before had left the central courtyard in ruins, and the great halls of the palace were filled with the acrid stench of smoke and destruction. The walls had begun to crumble, and beneath it all, the raw power of rebellion was bubbling to the surface.
Kael stood before the cracked
