Chapter 79: Royals of Fire and Stone
The sky split with flame and snow as the battlefield unfolded.
The tent had long since collapsed, torn apart by a tide of fear and soul pressure. What remained was the open northern field, ringed with burning wagons and scattered corpses, soldiers slipping on frost and blood as they fled the center of the storm.
And in the middle of it all, King Aldric still sat unmoving.
He was still as a carved statue atop his war chair—its frame shaped of black steel and wolfbone. His red-gold armor gleamed, impossibly clean, the lion crest of Solaris burning like a brand across his chest.
His crown was no diadem but a circlet of jagged crimson ore forged in dragon flame, worn low on his brow. He watched with the gaze of a god-king.
Detached. Absolute. Waiting.
Two figures stepped forward from his sides.
Kael Solaris, First Prince—shoulders wide, cloak billowing, flame coiling at his feet. His power was palpable. His breakthrough to the Sixth Circle had not only been recent—it had been loud. He was proud of it. Owned it like a crown of his own making.
Beside him moved Zerak Solaris, the Second Prince—taller, leaner, no less dangerous. His coat was stitched with runes of precision and restraint. Crystal shards orbited him in a perfect ring, each one etched with silver glyphs that hummed softly.
His magic was silent. Measured. Cold.
Between them stood Lan. Blood still wet on his blade. Ash rising from his shoulders. Snow melting beneath his feet.
His pale grey eyes didn’t blink as Kael stepped onto the field. The air rippled—Kael’s presence was overwhelming, fire-heavy, the scent of sulfur and scorched steel pouring off him.