Chapter 33: Start of the Journey.
The carriage rattled gently as it rolled along the winding road beneath the vast stretch of cloudsmeared sky. Inside, shadows flickered across the velvet seats, cast by the pale sunlight that
slipped through the curtains.
Ethan leaned back, arms folded, watching the trees sway past through a slit in the drapes. The air
inside smelled faintly of polished wood, leather, and a subtle floral perfume drifting from the
woman across from him.
Velexaria Duskvale, Tower Master of the Dark Mages, sat with regal poise, her obsidian robes
embroidered with crimson runes glimmering faintly in the gloom. Her eyes, dark as midnight
pools, fixed Ethan with a look somewhere between calculation and pride.
Beside her sat Lysena Blackthorn and Kaeron Ravelle, both Sixth Circle Mages and legends in
their own right. The space felt tight with their power, like sitting between walls of unseen lightning.
"So," Velexaria began, her voice low and smooth as silk, "when we reach the Empire’s capital, you