Chapter 105: The Ties That Bind Us
The sky wept fire.
Dark stars bled across the heavens, each trailing smoke and screams as they fell to earth. They struck with the force of divine reckoning, shattering mountaintops, carving craters in cities already scarred by war, and unraveling the fragile threads of peace Cambria had barely managed to weave.
Cambria stood by the broken window of the Hollow Crown, her gaze fixed on the falling stars. Evelyn stood beside her, sword in hand, while Knox remained motionless at her back like a shadow unsure of where it belonged.
"They’re not meteors," Maddox said grimly, stepping into the light of the shattered chamber. "They’re vessels."
Cambria’s jaw clenched. "Weapons."
Knox nodded. "Each carries perfected soul warriors bred in the dark, loyal only to her."
"Seraphine," Evelyn spat. "Of course, she’s been building her army beneath our feet."
Cambria turned to Knox. "You knew this was coming."
"Only in echoes," he said. "Her mind is fragmented, like glass in a hurricane. But the pieces are aligning. The Queen of Silence is no longer dreaming. She’s remembering. And soon, she will act."
Thunder cracked overhead, not the kind born of the storm, but something worse. Something unnatural.
The Hollow Crown trembled.