Chapter 106: The Queen’s Wrath
The sky cracked open.
Above the Hollow Crown, night bled into dawn, but no sun rose. Instead, the heavens were stained with ash and flame. Dark stars rained down, each impact shaking the very bones of the world. The air hummed with power a chorus of ruin and the earth responded with tremors that split mountains, that shattered the walls of once-great kingdoms.
Cambria stood upon the shattered balcony, her hair whipping around her face in the bitter wind. The fires of the Hollow Crown reflected in her golden eyes. Behind her, Maddox and Knox stood in tense silence, weapons drawn not for each other but for what was coming.
Knox spoke first, his voice low. "This is her doing."
Cambria didn’t look at him. "I know."
"She’s calling them. The perfected weapons. The children of Pandora. And worse."
A fresh meteor tore through the sky, striking the eastern cliffs. The blast wave reached them moments later, and dust filled the air, choking and blinding.
Cambria clenched her fists. The flame inside her flared, answering the chaos, craving the destruction. But she held it back, teeth gritted. "This is what you wanted, isn’t it, Knox? A world consumed by fire?"
Knox shook his head, the embers in his veins dimming. "Not like this. I could control it. But Seraphine... she is the fire."
Maddox snarled. "Enough. We waste breath. We should strike before she gains more ground."
"No," Cambria said, stepping back from the edge. "Not yet. We don’t fight blindly. We gather what’s left of our strength, or we fall like the rest."