Pain. Cold. The scent of stardust and iron.
Kael's world tilted as he hit the ground.
"KAEL!" Mira screamed.
Lyssa threw her dagger. It lodged in the Twin's throat. Blood sprayed.
Selene laughed, drunk on destruction. "You thought you could just take her back? No. No. You took everything from me."
Lysaria raised her hands. "Enough."
The chains she'd worn for a decade coiled around Selene, now reversed by the Queen's will. Magic twisted.
Kael coughed blood, still conscious. "Don't... kill her..."
"Why?" Lyssa hissed.
Kael looked at Selene. "Because we once believed in the same dream."
The Queen spared Selene. But banished her from the continent.
As silence settled, Mira rushed to Kael's side. "Don't die. Please..."
Lyssa kissed his hand, trembling. "If you leave me, I'll bring down kingdoms."
Kael's vision blurred. But he smiled. "I'm not leaving. Not yet."
Then, as everything calmed...
A second glyph lit up in his chest.
A deeper voice whispered inside:
"You've just awakened Stage Two of Veinweaving. The cost begins now."