CHAPTER 29: THE GENERAL'S GAMBIT**
*(Or How Prince Nolan Learned the World Was a Lie)*
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### **Scene 1: The Door in the Dirt**
The earth bled where Chicago should have been.
Shen's new armor—**Dark Mage Form 2**—thrummed with unstable power, the shadows licking at his wrists like hungry dogs. He stared at the **door** that hadn't been there moments before. A jagged fissure in reality, its edges stitched together with what looked like **old magic seals**.
Ryulga cracked his knuckles. "Took you long enough to wake up. Now—"
**A boot slammed into the back of his skull.**
Ryulga face-planted into the bloody soil.
Standing behind him, foot still raised, was a **teenage boy in a ripped royal coat**, his golden hair streaked with grime and his left eye swollen shut.
**Prince Nolan panted, glaring.** "That's for kidnapping me, you *bastard*."
Shen blinked. "Who the hell—?"
Ryulga lifted his head from the dirt, grinning. "Ah. Right. Forgot about him."
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### **Scene 2: The Prince Who Wasn't Supposed to Be Here**
Five hours earlier (not that Nolan knew that—**time moved differently in the Grave**):
Nolan had been in his palace bedroom when the **ceiling ate itself**.
One moment, silk curtains and the scent of lavender. The next—**freefalling through a kaleidoscope of broken physics**, landing ass-first on a floating island made of **petrified dragon bones**.
Ryulga stood over him, tilting his head. "Huh. Wrong prince."
Nolan, heir to the Althurian throne, drew his ceremonial dagger. "I don't know what sorcery this is, but—"
Ryulga **plucked the dagger from his grip and swallowed it**. "You're a backup plan. Congrats."
Now, Nolan—still missing one shoe—gestured wildly at the door in the dirt. "Explain. *Now.*"
Shen sighed. "Kid, you don't want to—"
**The door creaked open.**
A **hand** shot out, skeletal and shimmering with runes, and grabbed Nolan's ankle.
**Nolan:** "WHAT THE FU—"
The hand **yanked**.
All three of them tumbled through.
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### **Scene 3: The General's Welcome**
They landed in a **throne room made of frozen lightning**, the walls crackling with suspended energy. At the center sat a figure in armor that looked like it had been **forged from a dead star**.
**Arcane General Veyl** lifted his helm.
His face was **Nolan's**.
Just older. Colder. **Missing the left eye.**
**Veyl:** "Ah. You brought the spare."
Nolan went very still. "What."
Shen's shadows **roared to life**, armor forming instantly. "Ryulga. *Explain.*"
Ryulga dusted himself off. "Nolan's not just a prince. He's a **failsafe**. If you'd died in the Grave, his bloodline's magic would've jumpstarted the next Mediator cycle."
Nolan's voice shook. "You're saying I'm—what, *bait*?"
Veyl stood. "No, boy. You're **insurance**." He raised a hand—and Nolan's **right eye ignited with golden fire**.
**Nolan screamed.**
Veyl smiled. "And now? You're **awake**."
**TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 31: *THE SPARE'S WAR***
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