Chapter Summary:
Echo returns from the Frostbound Sanctum with undeniable proof: the prophecy was a cycle — and she is the final key meant to end it. But Liora isn't waiting. Her army begins to march, and betrayal seeps into the council. As snow falls over Flamehold for the first time in decades, the war that was once myth begins with the quiet sound of footsteps in frost.
Chapter 108: War Beneath the Ice
The snow came in silence.
It fell over Flamehold like a breath withheld too long, dusting the golden towers in a pale shimmer that hadn't touched the city in a hundred years.
Echo stood at the edge of the courtyard, eyes lifted toward the swirling flakes.
"It's begun," she whispered.
Kael stepped beside her, armored in black and silver, his cloak billowing behind him.
"Liora moves through the northern pass. She'll reach the outer walls in three days."
Echo nodded. "Has the council decided?"
Kael's expression was grim. "They're divided. Again. Half still believe her prophecy."
"And the other half?"
"Are afraid you'll prove it right."
The palace halls bustled with preparations.
Guards reforged armor. Flameborn mages set barriers around the city's core. Hidden vaults, once sealed, were opened.
But it wasn't enough.
"They have Frostbound warcasters," said Merek, Echo's most trusted commander. "And wolves."
"Wolves?" Echo frowned.
Merek nodded. "Frostbound siege beasts. Genetically shaped. Bred to tear through firewalls."
Echo turned to Kael. "What else aren't you telling me?"
Kael hesitated, then unrolled a faded map. "There's an old tunnel beneath the glacier. One my people sealed centuries ago. Liora might use it to bypass the walls."
Echo's eyes narrowed. "So she plans to bleed us from below."
Later that night, Echo stood alone in the Hall of Memory.
The sigil from the Sanctum glowed faintly on her palm — a circle of fire and frost, eternally intertwined.
She touched the glass case that held her father's sword — a blade of Embersteel that had once scorched mountains.
You chose peace. I chose war. Let's see who history remembers.
She drew the blade free. The runes along its edge shimmered with sudden life, recognizing her touch.
"Let them come," she said quietly. "Let them see the prophecy burn."
Dawn broke red.
Echo stood atop the city's highest spire as the Frostbound army came into view — a tide of silver armor and pale banners, stretching across the horizon like a blizzard given form.
At their center stood Liora, cloaked in white, her eyes locked on the city she'd once called enemy.
A raven flew from her shoulder, circling the towers before vanishing into smoke.
"She's watching," Kael said, stepping up beside Echo.
"So let her see," Echo replied, voice cold. "Let her see what a child of fire and frost truly becomes."
Within the War Hall, Echo laid out the final plans.
"To protect the Heartflame, we fall back to the inner ring after the second breach. Mages will hold the lines, but our focus is the tunnel."
Kael nodded. "I'll lead a squad through the glacier. We collapse the path before her wolves reach the city core."
Echo touched his hand.
"Be careful."
He smiled faintly. "I always am."
"Liar."
That evening, Kael and his strike team departed under cover of night, slipping beneath the walls toward the hidden tunnel.
Echo stood alone beneath the Heartflame — now pulsing faster, as if it too felt the coming storm.
A soft voice broke the silence.
"You still believe you can win?"
Echo turned.
Liora stood behind her.
Not in flesh — but in flame. A projection spell, shimmering with icy light.
"I believe I already have," Echo said.
"You cling to old fire and false hope. That child you carry—"
"I don't know if I'm pregnant," Echo interrupted. "But I know one thing: if I am, they will never kneel to someone like you."
Liora's expression remained calm. "You can still surrender."
Echo stepped forward. "You mistake me, Liora. I'm not the one who'll bend."
And with a wave of her hand, she shattered the illusion.
In the glacier tunnel, Kael found the path just as the wolves arrived.
Six beasts of shadow and frost, snarling in the dark.
His soldiers hesitated.
Kael stepped forward, drawing both blades — one forged in flame, the other in frost.
"Let's remind them why we don't bow to old ghosts."
And in the narrow dark, they fought like fire.
Back in the city, Echo donned her armor — gold and crimson laced with froststeel. The sigil on her hand glowed brighter now, pulsing in rhythm with the Heartflame.
Outside, the first siege cry rose.
The Frostbound army had arrived.
And the war, centuries in the making, had finally begun.