The cell stank of sweat, iron, and old blood. Damp stone walls pressed close, the air thick enough to choke on. The iron door clanged shut behind me, sealing the world away until there was only me, the prisoner, and the storm crawling under my skin.
Revik leaned against the wall, arms crossed, his face unreadable. He had delivered the soldier alive. What happened next was my domain.
The Earthlin sat shackled on the bench, wrists locked in iron, head bowed. His body was a ruin of bruises and swelling, but when he raised his head, his single good eye burned with defiance. Even broken, he dared to smirk at me.
I let the silence stretch until it was almost unbearable. Then I stepped forward, boots echoing off stone. "Talk."
The soldier's lip curled. "Go to hell."
Something in me twitched. My fingers flexed once, sparks dancing between them. I could have ended him in that moment, but instead I crouched low, meeting his gaze level. "This is your one chance."
He spat blood onto the floor between us. "Make it count."
The storm inside me snapped. Lightning surged, white-blue and merciless, leaping from my hand into his chest. His body arched violently, shackles rattling as a strangled scream tore from his throat. The smell of scorched flesh flooded the room.
I let the current die just long enough for him to suck in a rattling breath. My voice was ice. "Again: talk."
Pain dragged the words from him, raw and trembling. "We… we were searching."
"For what?"
His swollen lips stretched into something almost like a grin. "The Fire Primal Stone. Orders were clear. Hold the ground. Wait for the sign."
The relic. Of course. That explained the siege engines, the ambush. But it raised more questions than it answered.
"And the dragon?" I pressed.
His laugh was low and broken, but real. "You think we're blind? We know what we saw." He leaned forward, blood running down his chin, his one good eye gleaming with triumph. "The Primal Dragon. Alive. Real. And in your hands."
His grin widened. "Of course… that's only if my bolt didn't kill her already."
The storm inside me broke loose.
Lightning burst from me in a blinding flash, striking his ribs with enough force to lift him off the bench. He screamed, voice shredded, body convulsing as the current tore through him. The air reeked of burnt flesh, iron, blood.
I didn't stop.
Another bolt. Then another. His cries grew hoarse, raw, breaking into wet gasps. His skin blistered, muscles seizing uncontrollably, but still—still—that smirk lingered on his broken face.
I surged forward, seized his jaw in my hand, forcing him to look at me. "Do you think this is a game?" My voice cracked like thunder. "Do you think you can touch what's mine and walk away?"
The word slipped before I realized it. Mine.
The soldier wheezed, blood bubbling in his throat. His lips twitched, maybe to laugh, maybe to spit more defiance. I didn't care.
My fist drove into his gut. Then his face. Bone crunched under my knuckles. He gagged on blood, spitting broken teeth, but I struck again. Each blow was fueled by the fire I couldn't control, the fury I couldn't leash. Every strike was a promise carved into his body: this is what happens when you lay a hand on my key to peace.
Hands seized my shoulder. Revik's voice cut through the haze. "Enough."
I shrugged him off, slamming my knee into the soldier's ribs. Something cracked. The man sagged, barely conscious.
Revik yanked me back harder this time, shoving me against the opposite wall. "I said enough!" His tone was iron. "You'll kill him before we get the rest."
My chest heaved, my vision burned red. Lightning still danced across my hands, eager to finish what I'd started. For a moment, I wanted to turn it on Revik too—anything, anyone, to let the rage out.
But Revik didn't flinch. He never did.
"Take a walk," he said flatly. "Cool your head. I'll get the rest."
The storm clawed inside me, begging to be unleashed, but I forced it back down, teeth grinding. Without another word, I turned and shoved the iron door open, the sound of the prisoner's ragged chuckles following me out into the hall.
⸻
The dawn was breaking when I finally stepped into the palace gardens.
The air was cool, sharp with the scent of cherry blossoms. Pale petals drifted from the branches, scattering across black stone paths. My mother had planted those trees. She used to laugh beneath them, her hands catching the pink petals as they fell. I could still hear her voice, bright and warm. But the memory twisted, curdled into guilt. She had died because I had not been strong enough. The blossoms were a cruel reminder of all I had lost.
I clenched my fists, shoving the memory down. The past doesn't matter. All that matters is the future I'll bring.
And yet my thoughts betrayed me, turning to the girl lying pale and still in the infirmary. I had always been in control—cold, precise. But in that cell, I had lost myself. A soldier's taunt had unraveled me into something raw, reckless. That unsettled me more than I wanted to admit.
"Didn't take you for the sentimental type."
Revik's voice dragged me back. He strode down the path, arms folded, his smirk wolfish but his eyes sharp.
"You really let loose in there," he said. "I thought you'd kill him with your bare hands."
I didn't answer, jaw tight.
Revik studied me a moment longer, then sighed. "I've seen you ruthless, Raiden, but never reckless. What was that?"
I stared at the blossoms drifting between us. "I don't know." The words tasted wrong. I hated saying them.
Revik let the silence stretch before shifting to business. "The soldier gave us more than expected. The Fire Primal Stone—it's in the Ashen Caverns, deep in the volcanic west. A place only a few know how to reach."
My gaze snapped to him. "And the others?"
"There's a lead. A merchant, Sorin Vale. He moves between the Water and Air Kingdoms. The man has a reputation for knowing too much. If anyone has word of the Water Relic, it's him."
I considered it, mind already laying out paths, contingencies. "We start with the Fire Relic. Once word spreads about her—and it will—every kingdom will hunt the others. We get there first."
Revik nodded, but his expression darkened. "Something bothers me. That soldier knew too much. He wasn't some scout. It felt… planted. Like someone wanted us to know."
A chill cut through my anger. I had suspected the same. This wasn't coincidence. Someone was moving the pieces, playing us all.
"Then we stay ahead of them," I said. My voice came out colder than the dawn air.
Revik's grin returned, sharp and dangerous. "That's the Raiden I know."
I turned back to the blossoms, petals falling like snow across the dark stone. My mother had always said beauty was fleeting. Peace more so.
But power—power was eternal. And I would burn the world before I let anyone take mine.
Still, even as I thought it, my mind betrayed me again. Not to relics. Not to war. To her.
The thief with violet fire in her veins.
The god the world thought lost.
The girl who had nearly slipped through my hands.
My jaw tightened. She wasn't safe. Not here. Not anywhere.
But as long as I breathed, she would not fall again.
And gods help anyone who tried to take her from me.