❄️ Chapter Twenty-Three: The Cold Reign Begins.
The air outside the Obsidian Hall was thin and freezing, but the cold that seeped into my bones was external now, no longer the internal chill of the Thorn. I was breathing again, deeply, deliberately. I had faced the collective fury of the Shifter world's most powerful leaders and walked away intact, not through force of arms, but through the terrifying clarity of my absolute control. The Council was silenced, but not convinced. They were simply paralyzed by a fundamental uncertainty: how to wage war against a perfectly stable weapon guided by an unknown, pure command.
I did not look back. I moved down the steep, icy slope of the mountain, relying entirely on the Thorn's cold efficiency for balance and speed. My mind, now a perfect strategic engine, was already mapping the immediate aftermath. The Council would not openly break the truce, but they would immediately begin probing for weaknesses.
