The sky did not fall.
It peeled.
Light tore open the flesh of Aethelia, and from that wound came utter silence.
I could not move.
Cities burned in white fire that did not flicker. The fiends who once worshipped us turned their wings away.
At the center of everything stood Kane.
He didn't look furious.
He didn't look guilty.
He looked certain.
"My queen!" Dad roared, blood already staining his armor of starlight. "Take him remove his m—"
A dagger appeared in his chest.
His roar broke into a strangled cough.
Blood spread across the marble.
He fell without finishing his words.
"Dad…" I whispered.
I tried to cry, but nothing came out.
Mom knelt in front of me. Her eyes glowed softly as she touched my head.
"I love you, my son. Okay?"
Kane snapped his fingers.
She vanished.
I wanted to scream.
I wanted to cry.
Neither happened.
I fell to the floor.
Everything became darkness.