LOGINGILDEONWeeks passed.They secured three more Vulkar’s Rod fragments. The sylphs chose to house them in the war command chamber.Gildeon had initially wanted them assembled in the High Council chamber to make a statement. But when he realized this room sat directly beneath the Great Hall, where the sylphs were preparing a victory party, he let it go.All their highest-ranking officials would gather above this room that night, making it the perfect time to carry out his plan.“This is perfect,” he said aloud as he finished arranging the four calcified fragments on the table.He positioned them carefully—each piece angled inward, their broken ends facing one another to form a rough circle at the center.“How is this supposed to reveal Pyrehead’s location?” Feviel asked, skepticism plain on his face.“I need to activate the enchantment with my fire,” Gildeon replied. “But it won’t work until we have two more fragm
ARAHEENShe looked away to steady herself, then noticed the structural damage here was more contained than in the outer chamber, yet far more alarming.Cracks ran along the pillars, the walls, and even the ceiling. But what bothered her most were the fractures cutting through the sigils themselves.“How are the sigils breaking?” she asked in disbelief.Unless Garud was secretly a master sigilmaker, nothing else should have been capable of damaging these sigils.“That’s exactly what we’re trying to determine, Lady Commander.”The Warden exhaled, hands settling at his hips as his gaze swept the chamber before fixing on Garud.“Our working assumption is that the restraints are weakening, and that Garud has begun ramming itself against the structure in an attempt to break free.”“Has anyone else seen this?”“Only myself and the Vice Warden,” he replied. “I granted him access to the Pits, but he remains in th
ARAHEENHer father had once told her that only a handful of people had ever descended to the lowest level of the Crescent Tower. Most sylphs did not even know it existed.The secrets of the Pits had always been kept by the Warden—who had served since the tower’s founding—and by whoever bore the title of Army General.Araheen followed the Warden down a narrow corridor that ended in a recessed alcove carved into the stone wall. Suspended within it was a bronze falcon.The statue hovered motionless in the air. Its eyes, forged from a darker shade of bronze, seemed to watch them as they approached.The moment they stepped onto the platform, the falcon’s wings slowly spread.She glanced up at the Warden, faintly surprised that the broad-shouldered man could fit within the narrow alcove beside her. Or perhaps it was simply that she herself was smaller and lighter by comparison.The Warden suddenly went still. His eyes turne
ARAHEENThe question left Araheen silent for a moment. For an instant, it felt as if Kohina could see directly into her thoughts.Araheen broke the gaze, forcing her expression back into its usual calm.“I do not love him,” she said evenly.“Awakening cannot occur unless the sylph and the salamander share genuine feelings.”Araheen’s head snapped toward Kohina. “Arah had those feelings.”“Are the two of you not the same?”“We have different minds and different experiences.”Kohina sighed softly before stepping toward the bed and sitting at its edge.“Have you never considered,” the seer said, “that perhaps she was the person you were always meant to be?”“What exactly are you implying?”“You are a Fractured Sylph,” Kohina replied. “One born with unrestrained emotions who, after experiencing tragedy, chose to suppress them again for many years.”The seer tilted her head slightly and c
ARAHEENShe sat in the interrogator’s chair positioned beside the cell door.Her eyes drifted over Kohina, noting that the seer no longer showed any visible distress. Her hands had fully healed, both through her salamander physiology and the restorative magic of the sylphs. No trace of the horrific Devil Star damage remained.Kohina had been given a simple white dress. Among the sylphs, it was meant to be degrading—a symbolic stripping away of the enemies’ barbarity, replacing it with something the sylphs considered purity and dignity.Lately, the practice had begun to feel strange and wrong to Araheen.Much like many of their customs.“I trust this accommodation is better than the one you recently had,” she said, crossing her legs and resting her hands on her lap.Her eyes roamed around the chamber. The ceiling, walls, and floor were all forged from silver, every surface etched with dense layers of sigils.The
ARAHEEN“The answer is no,” Araheen told Gildeon as they stepped out of the High Council Chamber after reporting the outcome of their mission and presenting the Vulkar’s Rod.Seeing the subtle approval in her father’s eyes had filled her with a quiet sense of satisfaction.Lothair might have been a monster to his enemies—perhaps even a cruel man and father by the standards of lower mortals—but he was still her father. And his approval was something she had spent her entire life striving to earn.She had been in high spirits until Gildeon ruined it by requesting permission to see Kohina—Something she had absolutely no intention of granting.The seer had been confined to a specialized cell within Crescent Tower. Only Araheen herself was permitted to interrogate her. No other sylph was granted access.“You gave your word that I’d be allowed to see my comrades after the raid,” Gildeon reminded her.“I gave my word
ARAH“You haven’t broken the lock yet?” Tonio's curious eyes bore into her after she admitted she couldn't get into Gildeon’s study. Of course, she left out the steamy details that now distracted her, making her heart race. Her tattoo machine hung idle as she fought to drown out the memory of her hus
GILDEONHe had always known Arah could shut out the world when she needed to focus, just as she had a minute ago. She’d remained oblivious even as he parked the car and walked through the door.But her picking the lock on his study had caught him off guard. This was new. A black box lay sprawled on th
ARAHShe hadn't found a vase yet, so she just kept the flowers in her room. She ran her fingers over the soft violet petals so often that their sweet, exotic scent now clung to her hair and skin. These definitely weren't from a regular flower shop. Where did Gildeon find these?But it didn't really ma
GILDEONHis fingers slowed, holding her on the brink. The air thrummed, eager to merge with her. He hadn’t expected her power to manifest with such intensity just from his touch. But he found a way to control it, to keep Arah in check.“Arah?” he whispered, but she was lost, eyes shut tight. He contin







