THE BREAKING POINT
Blythe's POV
A soft breeze stirred the scent of wild jasmine and crushed rose petals. Blythe stood in the greenhouse—but it wasn't broken this time. The glass sparkled. The vines were trimmed. Lanterns floated in the air like stars. It was just as it had once been.And seated beneath the trellis, on that old stone bench—
"Mother?" Blythe whispered, her voice trembling.
Queen Nera looked up with a gentle smile, her silver-streaked hair coiled in a braid over her shoulder, eyes as fierce and kind as Blythe remembered.
"You found your way back," Nera said, patting the space beside her.
Blythe moved forward, barefoot, and sank. "I... I thought I lost you."
"You did," Nera said softly. "But not everything that's lost stays gone."
A silence, warm and fragile.
Then Blythe spoke again, her voice cracking, "They expect me to lead. But I don't know who to trust anymore. Eve
THE FATHER’S GHOSTPOV: XavierNight clung to the ruins of Hollowfen like a second skin.Xavier stood alone beneath the scorched arch of the keep’s fallen tower, the distant embers of war still glowing beyond the trees. His blade leaned beside him, half-buried in ash. Around him, the battlefield had fallen silent—but not quiet. The kind of silence that held breath, waited for something unsaid.He hadn’t slept since Ceres stepped through the Sealed Gate. Not properly. Even now, he hadn’t told her what he’d seen, what he kept seeing.He closed his eyes, and there it was again
MIRROR OF FIREPOV: CeresThe fire was not outside her anymore.It was inside.Since returning from the Sealed Gate, Ceres hadn’t slept. Couldn’t sleep. The Codex no longer glowed. It breathed. The scrolls in the Ember Library flared and curled when she passed. Her skin, bare beneath her ceremonial silk, shimmered faintly in the dark.But it wasn’t power. Not anymore.It was unbinding.Ceres stood in the inner sanctum of the Dreamflame Sanctuary, the flame altar burning steadily be
THE SEALED GATEPOV: CeresThe Codex would not stop glowing.Even after Arion’s capture. Even after the pyres were lit in Hollowfen, Xavier’s soldiers sang war songs under flame-drenched skies. Even after she had scrubbed her hands raw, she tried to feel clean.It kept glowing.And humming.Like something beneath the ink was awake.Ceres sat cross-legged in the Dreamflame Chamber, the Codex spread open before her, its language shifting with each flicker of candlelight. The Flame didn’t
The Battle of HollowfenPOV: XavierThe air thickened as they reached the edge of Hollowfen. The fog curled low, dragging itself across the ground like wounded breath. Trees stood like broken sentinels, twisted and clawing at the sky. The ground squelched beneath hooves, and the stench of iron, old magic, and death clung to every breath.Xavier pulled his horse to a slow halt and scanned the horizon. “This place smells of old war.”“It is old war,” said Commander Veyna, riding beside him, her voice muffled slightly behind her helm. “They say the first Fla
RISE OF THE UNNAMED FLAMEThe Whispering Hollow | Outskirts of FlamewatchThe morning was unremarkable.The dew clung to the moss. The air smelled of pine and petrichor. But something was missing—not visibly, not physically. Just… gone.Ceres stepped into the grove, her breath caught in the stillness. This was where Nya was last seen—kneeling among the ash trees, fingers pressed to the earth, whispering to something no one else could hear.Now, only the imprint of her presence remained. Not footprints. Not heat.Just a feeling i
THE SKY BURIALThe Fire-Cliff Ridge | Border of Red Court TerritoryThe sky had been silent for hours. Not a bird. Not a wind. Even the clouds had stopped moving, like the heavens held their breath.Lena crouched at the edge of the cliff, her cloak tattered and soot-streaked, her eyes fixed on the obsidian tower in the distance—the last spell forge of the Red Court."Are you sure you want to do this alone?" asked Thorne, his voice gravelly behind her. His armor bore the burns of the last battle, and his left eye was still bloodshot from a spell that had nearly turned his mind inside out.Lena didn't loo