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Chapter 19 – The Shattered Council

Author: Daniel Hawley
last update Last Updated: 2025-09-30 20:58:48

The council chamber smelled of pine resin and smoke, the long hearth spitting sparks as if echoing the tempers inside. Kaelen stood at the head of the table, jaw set, the flickering light cutting sharp planes across his face. Around him the half-circle of elders shifted restlessly, their voices a low growl before breaking into open clamor.

“They’ll slaughter us if we defy him,” snarled Garron, his scarred hands gripping the table edge. “Eryndor’s already burned three villages in the north. You’d have us wait for his hounds to tear through the rest of us?”

“Better ash than shame,” Mireya shot back, eyes flashing like steel. “Bow to him, and we might as well slit our own throats. You know what he does to those who kneel.”

The chamber filled with overlapping voices—fear, rage, and weariness tangling in a storm that rattled the timber walls. Kaelen raised a hand for silence, but it went unheeded. His authority, once unchallenged, was crumbling under the weight of terror.

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