CROWNED BY BLOOD
I stood on the eastern terrace, watching my twins spar in the stone courtyard below, and felt it rising like a storm tide that would soon overwhelm everything in its path.
Alexander, now nearly six but growing faster than any child should, his body already showing the lean muscle definition of a boy twice his age. His small fists glowed faintly with golden light as he moved through complex combat drills with Garrett, a seasoned warrior whose scars told stories of a dozen battles. Each time Alexander struck, the air cracked like a whip, leaving visible ripples in the atmosphere. He wasn't just mimicking the techniques he'd been taught, he was instinctively inventing new ones, his young mind u