The Kaziana forest wasn't what it used to be. Night fell faster now—as if even the light feared to touch the earth. Ancient roots snaked across the soil, like hands from the past protecting secrets never meant to be found. From the Meirah border, the wind whispered. Not peace. Just shadows.
Inside the Arthal Chamber—Kaziana's war council hall carved from black stone and old timber—Kael Zareth stood motionless before a massive map spread across the table. His left hand traced a red line marking the border.
That line felt thinner than ever.
But his eyes weren't focused on the map. He was looking deeper.
He'd heard the scouts. Enemy movements. Traces of tactics. But that was only the surface. Underneath, something quieter—something far more dangerous—was stirring.
Revail Drakken was hunting something priceless.
Armea.
Footsteps echoed down the stone corridor. Kael didn't turn.
Steady breath. Measured pace.
Only one person walked like that—someone unafraid of truth, no matter how sharp it cut.
"Kael."
The voice filled the chamber. Calm. But underneath... waves she didn't bother hiding.
Armea Ril'Sara stood at the doorway, wrapped in flickering torchlight. Her face was composed. Her eyes, sharp.
She hadn't come to ask. She'd come because her heart was tired of waiting.
"What does it mean—Meirah sending trackers to our eastern border?"
Kael didn't look at her.
His voice dropped, almost a whisper to a map that could no longer answer.
"Revail wants us to move first. He's playing with fire. And he wants to see who burns first."
Armea stepped inside. Her boots struck the stone floor like a challenge.
"But why now? After years of silence, why does he think this is the right time?"
Kael finally turned.
His storm-blue eyes, usually calm, now churned with something raw. And Armea knew—
The storm wasn't about the border.
It was about her.
"Because he knows something he shouldn't. And it's about you."
She straightened. "What are you talking about?"
Kael exhaled, slow and heavy. When he spoke again, the words weren't hard.
They were honest. And they hurt.
"Revail knows... how I feel about you."
The world paused.
Even the torches seemed to hold their breath.
Armea let out a shaky laugh.
"Feelings?"
She tried to sound amused. But her voice cracked. "Kael, you've never shown it. I thought... I was just a shadow you let exist on the edges of your world."
Kael stepped toward her. Each step carried weight—years of silence, buried deep.
"I didn't show it because I was afraid. If I got too close, Revail would notice. And if he noticed... he'd use it. You'd be the first target."
Armea turned her face away, her chest rising and falling.
"You think I wasn't afraid too?" she whispered. "But all I ever wanted... was one truth. Just once."
Kael reached out, brushing a strand of her hair.
The touch was gentle. But it shook her.
"I love you, Armea. I have—for a long time. Before the world shattered. Before Revail turned against us. And now... if I can't protect you, everything we're fighting for will fall."
She breathed deep. Her fists clenched. But she didn't step away.
Not this time.
"Then protect me," she said. "Not by staying away... but by standing beside me."
In Meirah…The sky over Meirah bled dark red, like a wound that refused to close.
Inside the obsidian palace, Revail Drakken sat on his throne. His hunters and advisers surrounded him—eyes gleaming like wolves waiting for blood.
The world map lay open before him.
But he only saw one name.
"Armea Ril'Sara."
He spoke it like a chant. Like poison he wanted to savor.
His finger tapped a single point on the map.
"Send the message. I want to meet her. Alone. No Kael. Just the two of us."
"If she refuses..."
His voice dropped.
"This forest will drown in blood."
He smiled.
But in his eyes, there was only one truth.
Possession.