The kael Dravien council chamber had become a storm trapped inside glass.
Shards floated through the air, suspended by the Serpent Crown's unstable energy. Green-silver light bled from the cracked relic in slow pulses, painting the walls in fractured shadows.
Above the chamber, spectral serpents twisted through the ceiling.
Watching.
Waiting.
Projecting futures no one wished to see.
Cities burning beneath neon skies.
Kingdoms drowning in shadow.
A crowned figure standing atop a broken world.
And every vision ended differently.
Every vision ended badly.
At the center of the chaos stood Kael Dravien.
Lightning crawled across his black blade.
Storm energy rolled from him in controlled waves.
Dangerous.
Contained.
Barely.
Across from him, Bloomfall smiled.
Calm.
Elegant.
As though none of this concerned her.
"Kael..." she purred, stepping forward through the drifting crystal fragments.
Her crystalline wings shimmered beneath the emerald light.
"You always did look good standing in the middle of disasters."
Several council elders lowered their eyes.
Others quietly shifted backward.
No one wanted to be caught between those two.
Kael's expression never changed.
"You shouldn't be here."
Bloomfall laughed softly.
"And miss this?"
Her gaze drifted toward the fractured Crown.
"Not a chance."
Then her eyes found Elaris.
The smile sharpened.
"Though I admit..."
She tilted her head.
"The machine fairy is prettier than the rumors suggested."
Elaris felt heat rise through her chest.
The runes along her arm glowed faintly.
Not enough to hurt.
Enough to remind her they were there.
Bloomfall noticed.
Of course she did.
"Still carrying the prophecy?"
she asked.
"That must be exhausting."
Elaris folded her wings tighter.
"I'll manage."
"Oh, I'm sure you will."
Bloomfall's gaze flicked briefly toward Kael.
"But prophecies have a habit of destroying everyone around them."
The chamber grew colder.
Kael finally stepped forward.
One step.
Only one.
Yet somehow the entire room felt smaller.
"Say what you came to say."
For the first time, Bloomfall's smile weakened.
Just slightly.
"The Mirror Engine."
Silence.
Even the floating shards seemed to stop moving.
Xyren's hologram flickered.
Hard.
His emerald eyes narrowed.
"How do you know about that?"
Bloomfall's attention shifted toward him.
"You ask that as if secrets stay buried forever."
A pulse of static ran through Xyren's projection.
Brief.
Unnatural.
Elaris noticed immediately.
"So did the Crown."
The cracked artifact suddenly flared.
A violent surge of green-silver light exploded outward.
The floating mirrors around the chamber activated instantly.
One by one.
Dozens.
Then hundreds.
Reflections filled every surface.
But something was wrong.
The reflections weren't matching reality.
In one mirror—
Kael stood alone beside a throne.
In another—
Bloomfall wore the Serpent Crown.
In another—
Elaris's wings had become entirely mechanical.
Cold.
Sharp.
Inhuman.
Her breath caught.
Then she saw another reflection.
Xyren.
Standing in darkness.
His eyes glowing emerald.
A crown of shadows floating above his head.
The reflection smiled.
The real Xyren did not.
Crack.
A mirror shattered.
The chamber froze.
Then another cracked.
And another.
And another.
Xyren's projection flickered violently.
Static burst across his form.
"Elaris—"
His voice doubled.
Two tones speaking at once.
One familiar.
One wrong.
The room fell silent.
Kael's blade rose immediately.
Stormlight erupted along its edge.
Bloomfall stopped smiling.
Even she looked concerned.
Xyren grabbed his head.
Code raced across his skin.
Green.
Black.
Green.
Black.
"Elaris..."
His voice distorted.
"Something is—"
The sentence cut off.
Every mirror in the chamber exploded simultaneously.
Glass rained through the air.
The Crown screamed.
Not metaphorically.
Actually screamed.
A sound so sharp it made the elders collapse to their knees.
Elaris staggered.
Pain shot through her runes.
The Crown's energy surged through the chamber like a tidal wave.
And then—
The largest mirror behind the council throne began glowing.
A massive circular reflection formed.
Ten feet tall.
Twenty.
Growing larger with every second.
Its surface turned black.
Like liquid metal.
Like a doorway.
Xyren stared at it.
Pure horror crossing his face.
"No..."
For the first time since Elaris had met him—
He sounded afraid.
The mirror rippled.
A hand emerged.
Human.
Yet not human.
Covered in emerald-black markings.
Then an arm.
Then a figure.
Tall.
Familiar.
Wrong.
The chamber temperature dropped instantly.
Kael moved in front of Elaris.
Instinctively.
Protectively.
The figure stepped fully through the mirror.
The room stopped breathing.
Because it looked exactly like Xyren.
Not similar.
Not related.
Exactly.
Same face.
Same eyes.
Same voice.
But where Xyren's presence felt calm and precise—
This one's felt hungry.
Ancient.
Broken.
Its emerald eyes swept across the room.
Then settled on Elaris.
A slow smile spread across its face.
"At last."
Xyren's hologram froze.
The newcomer looked toward him.
Amused.
"Hello, brother."
The council chamber erupted into chaos.
And the Mirror Engine—
had finally awakened.