Elira barely slept.
Every time her eyes closed, silver light pulsed behind her lids — patterns she didn't recognize but somehow knew. The sigil she'd seen in the corridor haunted her thoughts, burning brighter each time she tried to forget it.
By dawn, the fortress itself seemed to hum.
She rose quietly, padding across the chamber floor. The air tingled against her skin, pulling her toward the walls like gravity reversed.
Her fingers brushed the stone.
Light flared.
The sigils ignited at once — ancient star-runes racing along the walls, ceiling, and floor in blinding silver lines. The chamber shook violently. Bells rang throughout Dravenfall.
Alarms.
Elira stumbled back, heart pounding. "I didn't mean—"
The fortress answered her anyway.
A voice—not loud, but absolute—rolled through the stone.
> STARBORNE CONFIRMED.
Guards shouted in panic. Doors slammed. Magic surged like a living thing, curling around Elira without harming her.
Across the fortress, Kael froze.
The serpent reared beneath his skin, roaring in triumph.
---
The council did not wait.
By the time Kael reached the council chamber, soldiers barred the doors — elite guards bearing sigils older than his reign.
The elder stood waiting, expression grim.
"By ancient law," he declared, "the Warlord is stripped of command pending investigation."
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"For what crime?"
"For harboring a celestial catalyst inside the fortress," the noblewoman said coldly. "And for threatening the council."
Steel sang as Kael drew his blade halfway.
"You will not touch her."
"That is no longer your decision."
Magic snapped into place — binding runes flaring to life around him. The serpent slammed against its cage, furious.
Kael dropped to one knee under the weight of the spell.
Not from pain.
From rage.
---
Elira felt it.
Kael's restraint.
His danger.
The light around her intensified — no longer chaotic, but focused.
She walked into the corridor as guards fell back instinctively, eyes wide with terror and awe.
The ancient sigils followed her steps, blooming beneath her feet.
Walls bowed in reverence.
"Elira, stop!" someone shouted.
She didn't know how she knew where to go — only that the fortress was showing her.
She entered the council hall.
Time seemed to stall.
Kael looked up, eyes blazing. "Elira—run."
She stepped forward instead.
The bindings holding him cracked.
Light poured from her like a second sun.
"I won't let you punish him," she said, voice ringing with power not entirely her own.
The elder recoiled. "You don't know what you are!"
"I know what I won't be," Elira replied.
The runes shattered.
Kael surged to his feet as the serpent howled — not in rage, but reverence.
The council chamber split down the center, stone fracturing beneath starfire.
Silence fell.
Elira swayed — and Kael caught her before she hit the floor.
His arms locked around her as if she were the only solid thing left in the world.
"You did this," he whispered, awe threaded with fear.
She looked up at him, exhausted, eyes glowing faintly.
"I chose you."
Outside, the fortress knelt.
And the gods opened their eyes.
---