Cassian's POV
"Bar the doors! NOW!"
Borin and two other dwarves slammed massive iron bars across the forge entrance. Outside, Seraphine's army began to spread out, surrounding us completely.
"How long can we hold?" Eryndra asked, her axe already in hand.
Thalric checked the door reinforcements. "A day. Maybe two if we're lucky. These doors are dwarf-made—they'll hold against battering rams. But Seraphine's got magic. She'll burn through eventually."
"So we're trapped." I stared at the door, my heart pounding. "We're going to die here."
"Not if I can help it." Thalric grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the others. "Come with me. Now."
He dragged me to a back room filled with ancient books and scrolls. Dust covered everything. The smell of old paper filled the air.
"We don't have time for reading—" I started.
"We don't have time for anything else!" Thalric yanked open a chest and pulled out a leather-bound book. "If ye're going to survive this, ye need to know the truth. All of it."
He slammed the book on the table. The cover read: Records of House Thornwell, Volume XVIII.
"Sit. Read. Fast."
I sat and opened the book. The pages were yellowed with age, covered in careful handwriting. I found the section dated twenty-one years ago.
Duke Marcus Thornwell and his wife Elena welcomed a son on the fifth day of spring. The child was healthy and strong. Duke Marcus declared a celebration, saying "My son will carry our family's legacy forward."
My hands shook. Duke Marcus. My real father.
Three weeks later, Duke Marcus died in a hunting accident. His brother, Aldric Thornwell, assumed guardianship of the infant heir until the child came of age.
"Hunting accident," I whispered. "That's what everyone was told."
"Keep reading," Thalric said grimly.
Within a month, Aldric declared the child illegitimate, claiming Duke Marcus's wife had an affair with a servant. The baby—named Cassian—was stripped of his titles and raised as a bastard. Duchess Elena died of grief shortly after.
The words blurred. My mother. Not a servant who died in childbirth. A duchess who died of a broken heart because her son was stolen from her.
"They lied about everything," I said. "My father. My mother. My entire life."
"Aldric needed ye alive—dead babies ask questions. But he needed ye powerless. So he made ye into nothing. A bastard. Worthless. Someone no one would ever believe or support." Thalric flipped to another page. "And then he did this."
The page showed a diagram of a human back, covered in intricate symbols. Suppression runes. Exactly like the marks on my skin.
Note: The Thornwell bloodline carries Voidflame magic—destructive power capable of consuming other magic itself. To prevent the child from accessing this power, Aldric commissioned a master rune-maker to brand suppression seals into the infant's skin. These runes will drain the child's magic continuously, keeping him weak and controllable.
I couldn't breathe. He'd branded me as a baby. Marked me like cattle. Stolen my power before I even knew I had it.
"I'm not a bastard," I whispered. "I'm Duke Marcus's son. The rightful Duke of Thornwell."
"Aye. And ye've got magic in yer blood that makes Seraphine look like a candle next to a forest fire." Thalric closed the book. "Voidflame is the rarest power in existence. It doesn't just burn—it unmakes things. Destroys them on a fundamental level. Even magic itself can't stand against it."
"Then why haven't I used it properly?"
"Because those runes have been crippling ye yer whole life. Draining yer power. Making ye weak." He pulled out his knife again. "But we can change that. Right now. I can remove the runes and unleash yer true strength."
Outside, something massive slammed against the doors. The entire forge shook.
"They're starting the siege," Eryndra's voice called from the main room. "Whatever you're doing, do it faster!"
Thalric looked at me. "This is yer choice, lad. I can remove the runes, but the process will hurt worse than anything ye've ever felt. And when yer power awakens fully, it might consume ye. Voidflame is dangerous—it's why the Thornwell family kept it secret for generations. Ye could become the most powerful magic user alive, or ye could burn yerself to ash trying."
"And if we don't do it?"
"Seraphine breaks in, kills us all, and Aldric keeps his stolen duchy forever. The war continues. Eryndra's people get slaughtered. Everything we've fought for means nothing."
I thought about my real father. Duke Marcus, who'd celebrated my birth. My mother Elena, who'd died of grief. Twenty-one years of lies and abuse and shame.
Aldric had stolen everything from me. My family. My name. My power. My life.
It was time to take it back.
"Do it," I said. "Remove the runes."
Thalric nodded. "Take off yer shirt and lie face-down on the table. This is going to be the worst pain ye've ever experienced. If ye scream, no one will blame ye."
I stripped off my torn shirt and lay down. The cold table pressed against my chest.
Eryndra appeared in the doorway. "What are you doing?"
"Becoming dangerous," I said.
She understood immediately. "How can I help?"
"Hold him down," Thalric said. "When the pain starts, he'll thrash. Can't have him moving while I work."
Eryndra placed her strong hands on my shoulders. "I've got you."
"This is going to hurt him?" she asked Thalric.
"Like nothing ye can imagine. The runes are tied to his life force. Cutting them is like cutting pieces of his soul." Thalric raised his knife. The blade glowed with dwarf magic. "Ready, lad?"
No. I'd never be ready for this.
"Do it," I whispered.
The knife touched my skin.
Pain exploded through my body like lightning.
I screamed. Couldn't help it. It felt like Thalric was carving me open with fire, peeling away my skin layer by layer. The suppression runes fought back, burning and twisting as he cut them.
"Hold still!" Thalric commanded. "If I slip, I'll kill ye!"
Eryndra's hands pressed down harder. "Breathe, Cassian! Just breathe!"
But I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. There was only pain. White-hot, consuming, endless pain.
And beneath it, something else stirred.
Power. Raw, wild, ancient power. It had been caged for twenty-one years, and now the cage was breaking.
Purple fire erupted from my skin, making Thalric stumble back. "By the gods—it's more than I thought! The amount of magic he's been suppressing—"
The Voidflame grew. It covered my arms, my chest, spreading like wildfire. But this time it didn't feel wild. It felt right. Like a part of me that had always been missing was finally coming home.
"Almost there!" Thalric cut the last rune. "Just one more—"
The forge doors exploded inward.
Seraphine stood in the entrance, her armor blazing with holy light. Behind her, soldiers poured in like a flood.
"NO!" Thalric shouted. "Not now! I need five more minutes!"
"You don't have five minutes." Seraphine raised her sword. "Kill them all. Leave none alive."
Eryndra charged forward, her axe meeting the first soldier. Borin and the other dwarves formed a defensive line. But there were too many. We were overwhelmed.
"Thalric, finish it!" I gasped through the pain.
"If I rush this, ye'll die!"
"If you don't, we ALL die!"
Another slam of the doors. More soldiers flooding in. The dwarves were falling back, losing ground.
Seraphine walked through the chaos, untouched by the fighting, her eyes locked on me. "Hello again, Cassian. Still trying to become something you're not?"
"I'm not becoming anything," I growled through gritted teeth. "I'm remembering what I always was."
She laughed. "A bastard pretending to be a duke? How pathetic."
"I'M NOT A BASTARD!"
The words erupted from me with pure fury. The Voidflame exploded outward in a wave of purple fire. It hit Seraphine's holy light and the two powers collided with a sound like the world breaking.
The entire forge shook. Stone cracked. Metal melted.
"FINISH THE RITUAL!" Eryndra screamed, holding off three soldiers at once.
Thalric grabbed his knife. "This is going to hurt—"
He cut the final rune.
Something inside me shattered.
No—not shattered. Awakened.
Twenty-one years of suppressed magic rushed through me all at once. Voidflame erupted from every pore, consuming everything around me. I screamed as the power filled me, more than any human should be able to hold.
I was going to explode. Going to burn. Going to—
"CONTROL IT!" Thalric's voice cut through the chaos. "Ye're not a victim anymore! Ye're Duke Cassian Thornwell! This power is YOURS! CONTROL IT!"
I reached into the fire, into the chaos, and grabbed hold.
The Voidflame... listened.
It pulled back, condensed, focused. Instead of wild explosion, it became precise. Controlled. Mine.
I stood up, purple fire dancing across my skin. The pain was gone. The weakness was gone.
I felt powerful for the first time in my life.
Seraphine's eyes widened. "That's... that's impossible. That amount of power—"
"I'm Cassian Thornwell," I said, my voice echoing with power. "Son of Duke Marcus. Rightful lord of my house. And you're in my way."
I raised my hand. Voidflame gathered in my palm—not wild, but controlled. Deadly.
Seraphine's perfect face went pale.
For the first time since I'd met her, she looked afraid.
"Attack him!" she screamed at her soldiers. "Kill him NOW!"
Fifty soldiers charged.
I smiled.
And let the fire loose.