Chapter 1803: The Flickering Veil

The city's newfound peace hung like a thin veneer over a chasm of unease. Though the Emberheart now rested among the united relics in the Sanctum of Convergence, its flame burned erratically, casting jagged shadows that seemed to claw at the walls. The Veil of Dusk, once a shimmering curtain of twilight, now rippled with streaks of molten crimson, as though the sky itself bled. Liam paced the council hall, his boots echoing in the cavernous silence. The relics hummed in their orbit, their harmony fraying at the edges. He could feel it—a dissonance, like a chord struck out of tune.

Elena stood by the western window, her fingers tracing the edge of the Emberheart's containment orb. The relic's light flickered across her face, illuminating the furrow in her brow. "It resists the bond," she murmured, more to herself than to the others. "As if it remembers another purpose."