The Whisper Council

Location: Black Spire Citadel, Undisclosed Coordinates

Far from the borders of Tavara, in a place unmarked on any modern map, a storm raged against the jagged cliffs of the Black Spire Citadel. A fortress carved from obsidian and bone, it stood untouched by time, hidden behind illusions cast before nations had names.

Within its shadowed halls, thirteen cloaked figures gathered around a circular table made of dark crystal. Their faces were obscured by masks—each shaped differently: wolf, serpent, stag, hawk, spider, and other beasts lost to myth.

This was the Whisper Council.

The air trembled as a thirteenth figure arrived, the silence breaking like shattered glass.

"He has awakened," the figure in the raven mask declared. "The Blood of Aether stirs in him again."

The one in the serpent mask hissed. "Damien Kane... just a child when we last sensed him. Now, he meddles with the forbidden. We should have erased the lineage when we had the chance."

The stag mask shook slowly. "He is not alone. The girl... the Healer of Glass... she walks beside him. She, too, has awakened."

"They have breached the veil," said the spider mask, tapping bony fingers against the stone. "The Gate was touched. The storm we caged will not sleep again."

The wolf mask leaned forward. "We reconvene not to fear... but to act. The time of observing is over. Dominion must rise again, and Tavara shall be its crucible."

"But he is stronger than we thought," muttered the hawk. "And his allies are many. The old blood flows in him. The Mark burns."

The raven mask stood. "Then we send her."

Gasps echoed around the table.

"The Firstborn?" the serpent whispered. "You would unchain her?"

"She is the only one he cannot fight. The only one he will hesitate for."

The wolf mask nodded solemnly. "Then let it be done."

The shadows coiled and pulsed as the Council's decision was etched into fate.

Far below the citadel, in a chamber frozen in black ice, a single coffin cracked open. Inside, a woman lay in silence, her hair like silver flame, her eyes closed—but glowing faintly beneath her lids.

She had once loved Damien Kane.

And now, she would be sent to end him.