CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Chapter 24: The Cost of Flame

The silence that followed Lucien’s return felt heavier than war.

No one said it, but they all felt it—the tremor in the air, the uncertainty in their footing. Trust had returned to the Circle like a shadow at dusk: long, flickering, and prone to vanish with the next storm.

And a storm was brewing.

The Ashen Wastes were finally behind them, but their path had only grown darker. The prophecy was accelerating, pulling them forward faster than they could recover. Adrien’s map glowed with a new sigil: a place known only in legend—The Crownspire Ruins.

“Two days’ travel if we keep pace,” Adrien announced as they broke camp.

Lila stood beside him, her Chrona Flame burning faintly under her cloak.

She hadn’t let go of Lucien’s hand since he dropped the black blade.

But that didn’t mean she had stopped watching him.

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