The silence of the Frost Vault was absolute, broken only by the ragged, desperate sound of Kaelia’s own breathing.

She lay curled on her side on the solid ice floor, her woolen cloak doing nothing to stave off the unnatural, biting cold that permeated the tiny cell. It wasn't just physical frost;

The foundation of the Obsidian Court did not merely shake; it violently ruptured.

Rhydian Thorne was still sitting on the edge of the velvet bed in the healing ward, his arms wrapped securely around a feigning Seraphina Croft, when the first explosion tore through the outer courtyard. The sound was

The subterranean corridor was thick with the stench of frozen blood and the metallic tang of shattered magic.

Rhydian Thorne, the Dragon King of the Obsidian Court, stood utterly paralyzed. The arrogant posture that had defined him for years had collapsed, leaving him looking like a hollowed-out s