The wind howled through the lower city, carrying with it the metallic tang of ozone and the terrifying, bone-rattling shrieks of the Rift Sirens. Yet, at the base of the High Citadel’s grand emergency gates, a suffocating silence had fallen over Caelum Vance.

He stared up at the raised dais, his ja

"Family," Elara repeated, the word rolling off her tongue like a foul taste.

A soft, chilling laugh escaped her lips, carrying over the roar of the wind. Beside her, Kaelen stood perfectly still, his hand resting casually on the pommel of his sword, his intense gaze fixed on the pathetic display b

The High Citadel trembled, a deep, resonant vibration that rattled the marrow of the bone. It was not the chaotic, destructive shaking of the dying city below, but the steady, rhythmic heartbeat of an ancient machine waking from a long slumber.

Elara stood in the center of the Aegis Core control r