The Hall of Concordance was less a council chamber and more a battlefield with velvet walls. Arched ceilings loomed above like the ribs of a fossilized titan, and braziers guttered low with silent flame. Nobles, generals, guildmasters, and emissaries from fractured kingdoms lined the circular dais, all facing the elevated platform where Lord Varen waited—resplendent, cold, and unreadable.
Alaric walked forward, flanked by Kael and Lysera. The tension was palpable.
"Champion of the Crucible," Varen began, voice polished but barbed, "You arrive in troubling times. Cities vanish. Shrines collapse. And at the center of it all… you."
Whispers followed. A few nobles glared openly. Others merely studied Alaric as one might a loaded blade.
"I didn't come to trade accusations," Alaric said. "I came with a warning."
Varen raised a brow. "Then speak your warning, boy."
"Maeryn has triggered multiple shrine convergences. He's bonded with a Titan's corrupted essence and is drawing on forces that bend even aether. If we don't stop him soon, the Voidbinders won't just tear down cities—they'll crack the leyline grid and bring the entire realm to collapse."
There was a long silence.
Then the High Magister of Sol's Reach scoffed. "And we're to believe that your fire-wielding prodigy and his loyal circle are all that stand between us and annihilation?"
Kael stepped forward, lightning crackling subtly in his eyes. "We're not asking for permission. We're telling you what's coming."
Varen held up a hand, silencing the room. "Let's not mistake bravado for leadership. The Royal Council has authorized the assembly of a new coalition—The Luminous Accord—to reestablish order. Your movements, your decisions, your... powers will now fall under joint oversight."
Alaric's hand twitched toward Solbrand. "So you'd put leashes on us, while the world burns?"
"Containment," Varen corrected. "For the greater good."
Lysera laughed, bitter and sharp. "Spoken like a man who's never fought anything stronger than a political opponent."
"You forget yourself, girl," Varen said, icy. "Your father's house may have fallen, but your tongue still bears its stain."
Kael stepped between them, fingers twitching with pent-up charge. "Say that again, and I'll show you why storms fear my bloodline."
Before Varen could answer, the chamber shook. A sharp tremor cracked the marble underfoot.
From behind the council doors, a royal runner burst in. "Another shrine—obliterated! Skarth Hollow is gone. Not corrupted. Gone."
Gasps rippled. Nobles stood, shouting over each other.
Alaric turned to Varen. "We could've been there. We tried to warn you."
Varen's mask cracked, ever so slightly. "Then go. Stop him. But understand this—when this is over, you will answer for the chaos left behind."
Alaric said nothing. Just turned and walked out, Kael and Lysera behind him.
Outside the council chamber, Kael shook his head. "We should've burned that smug bastard's beard off."
Lysera snorted. "Not worth the aether."
But Alaric didn't smile. "He's not the real threat. The Voidbinders wanted this outcome—division, paranoia. They've already won the first phase."
As they walked toward their airship, Alaric stopped suddenly. The air felt... wrong. His Fire Core pulsed wildly. Kael's Thundercore sparked without warning.
From the distant horizon, a pillar of black fire pierced the clouds—too large to be natural.
Lysera whispered, "He's waking another Titan."
"No," Alaric said grimly, "Maeryn is feeding one."
End of Chapter 50