Elandris woke in chaos.
Not the loud, frantic kind this was worse. A quiet panic, thick and suffocating, spreading through the streets like smoke after a fire. Every whisper carried fear. Every conversation twisted into accusation.
"How did Elarion Academy get infiltrated?"
"If the greatest academy in the world can be breached, then nowhere is safe."
"Who was that boy ? "
"Are we going to war?"
"Are the nobles getting weaker? Stormbringer couldn't even crack the do, they say."
"The Valecrest siblings were there too. Cold and terrifying as usual but apparently all bark."
"At least the kids fought back. The elf princess may the spirits preserve us that girl is not normal. She is strong ".
"And the youngest Valecrest? Was the brains behind everything."
"Maybe the next generation won't fail us."
Rumor devoured rumor. By midmorning, Elandris felt like it was seconds away from shattering.
Inside the Royal Council Chamber, none of that noise mattered yet every person seated around the long obsidian table had heard it.
King Henry Arthendal sat at the head, tired eyes hardening with impatience. The attack had struck directly at his kingdom's pride, and the weight of it pressed on his shoulders like iron.
Ian Stormbringer sat to his right, posture rigid, sha burning under his skin. His academy, his responsibility now the biggest failure of the century.
Across from him, Aureon Valecrest sat straight-backed, composed to the point of insult. His presence alone made the air colder, his expression unreadable as he studied the others, as if asuring who would crumble first.
Marcus Dorneveil leaned forward, hands clasped, controlled but visibly simring.
Anastasia Maelora wore her saintly calm like armor, soft glow flickering faintly around her but unable to brighten the tension in the room.
Queen Lucina Frostbane, eyes like honed ice, watched the council with thinly veiled disdain.
King Avalon Dralor sat like carved stone, silent, unwavering, every breath disciplined. And Aurora, queen of the spirits, normally warm and inviting, looked subdued gentle expression dimd by the gravity of the situation.
King Henry finally spoke, his voice low and sharp. "We need answers. Ian how did the shadowborn infiltrate the academy?"
Ian opened his mouth, ready to shoulder the bla...
but Aureon cut in, voice smooth and cold.
"It's obvious," he said. "There are spies inside Elarion."
Eyes snapped to him. Henry's gaze tightened. "On what grounds?"
Aureon didn't flinch. "Rhazar appeared at a location only instructors knew. Which ans soone not only tell him but grant him access " His tone never shifted, never ward. "And he sat in the crowd undetected. The mana crystals should have exposed him. The only explanation is that soone masked him."
Ian's jaw clenched, but he couldn't argue.
Queen Lucina tapped her finger once on the table. The sound was soft, but the threat behind it wasn't. "And the trials," she added. "Sothing was removed from the island. We all felt it. Like the heart of the island was removed."
Aurora bowed her head slightly. "A piece of the floating island disappeared. Sothing left it."
Marcus exhaled sharply. "This wasn't an isolated attack. It was coordinated. The massacre was a distraction."
"We need to prepare for war," Lucina said simply, as though discussing the weather.
"Prepare?" King Avalon said quietly. "War is already brushing against our borders."
King Henry looked around the table, expression bleak. "Our children were nearly slaughtered. Every single one of them. They fought for their lives and had to climb to survival."
Lucina's lips curved, not in warmth more like acknowledgnt. They had perford better; she knew it.
But Lucina wasn't here for flattery. She turned her attention to Ian with icy precision.
"Ian Stormbringer," she said. "I have a question."
Ian lifted his head slowly, dread already forming.
"Where," she asked clearly, "was your grandson during the attack?"
Silence struck the room like a spell.
Ian stiffened. Marcus' eyes widened. Even Anastasia's glow flickered.
Lucina continued, voice calm, every word dipped in contempt. "He was absent. Missing. During a massacre." Her fingers laced together neatly. "Suspicious. Don't you agree?"
Ian's face darkened. "Lucina, don't twist..."
"You humans twist yourselves," she said coolly. "You couldn't even run an exam properly." Her gaze didn't waver. "Pathetic."
Marcus leaned forward, anger igniting. Avalon's knuckles turned white. Aureon's eyes sharpened. Aurora's usual softness vanished entirely.
Lucina didn't care.
"And the principal of the academy," she finished, "had a grandson who disappeared at the exact mont Rhazar arrived. Interesting timing."
The tension reached a breaking point.
King Henry slamd his fist against the table, rising to his feet with a thunderous crack. "Enough."
The room froze.
"We stand at a crossroads," the king said, voice trembling with the weight of his next words. "Elandris must decide today."
No one breathed.
"Do we go on an all out war with the shadowborn."
And the world seed to stop. Ke hi
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