Night fell hard over the tower, casting shadows that didn't feel like shadows.
Kael was in his lab, tuning the capacitor core of his Arc-Bow when Elyra burst through the door, her hair singed and her breathing ragged.
"They're coming," she gasped.
Kael froze. "Who?"
Elyra swallowed. "The Iron Warden."
The name hit like a hammer.
Zephyra, who had been seated quietly in the corner with her arms crossed, shot to her feet. "Impossible. He never leaves the capital."
"He has now," Elyra said, her voice low. "And he's bringing the Black Regiment with him."
Kael's fingers twitched. "How long?"
"Less than a day. Maybe hours."
Zephyra stepped closer, tension thick around her. "If the Warden's coming for you, then the Council no longer wants you alive. They're going to level this entire mountain."
Kael met her eyes. "Then I guess we need to hold the mountain."
---
Hours Later
The tower had changed.
Kael's hands worked faster than ever, installing automated defense glyphs, power lines of null energy, and detonator mines in the surrounding cliffs. Drones buzzed through the air, scanning for incoming hostiles.
But his mind wasn't just on machines.
It kept drifting to her.
Zephyra stood at the edge of the upper balcony, looking out toward the stars with a grim expression. The wind tugged her white hair, and in the moonlight, she didn't look like a killer. She looked... haunted.
Kael approached, carefully.
"You've faced him before?" he asked.
Zephyra nodded. "Once."
"What happened?"
"I survived," she said. "My squad didn't."
Kael watched her face. "You're scared of him."
Her eyes narrowed—not at him, but herself. "He doesn't fight like a mage. He fights like a monster. Pure magic forged into armor, a mindless engine of execution. They built him in the Catacombs. Some say he was never human."
Kael felt his stomach turn. "And what does he want?"
"Obedience. Or ash."
---
Dawn
They came like thunder.
Dozens of black-armored soldiers descended on the cliffs, their helmets glowing with crimson enchantments. And behind them—
The Iron Warden.
Ten feet tall. Covered head to toe in black steel, pulsing with molten runes. No face, no voice. Just silence and death.
Kael, Elyra, and Zephyra stood together, watching from the tower's highest wall.
Kael breathed slowly, steadying his thoughts.
"This isn't just survival anymore," he said. "This is war."
Zephyra glanced at him. "You still sure about trusting me?"
He looked at her. Really looked.
"Are you going to fight with me?"
She hesitated.
Then nodded. "Until the end."
Kael smiled. "That's all I needed."
They stepped forward.
The machines buzzed to life.
The mountain would burn.
But Kael—no-magic, no-power Kael—would stand tall against the empire itself.
And this time… he wouldn't be alone.