The stairway spat them into firelight. Crimson braziers flared as Bianca descended, her presence bending the glow until it licked gold at the edges. She didn’t slow. Didn’t hesitate. Power rolled off her in controlled waves—no longer wild, no longer unchecked. This was a queen who had accepted her crown. The man at her side …
The corridor beyond the chamber breathed like a living thing. Ancient wards flickered as Bianca led him forward, her grip firm, possessive—an unspoken vow threaded through every step. The stone walls whispered, recognizing her power and recoiling from it in equal measure. Somewhere deep within the temple, something answered her passage with a low, hungry …
—silence followed. Not the peaceful kind, but a stunned, ringing void, as if the world itself had drawn a sharp breath and forgotten how to release it. When sound returned, it came as falling stone. Dust rained from the fractured ceiling. Shattered sigils smoldered across the floor, their magic spent. The hurricane of shadows had …