Five years passed after Dante's transformation, and Ashborne became something unprecedented in the history of nations—not merely a kingdom, but a living testament to what immortal guardians could achieve. The city gleamed like a jewel, its streets clean and safe, its people prosperous and healthy, its borders secure not through military might but through the elemental forces that Selena and Dante wielded with precision and care. Neighboring kingdoms sent their sick for healing, their crops for blessing, their disputes for mediation. The Phoenix Queen and her Storm Lord had become legends, spoken of in hushed tones as beings who walked between mortality and divinity.
But fame brought complications, and power attracted those who sought to wield it for themselves.
