A ripple of tension surged through the room.
Elders shifted uneasily, some glancing nervously toward Bloomfall. Then one of Kael's uncles stepped forward—
And bowed.
Not to Kael.
But to her.
Whispers exploded.
Betrayal had taken root.
"You'll never hold the throne without me," Bloomfall declared, spreading her wings wide. Obsidian shards caught the neon glow, reflecting fractured light across the chamber."The prophecy doesn't belong to her…"
Her gaze slid toward Elaris.
"…it belongs to us."
The Serpent's Crown reacted instantly.
It didn't just glow.
It pulsed.
Like something alive.
Like something watching.
The crystalline case cracked with a sharp, echoing sound. Green-silver energy burst outward as spectral serpents tore free, hissing as they coiled across the ceiling.
The entire chamber flooded with shifting light.
And then—
The walls changed.
Glass turned into vision.
A mirror.
Fractured into infinite shards.
Each reflection showed a different future—
Cities burning in neon fire.Flowers blooming from blood-soaked ground.Shadows swallowing light like a living void.
And in every shard—
Xyren.
But not whole.
Splintered.
Breaking.
Becoming something else.
Something darker.
Elaris gasped, staggering as the runes on her arm flared violently. The symbols burned brighter, carving deeper into her skin as if responding to the vision.
"Kael—"
He was already moving.
His blade snapped into his hand, storm energy erupting along its edge, lightning cracking through the chamber like thunder barely contained.
Xyren's voice dropped.
Low.
Unsteady.
Not fear.
Something worse.
"The next relic…"
His emerald eyes flickered, reflections splitting unnaturally behind them.
"…the Mirror Engine."
Silence fell again.
But this time—
It wasn't calm.
Bloomfall smiled.
Slow.
Knowing.
Like this was exactly what she had been waiting for.
And in the fractured glass—
One reflection of her moved differently.
Out of sync.
Her lips parted—
Whispering something no one else could hear.
"Blood must bloom…"
A pause.
"…before the crown can rule."