The boy was found—but not saved.

Drag marks led to a cavern where Nero’s embrace carried a hidden blade, and his eyes burned with a crimson haze. Scarecrows fell to steel, dwarves stepped from stone with moonlit weapons, and enchantment turned kin into killers. Each prayer, each spell, bought only moments before the cave went still again.

But truth weighs heavier than wounds. Parents unmasked. Crystals shattered. Fire and ash rising toward the trees. The road to Meake offered trade, respite, and an orphan’s brief peace—but red shards linger, and the dragons’ charge waits unfinished.