V

As Kiro and Lyra charged off to face the dragon, Kara remained behind, a knot of terror tightening in her chest for Reya. The beast’s monstrous roars echoed through the forest, each one a physical blow that made the ground tremble. Kneeling beside the still-unconscious Reya, Kara felt a strange, unfamiliar energy surge within her, a power that seemed to answer the chaos of the battle.

On instinct, she scrambled to her feet, her vision blurring. Her consciousness expanded beyond her own body, extending to the swirling forces that churned around her. The first was a searing, wrathful presence that swept into her mind like a wildfire, carrying with it a horrifying vision of Kiro falling to the black dragon’s savage assault. Kara knew, with chilling certainty, that this was Lyra’s fury. The second force was softer, almost timid, and it seeped into her awareness as the low, gruff voice of a man.

Trapped… Daughter of Earth, heed my words. You cannot place your trust in—

The voice vanished abruptly. Another distant roar, this one sharp with pain, tore through the air, and Kara was jolted back into her own body. She gasped, her focus snapping back to her immediate surroundings. Reya was stirring, a faint, shimmering shield flickering around her form. She still looked deathly pale, but it was a marked improvement.

"Kara! The Amulet!" Reya’s voice was weak but urgent. "There's another symbol glowing!"

Kara looked down, her eyes drawn to the tiny, incandescent tongue of flame now illuminating the artifact’s surface. "Why is it doing that?"

"The symbols glow when a Mage awakens their power," Reya explained, her expression thoughtful. "Your Aether emblem lit up when you did, and now it seems the Pyre Mage has begun to cast. As for why it communicates with you or changes size… I have no theories on that."

Before Kara could ask who the Pyre Mage was, she was interrupted by a triumphant shriek.

"Kara! Guess what? I can do magic, too!" Lyra was practically vibrating with excitement, still held in Kiro’s arms. He looked battered and bruised, grimacing with every slight movement. When Lyra finally hopped down, he seemed incredibly relieved.

She staggered joyfully toward her sister. "The dragon was winning, and I had this weird feeling it was talking to me, but then I did this… this fire thing, and it just flew away! I did that!"

Kara couldn’t help but laugh at her sister’s rambling, breathless passion. Lyra stopped, her face falling into a scowl. "What's so funny? You don't believe me?"

"No! I absolutely believe you," Kara insisted, seeing her sister’s temper begin to flare.

To prove her point, Lyra summoned a tongue of flame that danced mesmerically on the tip of her finger. She stared at it, utterly captivated by her own creation. Amused and a little impressed, Kara focused her own mental energy and, with a flicker of concentration, extinguished the tiny flame. Lyra let out an indignant squawk and tackled her, sending them both tumbling to the forest floor in a heap.

As the sisters grappled playfully, Reya quietly tended to Kiro’s wounds. "Are you certain these two are Fated Mages?" she murmured, her voice laced with dry amusement.

Kiro watched them, a strange twinkle in his eye, before pulling a crimson globe from a pouch on his belt. Reya recognized it instantly. She rose gracefully to her feet. "Time for the report?" Kiro gave a curt nod, his expression becoming inscrutable.

Later that night, after Reya had established their camp, Kiro returned in a surprisingly good mood. He accepted the bowl of stew Reya offered and took a seat by the crackling fire.

"Kiro! Where have you been?" Lyra cried, nearly launching herself across the flames to get closer to him.

Kara rolled her eyes. "It's not like we missed you."

Her animosity only made Kiro laugh, a deep, resonant sound. "My report was for the Princess of Oria. She is impressed with your progress and sends her regards. It is rare, she says, for new Sentinels to be Fated Mages." He smiled, pulling Lyra close and wrapping an arm around her waist. Lyra looked as though she might faint from pure joy. Suddenly, the stew in Kara's bowl seemed thick and tasteless.

"Oh, and the Princess is hosting a ball in your honor tomorrow evening," Kiro added casually. "So we'll need to make good time."

A jolt of shared excitement passed between the sisters, their eyes meeting. "A ball? A real one?" Lyra asked, her voice a reverent whisper.

"With dancing and music and beautiful dresses?" Kara continued, her earlier annoyance forgotten.

Kiro glanced at Reya, who just gave a helpless shrug. "Will you dance with me, Kiro?" Lyra pleaded, looking up at him.

Kiro, taken aback, stammered for a response while Reya chuckled and began spreading out their sleeping mats. Kara slipped away to the edge of the camp, her gaze drifting up toward the unfamiliar constellations. The sound of Lyra pestering Kiro for a dance faded as she replayed the day’s events in her mind. A sudden wind picked up, carrying a chill that seeped into her bones. Shaking it off, she returned to the warmth of the fire, unaware of the pair of dark green eyes that watched her every move from the deep shadows between the trees.

By midday the following day, Kiro finally brought them to the edge of the forest. He pointed toward a shimmering, crystalline spire that pierced the clouds and jogged to where the trees gave way to rolling grasslands.

"Wow…" Lyra breathed as the Sovereign City came into full view. It rotated gently in the sky, its crystal structures refracting the sunlight into a thousand dancing rainbows.

For Kara, the sight brought a strange sense of serene familiarity. I know that spire. A vision ripped through her mind: the same crystal tower shattering against a blood-red sky, raining down brilliant shards of destruction. The breath was stolen from her lungs in a sharp, painful gasp.

"Kara, that vision…" Lyra trailed off, her own gaze drawn inexorably back to the floating metropolis.

"I know," Kara whispered, grabbing her sister’s arm. "I have a very bad feeling about this."

They scrambled to catch up to Kiro, who was already launching into a lecture. "The Sovereign City has been airborne since the end of the Great War. The First Princess built it from aerystal, the hardest substance known. Elves cannot enter a structure made of it, as it smothers their abilities. It is the safest place in all of Oria."

Reya whirled on him, her face a mask of cold fury. "How can you lie to them, Kiro? You know the Arakians have been developing aerial engines to destroy the city. We saw the plans when we infiltrated Daincrest three years ago."

"What are Arakians?" Kara asked, but her question was lost in the ensuing argument.

"Reya," Kiro whispered, his jaw tight, "the Princess gave us explicit orders not to reveal their purpose until she could meet them. I was merely providing them with history."

They locked eyes, and the air grew thick with tension, a standoff broken only when Lyra let out a loud sneeze. The twins exchanged a look, then threw their arms around each other’s shoulders and burst into laughter. The weight of the moment was erased. Reya shot Kiro one last withering glare, but he only offered a lopsided, weary smile.

Thirty minutes later, the group stood in the city’s immense shadow. "It's a lot bigger up close," Lyra mumbled, craning her neck.

Kiro gestured to Reya. She closed her eyes, her hands weaving through a complex series of motions as she muttered in that strange, melodic tongue.

"Ladies, stand close to Reya," Kiro instructed. "We'll be arriving shortly."

Before they could ask how they were supposed to reach a floating city, one of Reya's shields enveloped them, but this time it formed a complete, shimmering sphere. The ground fell away as the great bubble pulled them upward, rising steadily toward the Sovereign City.