The scream came before anyone understood what had happened.

They descended into a vast, breathtaking subterranean cavern.

Suspended in the absolute center of the hollowed mountain was a colossal, floating sphere of molten gold and deep emerald crystal—the Core of Oakhaven. It pulsed slowly, like a giant, quiet heart, throwing warm, ethereal light across walls carved with millions of ancient runes.

But the beauty was scarred.

Huge iron drills and black steel pipes were driven into the sides of the floating crystal heart like parasites. Black liquid drained from the Core into massive vats, where Council technicians in rubberized coats were filling hundreds of obsidian-armored golems—the same constructs Vane intended to use to conquer the surrounding realms.

"Look," Aurelia whispered, pointing toward a grand marble platform overlooking the Core.

Standing at the edge was Grand Marshal Vane himself, surrounded by fifty elite guards and a cloaked figure in high magical robes—Grand Councillor Malakor.

"The extraction is too slow!" Vane growled, his voice echoing over the roar of the steam pipes. "The King is still breathing! I need those five hundred iron golems active by sunrise!"

"Patience, Grand Marshal," Malakor hissed, his voice like dry leaves scraping across stone. "The Core is resistant. Without the true Key or Sovereign blood, forcing the extraction further risks structural instability."

"I don't care about stability!" Vane snapped, slamming his armored fist against the railing. "The street boy is dead, buried under the catacombs. The princess is gone. The throne is ours for the taking. Double the pressure on the drills!"

Inside the shadows of the rock ledge, Kael felt an overwhelming wave of pain wash over him. Every pulse of the heavy iron drills felt like a red-hot needle being driven directly into his own ribs.

"Kael!" Aurelia caught him as he fell to his knees, his eyes glowing with a terrifying, luminescent gold light.

"It... it hurts," Kael gasped, blood trickling from his lips. "They're killing it..."

"We have to reach the Vault," Doran whispered, pointing toward a massive pair of seamless stone doors embedded in the rock wall across the cavern. "The Sovereign’s Crown and the True Key are inside. Only with those can Kael override the machines and heal the Core."

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$I stepped down from a classified military transport and headed directly to the ICU, where my wife was lying with twenty-seven broken bones and a fractured skull. Outside her hospital room, her mother and six sisters stood smiling as though they were waiting for lunch to arrive. The detective assigned to her case leaned in and whispered, "Captain, this family practically controls the entire county." I stared through the glass at my wife's bruised and swollen face before answering, "Good. Because my authority extends far beyond this county."$