The golden halls of Solaria blurred around her. Blood dripped from a gash on Alyc’s forehead, staining the pristine marble beneath her feet. The divine soldiers on either side of her kept a firm grip on her arms, but she didn’t fight them. Not anymore. There was no point. She had already won. Or had she lost? She felt the weight of Firefang’s absence at her side, the heat of Desmond Alistar’s blood still fresh on her hands. Outside the temple, the world was burning.

  She could hear it;the chaos, the roar of a city on the brink. The ripple of her actions had ignited something far greater than war. It had sparked annihilation. The gates of the temple swung open, and she was shoved forward, the cold bite of shackles against her wrists rattling as she stumbled. She caught herself before hitting the stone, straightening, unbowed. A heavy iron door loomed before her. The divine soldiers threw it open and pushed her inside. Darkness swallowed her. The door slammed shut, the vibrations of metal sealing her fate. Alyc exhaled slowly. She was alone. She pressed her back against the stone wall, fingers curling into fists. Her body was battered, her limbs heavy with exhaustion, but her mind was razor-sharp. She listened. Outside, Solaria screamed. People crying. Soldiers rallying. A kingdom breaking apart, its peace shattered like glass. They had called her a monster. They were about to learn what a true monster looked like. And the gods themselves wouldn’t stop it. Time slipped by in slow, suffocating silence. Then, a shift in the air. Alyc’s head snapped up. She wasn’t alone anymore. A figure stood beyond the iron bars of her cell, shrouded in flowing robes, the torchlight casting shadows that bent unnaturally around her form. The Seer. Her voice came soft, yet absolute.

  "Two kingdoms torn, the war still grows,

  A shattered land where hatred flows.

  The suns will dim, the moons shall weep,

  As shadow wakes from restless sleep."

  Alyc stiffened. The words sank into her, heavy as iron chains. The Seer stepped forward, lowering her hood. Milky, clouded eyes; eyes that had seen too much, too far locked onto hers.

  "The mountain’s heart shall quake and break,

  The cracks of the world will yawn and wake.

  From depths untamed, the darkness calls,

  Its children rise as silence falls."

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  The air in the cell thickened. Alyc’s pulse pounded against her ribs. She had heard these words before.

  "The shield of gods will bend and fray,

  Their hands will wither, turned to clay.

  No mortal hand, no blade of man,

  Shall end the storm once it began."

  The vision from the ceremony burned in her mind. The fire. The endless war. The darkness swallowing everything. The Seer’s gaze did not waver.

  "The heavens burn, the oceans dry,

  The stars shall fall from broken sky.

  And love once pure, turned into hate,

  Shall tear the veil and seal our fate."

  Alyc’s breath caught in her throat.

  "For war will reign, and fire consume,

  And from the ash, no life shall bloom.

  The end will come, the gods will fade,

  And night shall claim what light once made."

  The final words ripped through her. Alyc flinched. She didn’t want to hear this. Didn’t want to see it. The end of Divinia. The Seer stepped closer, her voice quieter now, but no less powerful. "You think you have seen the worst of this world, child." Alyc’s jaw tightened. "But I have seen beyond the veil. Beyond the war. Beyond the fall of kings and gods alike. And I tell you now, this is not just the end of Divinia."

  The cell felt smaller, the air colder. The Seer’s milky gaze bore into her, unblinking. "This is the end of everything." Alyc exhaled sharply through her nose. “Then what do you want from me? To stop it?” She let out a dry, humorless laugh. “I don’t even know if I started it.”

  The Seer did not blink. Did not move. "You did not start it," she said softly. "But you will finish it." Alyc scoffed, pushing herself off the stone wall. The weight of her shackles dragged against her wrists. "And what if I don’t want to?" The Seer did not answer immediately. The silence stretched between them, thick and heavy. Then, she tilted her head, the shadows clinging to the edges of her robes. "You have no choice." Alyc clenched her fists. Something burned in her chest, not anger, not grief, but something raw, something dangerous. "You speak like the gods decide everything," Alyc said, voice low, sharp as steel. "Like my life, my choices, were already carved into stone before I was even born." The Seer’s expression remained unreadable. "A prophecy is only a path. Not a prison. You choose whether to walk it." Alyc let out a slow breath, shaking her head. "Then I choose this, I don’t care about Divinia. I don’t care about your visions. I don’t care about fate." She lifted her gaze, meeting the Seer’s knowing stare. "I care about revenge." For the first time, something flickered across the Seer’s face. Not surprise. Not sorrow. Something like disappointment. "Hatred burns bright, but it does not lead," the Seer murmured. "You mistake your fire for purpose, but it is only consuming you." Alyc’s lips curled into a smirk, sharp and humorless. "Good." She took a step forward, chains rattling. "Let it burn." The Seer exhaled, as if she had expected nothing less. Her robes whispered as she stepped back into the shadows. "Then let the world burn with you." And just like that, she was gone. Alyc stood in the silence, the weight of the prophecy pressing against her ribs. She exhaled slowly, tilting her head against the cold stone. The Seer’s words lingered like smoke. But they did not matter. Nothing mattered except killing the ones that took everything.