House Brynjir's portal gate had been built in the exact center of Hodvekt. Each of the ten known portals in their world was uniquely decorated and designed in the style of the house that owned them. Unlike House Oseda's, but similarly to the one at the Eldenarian Palace, the Brynjir's portal gate sported an open floor plan. Multiple stone pillars of varying sizes formed a circle around the archway standing proudly in the center like the pit of a cherry. Bright green runes pulsed against the grey rock. The Nordic-styled buildings and lush pine trees served as a backdrop for the scene.

Sebastian, Imogen, and Dorian pushed through the cluster of battlemages and Arkangels as they searched for Catherine and Jocasta. Bodies spilled through the gaps between the pillars and emptied into the street bordering the gate. There must've been about a few hundred people present. He couldn't remember the last time he saw a force this large.

Chieftain Naidini's army in Vashara was close, but not quite. The Osedan's population had been diminished greatly since the battle in their capital city. The entire magician population had been on a steady decrease ever since his father began his quest for the Eldenarian Artifacts.

House Lumai fell to the Order first. Only three light mages existed now. House Brynjir and House Aegeon suffered similar levels of casualties. House Oseda was the latest victim of the Order's vicious war for power and control of their world.

Only two houses had managed to escape the Order of the Black Lotus's wrath—and one did it by hiding for a decade. But Makaela found them. And she was on their side now. It wasn't a stretch to think they'd soon have the Vayans join them in the fight against the Order.

House Tenebris couldn't be redeemed. Sebastian knew that already. Most—if not all—his housemates had likely become Shades now. That just left the magicians of House Doragon, the dragon riders and firewielders from Asia. They allied with his father shortly after the purge of House Lumai. As far as he knew, their alliance still stood. The issue of their allegiance would have to be addressed later. For now, they needed to get everyone to the Eldenarian Palace.

Sebastian, Imogen, and Dorian found Jocasta and Catherine standing in front of the portal with a few of their trusted advisors surrounding them. Everyone turned to look at the trio as they arrived.

"We're all ready to go," Catherine told Sebastian. She gestured at the stone archway, which boasted the magical rift in space and time that was the portal. A faint green light radiated from the opening.

Just as they prepared to step through, shouts rose from somewhere in the crowd. Magicians and ordinaires gathered around to witness the commotion. Sebastian and Imogen shared a worried glance before darting into the irritated mob to find the source of the issue. To no one's surprise, a group of men was arguing about nothing.

Battlemages and Arkangels were jostling each other around, their faces red with rage. One of the latter stepped forward. Their hand lingered dangerously close to the knife strapped to their pants leg.

Imogen grabbed the arm of a magician next to her. "What happened?" They, along with everyone else in the area, were egging on the fight. It was like watching people merrily pour gasoline on a raging fire. Sebastian needed an extinguisher pronto.

"Dunno who started it, but Karl just said the Arkangels fight like 'little sissy children'," the magician answered with a snicker.

Sebastian slid a hand down his face. He couldn't believe an argument had broken out, especially over what seemed like nothing. The insult said by whoever Karl was wasn't even a particularly scathing one. Then again, these were battlemages and Arkangels. Both groups weren't exactly full of people he'd consider to be mature, calm, or rational. Still, he couldn't let this escalate any further. He thought the feast was a step in the right direction. If this fight progressed into something worse, they'd be taking two huge steps backward.

He moved toward the main culprits of the fight. Though, Imogen had already beaten him to the punch.

She was already halfway there with her gleaming blade freed from its sheath. With her free hand, she shoved the much taller men and women out of her way like a weeder pushing through a field of high grass.

They barely noticed her as she marched toward the bickering warriors. Sebastian found himself blocked off by a pair of rather large battlemages. Their towering heads couldn't even see him below them. He was convinced the Brynjirs must've bred with giants in the past. Stuck behind the two walls of man meat, he watched with wide eyes as Imogen wedged herself between the two main instigators of the growing conflict.

A flustered-looking man with his black hair tied into a ponytail jabbed a ring-laden finger at a uniformed Arkangel with glasses. "—fight with abominations! Cursed weapons stolen from our people!"

The Arkangel pushed their glasses up and scoffed. "Maybe if you guys didn't hoard your magic, we wouldn't have to resort to 'stealing' your stuff!"

"Hoarding?! We keep it safe from people like you."

"No, you hide it from everybody! The world could've used your help millions of times—"

He was cut off by a smack on the back of the head. Nostrils flaring, he spun around to face Imogen. She cut her eyes at him, and he immediately backed down. Her sword was pointed toward the man with the ponytail, who simply stared at her with a surprised face.

"Both of you, shut up!" she roared.

They both grumbled disapprovingly until she yelled at them again. This time, they followed her command.

Rubbing her forehead, Imogen lowered her weapon. She turned in a circle so she could look at every one.

"This fighting amongst ourselves ends now," she shouted. "You got me?"

"And who are you?" someone asked incredulously.

She squinted into the crowd. Unable to find the speaker, she simply nodded. "Who am I? I'm Imogen Madani-Brigham. The Bridge of the prophecy."

It had been the first time since Remy made the admission that anyone acknowledged the girl's possible role in the prophecy. As Sebastian watched her in the middle of the crowd, he knew it to be true.

She was the Bridge.

"The Bridge?" someone else asked. Unimpressed murmurs rippled through the crowd. "What is she talking about?"

"I'm an ordinaire, and a magician," she revealed.

Collective gasps and whispers filled the portal gate.

Sebastian gaped at her. To the Eldenarian Council, her very existence was illegal on several accounts. Jocasta and the Arkangels surely had reservations about her as well. Outing her halfling status while in the middle of Brynjirs and magician hunters was nothing short of dangerous.

"Halfling!" The word was coated in disdain.

"Abomination!" another person yelled.

Sebastian immediately whipped his head around in search of who said it. His hands balled into fists at his side. Gritting his teeth, he resisted the urge to chase after them. Instead, he simply shouted, "Watch your mouth before I remove it!" He wasn't bluffing. His sister once removed his mouth temporarily with a hex when they were younger, and he was sure to learn how she did it.

He hadn't forgotten either.

Imogen rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I'm a halfling. And?! We've got an evil magician trying to end society as we know it and you're worried about who my parents are?"

The crowd went speechless for once. Though, a few of the Arkangels were throwing their leader perplexed glances. The woman pretended not to see them.

"For the last time, we're all on the same side," Imogen continued. "Magicians, ordinaires. Eldairs, Solairs. It doesn't matter. I'm not your enemy, and you're not mine. Our enemy is the Order of the Black Lotus. Our enemy is the evil threatening the world we all share."

A few people nodded. It didn't take long for others to follow suit. Even Karl and the bespectacled Arkangel seemed to take heed of her words. A chorus of applause sounded. Imogen simply folded her arms. Sebastian couldn't help but grin.

She had done it yet again.

The girl truly was the Bridge. Bringing people together was right up her alley.

"Now," she said while sheathing her blade, "let's get a move on. The Order of the Black Lotus isn't going to attack itself." She moved toward the crowd. It parted for her without question. Grinning smugly, she walked up to Sebastian, grabbed his hand, and led them both to the portal gate.

#

Sebastian wasn't sure what he'd been expecting to see when he stepped out of the portal, but it wasn't dragons.

As soon as he emerged from the archway built into the Eldenarian Palace's gate, he spotted the winged creatures soaring overhead. Their scaly wings flapped in the night sky, the sound akin to booming thunderclaps. Short bursts of fire erupted from their elongated snouts and lit up the darkened clouds.

Sebastian's vayrir was in his grip in an instant. He sprung forward, feet sliding across the stone and heart racing. But before he could even think to attack one of the beasts, a familiar voice from the other end of the platform called out to him.

Olivier ran toward him, accompanied by Ajax, Remy, Siren, Chieftain Naidini, and a woman dressed in a red and gold kimono adorned with spiraling flame motifs. Silky black hair spilled down her slender shoulders. Porcelain skin decorated with faint touches of crimson makeup met Sebastian's eye.

Behind him, the Arkangels and the battlemages continued to pour out the portal. They cast their gazes to the sky and raised their weapons, preparing to shoot down the dragons. Their shouts sounded around the entire portal gate.

"Stop!" Olivier cried.

"What the hell is going on?!" Sebastian interrogated. Imogen and Dorian appeared at his side, both just as confused as he was.

The presence of dragons meant one thing: House Doragon decided to attack the palace, most likely on his father's wishes. With creatures that could fly at blistering speeds and Japan being the closest country with a hidden magical city to the Eldenarian Palace, House Doragon was the perfect candidate to execute a surprise attack.

This now meant a huge chunk of his plan to fight the Order had gone up in flames. He'd been meaning to contact Karuma Kasai and her house to get them to abandon their alliance with his father and rejoin the Eldenarian Council. But they already chose their side.

Sebastian stormed up to Olivier, who was huffing and puffing by the time they caught up to each other. Strangely enough, no one else looked startled by what was happening. Remy was even grinning like a madman.

"The hell are you smiling about? Don't you see what's going on?"

"Relax, Sebby," the boy chirped.

"Relax?! Dragons are attacking us!"

Olivier shook his head. "They are not attacking us."

Sebastian blinked not once, but twice. He must've misheard the master lightweaver.

The woman in the kimono joined Olivier at his side. "Sebastian Tedorof. You've grown up." Her accent suggested she was from Eastern Asia, likely one of the Japanese islands.

Sebastian's eyes widened. "Karuma Kasai."

"My apologies for frightening you." She gestured at the dragons above. "They're just stretching their wings."

The beasts continued circling overhead with flames roaring from their teeth-filled maws.

Sebastian closed his fist and banished his vayrir back into the mark in his hand. Under Catherine and Jocasta's orders, the warriors who'd gathered around the palace's portal gate disarmed themselves as well.

"Can someone please tell me what's going on?"

"Karuma got here yesterday," Olivier explained. "She—"

The woman lifted her hand. Olivier stopped talking and motioned for her to take over. "We received your message." Sebastian peered at Imogen, who wasn't making any effort to hide the self-satisfied look on her face. "While rather...unconventional, I resonated with it. I'd been reflecting on my alliance with Thorian for a long while, but that message was what I needed to finally act."

"I'm glad someone heard it," Imogen said.

Karuma nodded at her. She looked at Sebastian. "Your father took my house's artifact from me about a week ago. But...he didn't seem himself. Something has happened to him. He is not the man I once knew."

Sebastian swallowed hard. He'd suspected his father had access to House Doragon's artifact because of their alliance, but now he'd fully confiscated it. He only needed two more until he had the full set. His chest tightened at the thought of him having all seven.

Karuma cleared her throat. "While I may not be able to right my house's wrongs, I can do whatever I can to make sure Thorian doesn't win."

"That's all we could ever ask for," Sebastian replied. He peered at Olivier. "Can you get the War Room ready?"

"What for?"

"I know how we can take down the Order of the Black Lotus."

#

The Arkangels, battlemages, and the few magicians Karuma brought were left behind at the portal gate while Sebastian and the rest of the temporary Eldenarian Council made their way to the War Room within the palace. They traveled through the night, taking the secret paths that snaked through the abandoned courtyards hidden throughout the shrouded city. Shadows protected them from the watchful eyes of anyone who might've been spying on them. While those who resided in the Eldenarian Palace were thought to be allies, one could never be too sure. His father surely had tapped into the mind of at least one person living amongst them. With them about to make a decision that would affect the entire magician community, they needed to be able to control what information got out.

Sebastian followed his fellow magicians—and Jocasta—as they treaded up the quartz steps leading them into the Eldenarian Council's headquarters. The golden dome of the building sparkled under the moonlight; it towered over the smaller structures built around it like a god standing amongst men. Olivier flicked his hand at the double doors, and they opened with an ominous creak.

Candlelight from the fixtures jutting out from the walls did their best to light up the black-and-white tiled floors, but the shadows still occupied most of the space. Glimmers of silver light broke through the glass panes built high into the stretching walls. A skylight made up the center of the ceiling's highest point, giving way to the star-filled sky.

The winding halls of the council building eventually brought them to the War Room's doorstep. As the new general of the Eldai, Ajax took it upon himself to lead them inside. While the battlemage had plenty of help, Sebastian wondered if he was truly ready to take on the role. Surely a few of the more experienced Eldai would have expected to succeed Jorgen instead of a young magician who hadn't even been a member for a month.

Then again, Sebastian wondered the same about himself.

Was he truly fit to be House Tenebris' representative? He wasn't truly representing anybody, with his house being synonymous with the Order, but what would happen when it came time for him to take up the council's head seat? Would he be ready? Would they respect him? Countless other questions bounced around his skull while he took his seat at the oval-shaped table in the center of the room.

Everyone took up their places around the table. The meeting's participators included Olivier, Chieftain Naidini, Karuma, Catherine, Siren, and Ajax, who was also serving as House Vaya's missing representative.

"Alright, Sebastian," Olivier said with his hands clasped. "You have the floor."

Seven sets of eyes were trained on him now. It was like standing under the force of a million burning spotlights; the expectation in their faces burned his skin and made his stomach twist into knots. Swallowing hard, he shakily rose from his seat.

This was his time. This was his moment to prove to them that the prophecy was right.

He was the king.

And he'd prove it to them all.

Clearing his throat, he pointed at the holographic map of the world hovering above the green-and-blue checkered table. He pinched his fingers together until the map zoomed in on a forest in Romania. Around the table, a few people shot him speculative glances.

"Sebastian..." Ajax warned.

"Just...let me explain first before you say no." He arrived at the coordinates of Castle Braexus—House Tenebris' hidden city and the secret headquarters of the Order of the Black Lotus. The black castle rotated slowly as the map spun above the table. "Since this whole thing started, we've been running from them. They've been the hunters and we've been the prey. We'll never win any fight that way."

Ajax gripped the edge of the table with his huge hands. "You're out of your goddamnned mind—"

Olivier silenced him with a silent raise of his hand. "Let him finish." Grumbling, Ajax folded his arms and looked away.

Sebastian quietly thanked the man before continuing.

"The plan is to attack Castle Braexus."

Olivier couldn't stop the table from erupting into disapproving chatter. Sebastian remained standing with his face deadpan until they stopped. Once they finished, he resumed his explanation.

"I know it sounds crazy. Trust me, if I could've thought of something else, I would've. But this is the only way we can hit them successfully." He pointed at the castle's front gate. "Castle Braexus is one of the most fortified places on the planet. We'll never be able to sneak up on them from the outside. Not only will they see us coming, but the forest is armed with charms and beasts controlled by my house."

"Then how do we attack them?" Karuma inquired.

Sebastian went quiet for a moment. This was the crux of his plot, the nucleus of his entire strategy. If this part didn't work, the entire thing was dead in the water. But it would work because he knew everything about Castle Braexus. The Order loathed deserters of their faction for this exact reason —his father couldn't bear to know someone out there knew his secrets. But Sebastian knew all his secrets. And he was going to use every last one of them to take him down.

"Their portal gate," was his answer to Karuma's question. Eyes widened around the table. This time, no one interrupted. "Every portal in the world is connected to the ones here. My father tried disconnecting ours from the palace, but he was unsuccessful. The plan is to rush through their portal and storm the castle. Before they even realize what's happening, we'll already be on top of them."

He peered at Karuma. "With the help of your dragons, we can hit them from the air. He still believes you're on his side, right?"

"It's possible," she answered. "But surely someone here has seen the dragons. The message will get back to him sooner than we may think."

"Then we strike as soon as possible."

Jocasta nodded at him. "It's a decent plan. But it heavily relies on how long we can maintain the element of surprise."

He was aware. "My father would never expect a direct attack like this. He's used to being the hunter, not the hunted. That's why it's going to work."

Everyone else traded looks of uncertainty. Sebastian watched them all with his hands pushed deep into his pockets. His entire body teemed with anticipation as he awaited a response.

"This is a suicide mission," Ajax said.

"If we wait here and do nothing, they'll come for us first."

"He's right," Chieftain Naidini said. "All the Order knows is how to attack. It's about time we test their defense."

The ginger battlemage pursed his lips. Sighing, he ran a hand over his hair. "I hope you know what you're doing, Little Prince."

Sebastian scowled at his nickname.

No one else objected to his plan. But they would still need to vote. Olivier might've been the current head of the council, but democracy still ruled over their court. The Lumaian magician rose to his feet.

"Everyone in disagreement with Sebastian's plan, raise your hand."

All hands stayed down. Even Ajax's, much to Sebastian's surprise. He felt the nervousness flee his body.

"Everyone in agreement?" Olivier said.

Seven hands went up. Ajax's was the last to raise, but it still went. Sebastian nodded curtly at him. The battlemage returned the gesture begrudgingly.

Olivier clapped his hands together. "It's settled then." He peered around the table, his bright irises scanning the faces of the makeshift Eldenarian Council. Uncertainty could be seen in his ashen face, but the optimism in his eyes did well to mask it. He faced Jocasta and Catherine. "Get your people ready. Make sure they're ready to leave first thing in the morning."

The women nodded.

Sebastian's heart dropped into his belly. The Lumaian magician turned to him. His expression was as serious as he'd ever seen it.

"I hope you're right about this, Sebastian," was all he said.

He hoped he was too.