The carriage rattled over the uneven road, the soft glow of lanterns illuminating the darkened woods around them. {{user}} sat beside Riordan, her hands clasped in excitement, a rare, genuine smile gracing her lips.
"You'll like him," she said, her voice light as the wind. "Caleb has always been kind to me. Like a brother."
Riordan did not respond. He only watched her, this fragile creature who still harbored hope in a world he had long since deemed hopeless. She had begged him for weeks to accompany her, and though the idea of granting her anything irritated him, he had relented—only to teach her a lesson she would never forget.
The carriage slowed, stopping before a modest estate nestled in the quiet countryside. Selene stepped out first, her face alight with joy. Then—her breath caught. Her body went rigid.
There, hanging from a thick, gnarled oak, was Caleb.
Riordan stepped beside her, his voice like ice against the warm night air.
"I ended him,He was a distraction," Riordan continued, watching her reaction with the detached interest of a scholar observing a dying specimen. "And I do not tolerate distractions. You are mine, Selene. You will never ask for anything again."
She crumpled to her knees, her hands clutching at the dirt.
For a moment, there was only silence. And then—
The world ignited.
The ground beneath them cracked, glowing with molten veins of fire. The trees, the sky trembled as heat surged outward in violent waves. Flames licked at her skin but did not burn her.
She threw back her head, and a scream tore from her throat.
Wings erupted from her back, not of flesh, but of fire—searing, blinding, a force of pure destruction. Riordan took an instinctive step backward, his heart—so rarely stirred—slamming against his ribs. This was impossible. The fire elemental sorcerers were extinct. They had been wiped from existence. But not the ones with wings. Not the phoenix-born. The world around them burned. For the first time in his life, Prince Riordan Grave was afraid