RISE OF THE SWARM

The Lord Commanders study was nothin fancy, not a place of beauty at all. It was carved straight outta the dark stone of the mountain, like the fortress itself had just grown around it. The walls were rough an heavy, the kind of stone that seemed to drink up the torchlight so shadows always clung in the corners. It wasnt cozy, it wasnt noble, it was made for work and war, nothing more.

In the center was a massive oak desk, the kind of thing that looked like it had survived battles of its own. The surface was scratched and scarred, old stains soaked into it like blood that never quite came out. It was litterd with maps of the borderlands, some rolled, some spread wide open, all of them weighed down by daggers stabbed into the wood or mugs left half empty. The smell hung thick in the air—old smoke, worn leather, and that sharp metallic tang that reminded Liam too much of blood even though there was none to see.

The walls were hung with trophies of war, banners ripped from defeated clans, the sigils of noble houses that had once dared to stand against the Empire. Each one was a warning.

Baron didn't sit behind his desk. That struck Liam odd at first, but maybe it shouldnt have. The Lord Commander wasn't the type to sit comfortable while talking about death. He stood before the cold fireplace, broad back turned, as unmoving as a statue carved from the mountain itself. His shoulders were wide, his presence heavy. Without a word, he poured a dark, biting drink into four clay cups. He passed them around without ceremony.

Evelyn refused with the barest shake of her head. Merlin took his with an easy nod, like this was routine. Liam, caught in the middle, not knowing the custom, accepted his cup though the smell made his stomach clench it was like firewood and pine needles set on flame.

"The report, Baron," Evelyn said, her voice sharp, cuttin through the thick air. "We're on a tight schedule."

The Commander turned then, eyes hard as stone. He showed no bow, no hint of deference in his own hall. "Your schedual, Princess, dont change the facts here. And the facts are these. The Krazian Empire is testing us. Not with armies. With ghosts."

Merlin leaned against the battered desk, casual, but there was a sharpness in his look. "Go on."

"For three moons now, our perimiter wards have flickered," Baron said. His voice rumbled low, like distant thunder. "Not enough to break, just enough to show they been touched. We find no tracks, no scouts, no doors forced. Its like the air itself is spying. Then, five nights ago, there was an incident at the warp gate."

Everyone there felt the weight of that. The gate was their lifeline, the one thread binding the fortress to the heart of the Empire.

"The gate lit outside its schedule. The mages on watch saw a strange signature, unauthorized, untracable. Before they could shut it, a figure came through. My guards moved on him quick. He didn't fight. He smiled." Baron's eyes narrowed, his jaw like iron. "Then he dissolved into smoke before their eyes. He left nothing behind—except this."

He pulled from his pouch a small coin and tossed it onto the desk. It landed with a dull clink.

It was not Aurelion mint. The metal was flat grey, stamped with the stern, bearded face of Emperor Krazok. On the reverse was no eagle, no sun, but a closed eye—watching.

Merlin picked it up, his hand slow. His voice, for once, was grave. "A Krazian Shadow-Spider. Their best infiltrators. This kind of teleportation magic is rare, costly. He wasn't here for land or maps. He was here to test us. To learn our response, our guards, the stability of the gate itself. This is just the begining."

"My thoughts exactly," Baron growled. "I can hold walls against armies, but I can't chain shadows. He knows our weak spots now. The next one won't come alone, and he won't just vanish."

The silence after was thick. Evelyn said nothing but her knuckles whitened around her cloak. Merlin only nodded once, grim. The rest was quick, orders for mage rotations, wards strengthened.

Then Baron led them down the spiral stairs, deeper into the mountain's belly. The stair twisted forever, air growing colder, damper. Liam felt the strange hum first on his skin before he heard it, that prickling that raised hairs on his arms. The very stone buzzed faintly with the power waiting below.

The chamber was huge, circular, carved like a temple for power. In the center stood the warp gate. A massive silver ring, covered in glowing blue runes that pulsed in steady rhythm, like the beat of a giant heart. The space within shimmered like heat rising from sand, warping the sight of the solid rock behind.

Grey-robed mages stood waiting around the dais. Their faces pale, their eyes wide with reverence or fear it was hard to tell which.

"The gate is aligned with the capital nexus," one mage said, bowing to Evelyn. "Ready at your word, Your Highness."

Evelyn didn't hesitate. She climbed the steps with quick strides, straight-backed. Then she was gone, vanished like she'd steped off the world itself.

Merlin laid a hand on Liam's shoulder. His grip was steady, his voice calm. "Steady lad. It feels… odd. Hold your breath, it helps."

Liam's heart hammered in his chest, pain shooting from his ribs with every beat. He looked one last time at the fortress above, at Baron's stern face like carved rock. Then he drew in air, held it tight, and stepped.

The world broke.

It was not dark, it was too much light, all colors at once, shattering. He was pulled in every direction, stretched thin as paper, unraveling. The pain in his ribs exploded. And with it came the void, the same cold emptyness he'd felt in the forest. It rushed from him like a tide. Panic tore through him, raw and wild.

The gate buckled. The steady runes stuttered, flashing too fast, their hum twisting into a shriek. The chamber shook. Mages screamed as their hold broke.

Liam was flung out, spat onto cold polished stone. He landed hard, gasping, fighting for air.

Around him was not the stone of a fortress but white marble, veined with gold. The chamber was breathtaking, walls gleaming, a ceiling high and domed, painted with a phoenix burning in sapphir and topaz flames. It was glory and wealth and raw power made stone.

But chaos ruled it. Alarms boomed, heavy gong beats that rattled the marble. Guards rushed in, armored in white and gold, blades flashing.

Liam pushed himself onto shaky knees. Behind him Merlin stumbled through, pale and shaken. The gate sparked wild, its glow stuttering. Evelyn was already there, and her composure cracked at last. Horror and fury burned in her eyes, locked on Liam.

"What did you do?" she spat, her voice sharp as knives.

Before Liam could form words, another voice filled the chamber. Deep, commanding, impossible to ignore.

"That is what I would like to know."

The sound froze everyone. The guards dropped to one knee as one. Even Evelyn lowered in curtsy. Merlin bowed.

At the arched doorway stood the Imperial family.

Emperor Valerius Aurelion himself. Tall, broad shouldered, clad in crimson robes stitched with gold feathers of the rising phoenix. His iron-grey hair swept back, his beard sharp. His storm-grey eyes burned with power, locked hard on Liam.

At his side was Empress Juliana. If the Emperor was a storm, she was calm, deep water. Severe beauty, timeless. Her silver-gold hair was bound in a crown braid heavy with pearls, a single sapphire hanging like a drop of ice on her brow. Her violet eyes, cool and sharp, swept across the chamber and missed nothing.

On the Emperor's other side stood Grand Prince Cassian, the Archmage, leaning on his staff of white wood topped with a living crystal that flickered like fire. He was thinner, fox-faced, eyes sharp and curious, staring at the broken gate like it was a riddle meant for him alone.

And in that moment, Liam saw his companions differently.

Evelyn began to change her real appearance appearing. She shone with something unearthly. Her skin was flawless, her freckles glittered like specks of gold dust. Her hair lengthen becoming darker. Her eyes turned a shiny shade of blue. No mere runaway. A princess of terrifying bloodline.

Merlin too shifted. The old tutor seemed to fade. He stood taller, straighter, eyes no longer twinkling but ancient, endless, heavy with centuries. The very air around him hummed, vibrating the marble floor under Liam's knees. He was no ordinary man he was a storm wrapped in human skin.

The Emperor stepped forward, each boot-fall echoing like thunder. Silence held the room.

"Explain this disruption," Valerius commanded. His storm-grey gaze swept first to Evelyn. "You return in chaos, daughter." Then to Merlin. "You vouched for stability." And at last to Liam, piercing through him, to the void gnawing inside. "Explain him."