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Chapter 7: Shadows in the Snow
Kaelen didn't sleep after the priest's attack. The shard remained embedded in the ice wall, radiating darkness. Aeris inspected it, frowning.
"That's obsidian from the Void Peaks," she said. "That priest—he's not from this world."
Kaelen clenched his fist. "He took the hourglass."
"That means he can freeze time," Aeris muttered. "Even for a moment, that makes him deadly."
Kaelen turned to the ring on his finger. "Then we'll use the Fate Ring before he does."
Aeris looked at him carefully. "Just make sure it's still you using it."
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In the Deep Vaults of Svarheim
Queen Astrid knelt before the frozen mirror that sealed the fortress's oldest secret. The Frost Ring on her hand pulsed in rhythm with something on the other side.
"You've come alive again," she whispered.
Suddenly, the ice cracked.
From within the mirror, a voice answered:
"You have broken the pact."
Astrid stepped back, fear flashing in her frost-hardened eyes.
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The Escape
Before dawn, Kaelen and Aeris slipped out of the palace. They no longer trusted the queen—or anyone else in Svarheim. The priest was gone, but his presence lingered like a curse.
As they descended the icy path, a deep horn echoed from the mountains.
"What now?" Aeris hissed.
From the white mists came silhouettes—half-buried in cloaks, their weapons blackened by voidfire.
Ringhunters.
Servants of the lost Eleventh Ring.
Kaelen drew his sword, the Fate Ring flaring.
"We run."
But it was too late.
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Caught Between Realms
Time stuttered.
One of the Ringhunters stepped forward and threw down the stolen hourglass. The sands inside swirled, reversed, froze—then shattered.
Reality twisted.
Kaelen and Aeris were pulled into a rift—between time, between places, between who they were and what they might become.
Kaelen saw ten shadows. Ten rings. Ten thrones. A circle unbroken, a war unfinished.
A voice whispered:
"You are the key, Kaelen. But you are not the first."
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They landed hard—in a city of silence, where the stars moved backward.
Aeris groaned. "Where... are we?"
Kaelen stood, staring at the impossible sky.
"In between."
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