The Paragon
Dana's POV
It was mid-day, and my hands wouldn't stop trembling as I dressed for the meeting. The one where Ascend Kaelric's removal from the highest seat would be announced… and he'd be pronounced a traitor. Even thinking about it made my chest feel tight.
Too much had happened in too little time. My mind kept drifting back to the Cranium, its sudden disappearance. And then to Doya. I pressed my lips together, forcing myself to breathe.
"Midnight," I whispered under my breath. "I'll see you at midnight."
I tied my hair into a bun, my fingers felt so clumsy, and then suddenly—
The ground shook.
It was not a small tremor. It hit hard enough to throw me off balance. I grabbed onto the table, my eyes darting around the room, trying to steady myself.
"What—?"
Before I could even finish, a deafening explosion tore through the air.
I froze instantly.
"No… no, no…"
I ran to the window, nearly stumbling over myself, and pushed it open.
The smoke was everywhere, coming mainly from the streets ahead. It was rising fast, swallowing everything whole.
"Oh gods…"
I rushed out of the room and started going down the stairs when I saw Kaelric in the middle of some Bound with an iron collar locked around his neck. They were taking him somewhere.
I stopped for a second. My body literally forgot what to do.
And then — just for a moment — his eyes lifted and met mine.
But his gaze didn't linger before he looked away.
My breath caught struggling to process it, when a hand grabbed my arm hard and yanked me back, snapping me straight into the urgency of the explosion all over again.
"What was that explosion?" Kumbuye hissed.
"I don't—I don't know." My voice faltered. "They're taking Ascend Kaelric somewhere… they haven't even announced his removal and they're already moving him. Something is wrong."
"Of course something is wrong, Dana," he snapped. "There was an explosion."
"I know," I said, shaking my head, trying to make the thoughts line up. "But what if that's why? What if it's a distraction? So they can move him without anyone noticing?"
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Okay," he said after a moment. "Then what do you want us to do?"
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I couldn't answer because I didn't know what to do. I did not want to be wrong about this.
My eyes flicked back down the corridor — just in time to see Kaelric being turned out of sight.
Something in my chest tightened.
"If they're moving him in the middle of all this…" I said slowly, "then perhaps, they don't want witnesses."
Kumbuye exhaled sharply. "That's not an answer."
"I know."
My mind raced.
The explosion, its timing, and the silence surrounding Kaelric's removal — something that should have been made public today — made everything feel deeply wrong.
Too many things didn't sit right.
I swallowed when I said finally, "We follow them."
Kumbuye stiffened. "Dana—"
"No," I cut in, my voice firmer now. "If this is wrong, we need to see it. If it's not… then we'll know."
We moved quickly after them, keeping to the edges of the corridor, staying out of sight as best we could.
"The meeting," I whispered as we went. "Darveth said the unseating would happen at midnight. Then will be announced today to the rest of the Bound."
"It doesn't look quite proper anymore," Kumbuye muttered.
We reached the heavy oak doors to the Inner Sanctum, where the Ascend normally held their private meetings. It was usually a place that felt restrained, almost untouchable, and always had guards in front of the door, but now, something was off.
I nudged the door open just a crack, and my stomach dropped.
I stepped inside, and saw two bodies lying on the cold floor.
I didn't need to get closer to know who they were. Ascend Corvath and Ascend Seraphine.
My breath hitched.
"How?" Kumbuye's voice was a jagged wreck. He stepped into the room, staring at their bodies on the floor. "There's no blood or marks."
My eyes dragged across the room, settling on the others. The three remaining Ascend here were slumped in their high-backed chairs, their heads bowed against their chests. They weren't quite dead — they were still breathing, but they weren't awake. Each one wore a heavy iron collar that pulsed with a rhythmic, suffocating light, keeping them under.
"Why aren't they moving?" I whispered.
I stepped closer and reached out. The moment my fingers touched the collar, pain shot through my hand.
I jerked back with a sharp hiss, clutching my palm as the burn lingered. "Gods!" I snapped.
My gaze swept the room again, slower this time.
"Who did this?" I murmured, though my mind had already narrowed it down.
Ascend Kaelric or Ascend Darveth.
Doya's warning echoed in my head again — don't trust Ascend Darveth.
"I don't know what to think," I admitted, turning to Kumbuye. "Darveth called them here for the meeting at midnight. I would swear this happened then, or perhaps much later."
"But how do you neutralize an Ascend without making a sound?" Kumbuye asked, his voice tight with reasoning.
"I don't know..."
I stepped out of the room, looking toward the side exit — the same way they had taken Kaelric.
"But either Kaelric or Darveth does." I whispered. "They were in this room too. They saw this happen."
I grabbed Kumbuye's sleeve, pulling him back toward the door.
"We have to keep following him."
He nodded and followed behind me. We turned the dark corner, my mind was still reeling from the sight of the bodies, when shadows stretched across the floor ahead. I stopped, waiting for the shadows to move but it remained still.
Slowly, I leaned in, peeking past the corner, just enough to see.
Standing at the end of the hall, silhouetted by the flickering light of a wall sconce, was Ascend Darveth and the rest of the Bound who surrounded Ascend Kaelric.
My heart stopped. Literally stopped. I felt the blood drain from my face, leaving me cold.
"Take him past the secret passage," Ascend Darveth said quietly. "Then to the Upper Room."
The Upper Room — a highly restricted chamber within the Sanctum, reserved strictly for the highest ranks. Only the Ascend, and on very rare occasions, select High Bound are granted access.
"Yes, Paragon." One of the Bound responded.
My heart skipped hearing that word — Paragon. The very same word Yurich said they call their leader. My eyes went wide, staring at Kumbuye who also held the same shock in his face.
I peeked through the corner again and the Bound who took Ascend Kaelric had already left, passing through another corner.
Darveth muttered a spell opening up the wall ahead of him, then he went through. And just like that, the wall sealed shut behind him.
I didn't realize I was holding my breath until they were gone. I could finally breathe again.
"Ascend Darveth is the traitor," I whispered, still staring out blankly.
"That means Kaelric is innocent." Kumbuye muttered.
I slumped against the damp stone wall, my knees finally giving out. My hands went into my hair, gripping hard, like I could hold my thoughts together by force. I couldn't think straight.
Before I could even steady my breathing, another explosion tore through the Sanctum.
This one was worse than the last, like the ground itself had been struck from beneath. The shockwave rolled through the corridors and rattled the stone around us, and for a moment I genuinely thought the entire structure might collapse inward.
"We have to leave this place." Kumbuye said urgently, grabbing my arm and pulling me up. "Dana, focus. We are leaving the Sanctum."
I nodded, even though my mind was still stuck, I followed behind him.
We moved quickly, descending a few flights of stairs as we went. I didn't even stop to go back to my chambers. There wasn't time. There wasn't anything left worth collecting.
When we reached the front doors, several Bound were stationed there restricting movement, forming a deliberate barrier as if they had been ordered to contain us inside, definitely working with Darveth.
"Oh, come on." I muttered under my breath.
I channeled my powers and one of the Bound was ripped off his feet and thrown violently into the far wall. The impact echoed through the corridor with a sickening force.
Another Bound stepped forward immediately, trying to close the gap.
A wave of force burst out from me, stronger this time. It struck him directly in the chest and sent him sliding backward across the stone floor. He fought to stay upright, digging his heels in, but the force was too strong and he crashed hard into a pillar.
Kumbuye didn't hesitate. He did not have his spear or a sword on him, only the two small daggers at his side, so he fought the only way he could — close, fast, and dangerously precise. Every movement was survival now, nothing polished or ceremonial about it. There was just instinct and urgency.
At that moment, no one cared about the rules. No one cared about the Sanctum, or what was considered acceptable. These people were blocking our way out of this place, and if force was what it took to survive, then force was what we would use.
Blood was spilled on the Sanctum grounds.
The realization of that alone should have shaken me more than it did, but everything inside me was already stretched too thin.
More Bound began to gather, rushing in from the corridors behind and surrounding us. Some of the Bound who were not aligned with Darveth had already been restrained, leaving only those who were fully under his influence to reinforce the blockade.
He was openly taking power now. And the worst part was that it was happening while the Forsaken were attacking the Temple elsewhere. The takeover had strategically been timed to fracture everything at once.
A fireball suddenly cut through the air toward us.
I reacted on instinct, raising my hand and forcing a barrier into place. The impact slammed into it with a violent burst of heat and pressure that pushed me backward, my arm trembling under the strain. Even through the shield, I could feel the force of it trying to break through, and overwhelm me.
We were outnumbered. Completely.
There were too many of them, and more kept coming. Every second we stayed here, the corridor filled further. There were more of them than I imagined. People I once walked these halls with as allies, now turning against me.
"We can't hold this," I heard myself scream.
"Dana!" Kumbuye shouted suddenly. "Let's go!"
We pushed forward together, not trying to fight them all anymore, just trying to break through.
We ran as fast as we could, desperately dodging the surges of power thrown at us.
We finally burst through the last archway and into the courtyard.
I didn't slow down. I ran after Kumbuye, watching as he reached a horse nearby and hurriedly saddled it.
"Dana!" he screamed again, extending his hand.
I grabbed it without hesitation and pulled myself up behind him, holding onto him tightly as he rode off.
The wind hit hard against my face, but it barely cut through the noise in my head. My grip tightened slightly around Kumbuye as I kept looking back to be sure we weren't being followed.
"Doya," I said suddenly, my voice a little breathless from the ride. "We should go to Doya."
"Let's get to safety first, then we will discuss that, Dana." Kumbuye groaned.
"Doya is safety." I urged. "Please, he might know something."
Kumbuye didn't respond again, but the way he pushed the horse harder told me he had heard me.
We rode into the streets of the Temple and my heart fell.
Parts of some districts had already been torn apart. Buildings were cracked open, some half-collapsed, others still burning as smoke bled into the sky. The streets that were once controlled and ordered were now scattered with debris, abandoned carts, and bodies I tried not to look at for too long.
I saw the guards, well, what was left of them. Some still clung to life, others lay completely still, their weapons useless at their sides. They had tried to fight, but they had failed.
And worse of it all, there were no Bound in sight. Not a single one sent out to defend the people.
My chest tightened as I took it all in, and my fingers curled slightly into Kumbuye's clothing.
They should have been here, they should have been protecting this place.
Instead, they were inside the Sanctum — taking sides and restraining the others who weren't aligned with their Paragon — while everything outside burned.
The guilt inside me increased heavy in my chest, as we rode past everything that was already lost.
The further we went, the more it felt wrong. Not just what I was seeing, but what I wasn't seeing. Whole sections of some other districts were empty but untouched, deliberately spared, while others had been torn apart like the Forsaken had been searching for specific places and specific people.
"This doesn't make sense," I murmured under my breath, as the horse slowed down. "Why would they leave some districts untouched?"
"These are probably districts of High Bound that work with them." Kumbuye shrugged.
The road stretched on for a while in silence then, we turned down another street, arriving the Old Watchtower.
Finally.
As we dismounted, I felt this sudden dread crawl up my spine. We stepped into the tower and opened up the door to the vault.
The hinges groaned, echoing down the narrow stairwell as we carefully descended, step by step, the sound of creaking wood swallowed everything else around us.
My breath caught before we even reached the bottom. The first thing I saw was Doya's urn, lying abandoned on the floor. I picked it up and moved closer to the torch to see it better. The flickering light from the wall sconce hit the surface, and I turned it slightly, making sure that this was his.
And it was.
I lowered the urn slightly, my fingers still locked around it, and my voice came out barely above a whisper.
"Where is he?"