Chapter 177
The chamber remained deathly silent after the voice echoed through the hall.
"You left us to die."
The words settled heavily across the broken council chamber while the mountain continued trembling beneath them. Black mist poured endlessly from the widening fracture in the floor, spreading across the stone like living smoke while the enormous eye beneath the territory remained fixed entirely on Kael.
Ariana barely noticed the terrified wolves retreating toward the exits anymore.
Her attention remained on him.
Kael had gone completely still beside her, and that frightened her more than the creature beneath the mountain. Silver lightning flickered violently across his skin while tension moved visibly through his shoulders, but he no longer looked fully present inside the chamber around them.
He looked like someone trapped between two worlds.
"Kael," Ariana said softly.
His breathing remained uneven for several seconds before he finally spoke.
