The peaceful courtyard was shattered by a harrowing scream. Kaduel arrived in a blur of kinetic speed, a streak of light cutting through the air. He found Lilith sprawled on the cold earth, while above her, Dr. Toram floated in an ethereal suspension. Toram lay horizontally in the air, her back to the ground, radiating a scorching, infernal aura that shimmered like a desert mirage.
"Lilith!" Kaduel skidded to her side, hoisting her up by the waist. "Lilith… can you hear me? Stay with me, Lilith!"
He manifested a sphere of frigid water between his palms and splashed it against her face. Lilith gasped, her eyes fluttering open as if waking from a deep, pressurized slumber.
"Kaduel…" she rasped.
"What happened? Lilith, tell me!" Kaduel's voice was thick with urgency.
Instead of answering, Lilith struggled to find her footing, her eyes darting upward. "The Doctor! What of Dr. Toram?"
Kaduel helped his wife stand. Together, they looked up at the levitating physicist, who was currently wreathed in a shroud of undulating fire.
"I should never have touched it," Lilith whispered, her voice trembling. "Kaduel, what is happening to her?"
"I don't know. It must be the armor," Kaduel replied, his brow furrowing. "Wait—what do you mean you shouldn't have touched it? What did you do?"
Lilith hesitated, her mind a chaotic whirl of sensations, but she knew she could not hide the truth. She paced frantically, her wings twitching. "Kaduel… you must understand… the moment I touched the blade, the world turned inside out. I don't know how to explain it."
Kaduel pulled her into a protective embrace, feeling the tremors in her frame.
Suddenly, the fiery aura around Toram began to dissipate like morning mist. With a sovereign grace that seemed entirely unearned by a mortal, she descended, her boots clicking softly against the stone. She looked at the two immortals, her expression one of utter confusion, as if she had no memory of the inferno she had just emitted.
"Kaduel? Lilith? Why are you staring at me like that?" Toram asked, her voice steady and oblivious.
Kaduel exchanged a wary glance with his wife. He turned to Lilith. "Lilith, would you leave us for a moment? Go inside the manor. I need to speak with the Doctor alone."
Lilith nodded, spreading her wings. She caught the air and ascended two meters, gliding toward the house. Toram watched her fly for a long moment before turning back to Kaduel.
"What is it, Kaduel?"
"Do you remember nothing? No voice from the suit? No echo from… Daruel?" Kaduel stepped closer, searching her eyes.
"Nothing. Did something happen? Was there an incident?"
Before Kaduel could respond, a sphere of blinding radiance began to rotate in the air between them. Three warriors materialized from the light, clad in ornate gold and silver panoply. They struck their breastplates in a rhythmic salute, and the centermost soldier stepped forward.
"My Lord! The King demands your presence immediately!"
Kaduel's face paled. "What has occurred? Has the perimeter been breached?"
"We have no details, My Lord. Only that an emergency council has been convened," the soldier reported.
Toram moved to Kaduel's side, her questions falling like rain. "Kaduel, what is going on? Why a meeting now? Where are they coming from? How can you organize a summit in a matter of seconds?"
Kaduel looked at her, his expression grim. "I have no time for a lecture on celestial logistics, Toram. Simply put, we do not wait. We do not 'schedule.' In Rama, we simply are. I will see you in the hall."
He dismissed the soldiers, and they vanished as abruptly as a snuffed candle.
"How are you feeling? Can you travel?" he asked her.
"I'm fine. Let's go," she replied.
Kaduel seized her hand. A vortex of light swirled around them, and in a heartbeat, they were gone.
In the High Council Hall of Rama, the atmosphere was thick with a palpable, suffocating dread. Every high-ranking official was present: the Sages, the Nobility, the Warlords, and the two remaining Sovereigns of the Tribes.
Kaduel stood in his full martial majesty at the right hand of King Saruel's throne. Below them, the dignitaries were seated at a long, shimmering table. On the right were the "Sages of the Verdant Robes," masters of the ancient arcana. Opposite them were the "Elders of the Azure Silk," the primordial power-brokers of the realm.
To the left and right of Saruel were thrones carved with breathtaking detail, identical to his own. But out of the twelve, ten stood hollow and empty. The gods who once sat there were now Daruel's puppets. The sight of those vacant seats was a silent omen of extinction.
Saruel looked at the empty thrones with a heavy heart. In ages past, these seats radiated the divine light of twelve gods. Now, they were merely shadows. The hall was silent, every eye fixed on the King, waiting for the word that would determine their fate.
The King broke the silence. "I realize the abruptness of this summons is unsettling, but the rumors you have heard are true."
A wave of frantic whispering erupted. Nobles leaned toward one another, their voices hissing like serpents in the vast hall.
"ENOUGH!" Saruel slammed his palm onto the armrest of his throne. The sound was a thunderclap that shook the foundations of the building. The murmuring died instantly. "Whispers will not save us. Daruel is marching on Rama. He comes not to conquer, but to erase us! We must raise a new legion. We must tithe those with the greatest latent potential. In Rama, there is no Second Birth. If we fall here, we do not return. We fight for existence itself!"
The fear in the room deepened. Then, an ancient figure from the Verdant Robes rose, bowing deeply.
"High Sovereign," the old man began, his voice thin but steady. "Your fear is ours. That Daruel has risen is a catastrophe. But word has reached us that the Great Relic—the Suit—has bonded with a mortal girl. This is a terrifying deviation from the prophecies."
The Elder raised his hand, and a massive tome, two meters high, appeared in a flare of green flame. The room gasped in unison: "The Register of Prophecy… The Mazgebe Tinbit!"
Saruel narrowed his eyes as the book expanded into a hovering screen. The text was a complex cipher of ancient Ge'ez and numerical coding, unreadable to any but the High Sages. The letters seemed to crawl across the page like living insects.
"The Register states that Daruel would return," the Sage analyzed. "It says he would return with a weapon capable of twisting time itself. But, My King, it does not say the suit would be inherited by a creature of the dust."
The whispering started again, louder this time. As the noise threatened to drown out the Sage, Saruel roared, "SILENCE!"
The King signaled for the Elder to continue.
"My King, look at the final page. It was blank until yesterday. Now, a new leaf has sprouted. This means a new prophecy is being written in real-time. Perhaps Zagura will send us the true Master of the Suit to save Rama. Until then—"
"If we wait for a 'perhaps,' we wait for ash!" Saruel shouted, his emotion breaking through his regal mask. "Daruel has more than prophecy; he has a machine built by human hands that can fracture the multiverse! He is coming here, now!"
The High Chronicler remained unmoved, his faith in the "Empty Page" unshaken.
A younger immortal, a youth of a million years, stood up with an air of irreverence. "Forgive me, but why don't we simply strip the suit from that pathetic mortal and give it to our King?"
The hall erupted in chaotic agreement.
Saruel's fury snapped. "Enough!" He rose from his position. The hall trembled under his voice. "You! Youth! Come forward!"
The young man, trembling despite his bravado, approached the throne. Saruel gave Kaduel a sharp, silent nod. Kaduel moved like a stream of light. In a single, fluid motion, he passed the youth. A sickening sound of tearing flesh followed. The young man's massive wings were severed, falling to the marble floor in a heap of blood and feathers. The youth collapsed, letting out a shriek of primal agony.
"You will address your Sovereign with sanctity!" Kaduel bellowed. "Guards! Cast him into the oubliette!"
Two soldiers appeared and dragged the shorn immortal away. Silence returned to the hall, heavier than before. Suddenly, a thunderous crash echoed from the main gates.
The entire council stood in shock.
To be continued…