Since the uprising that had shaken Eastshire District, every street, fort, and manor now answered to the Lantz family. What had once been a patchwork of petty warlords lay under one banner, its banners snapping bright crimson against the morning haze.
Marvin, head of the Lantz household, treated Flaxseed like visiting royalty. Each dusk, he sent a different courtesan through silken drapes, and Flaxseed, drowning in wine and laughter, seemed in no hurry to ever find his way home.
Luna, however, grew quieter by the hour. Jared had broken through to level eight and vanished beyond the clouds. She did not know whether he was thriving or dying, or if fate would ever let them meet again.
Three weeks later, Jared strode unannounced into the Lantz residence. Luna’s composure shattered in an instant. She flew down the marble steps and wrapped both arms around him as though terrified the vision might dissolve.
They locked themselves away for three full days, their laughter rising above the courtyard ponds like startled swans. Between embraces, Jared still sat cross-legged at dawn, channeling energy through every vein, making the most of his time.
Soon, Jared summoned Flaxseed. Together, they stepped into a rippling corridor of void light and let the world fold around them. Eastshire fell away. Level six opened ahead like a second sunrise.
Luna was sad to watch Jared leave, but knowing he had important matters to attend to, she made no move to stop him.
Celestia awaited them. Though scars of past wars still marred its borders, its strength was already counted among the mightiest realms of level six.
***
Dust cloaked Jared and Flaxseed by the time they reached Celestia City, the kingdom’s storied capital.
Marble spires gleamed where scaffolds had only recently stood. Market stalls crowded the avenues wall to wall, and the thunder of hammers on bronze rang beside the soft call of temple bells. Even half rebuilt, the city pulsed like a living heart.
At the northern gate, a hulking captain blocked their path. Folds of muscle strained his iron breastplate, and a crooked grin split the mass of scars across his cheeks. Beady eyes flicked over their travel-worn cloaks and judged them easy prey.
“Hold it! Road toll!” he barked, planting both fists on his hips so his voice boomed across the stone arch.
Jared’s brow creased. He had crossed deserts and star-fields to stand at this gate, never expecting to be shaken down like a back-alley peddler.
“Since when does the Divine Kingdom charge travelers to enter its own capital?” His words came softly, yet filled with authority.
The captain spat in the dust. “Since I said so! Pay up or turn around. I have no time for your questions!”
Flaxseed’s temper flared. He strode forward until his finger all but touched the captain’s nose. “Who do you think you’re bullying? One slap and you’ll be fertilizer under this wall. Want to test me?!”
The captain’s face darkened. “Guards! Bind these loudmouths!”
His gauntlet swept through the air like a judge’s gavel.
Steel boots pounded from every direction, forming a ring of spears around the two travelers.
Jared sighed, shaking his head with a weary half-smile. He had hoped for a quiet entrance, yet ignorance, it seemed, had an uncanny talent for finding him.
With a casual flick of Jared’s wrist, raw spiritual energy thundered across the gateway.
The soldiers never even screamed, shields rang like cracked bells, bodies pinwheeled through dust, and a heartbeat later the entire squad lay sprawled, groaning in disarray.
The commanding officer, broad-shouldered, iron-helmed, felt the blood drain from his face.
Moments earlier, he had dismissed the pair as wandering vagabonds, now he understood he had poked at mountains that could move.
“H-How dare you create havoc before the gates of Celestia City!” he bellowed, voice cracking with forced bravado. “Seize them! Drag them to the palace. His Majesty himself will decide their punishment!”
Ropes were tossed over Jared’s and Flaxseed’s wrists, and a ring of spears herded them toward the palace like livestock toward market.
Flaxseed grumbled the entire march, about bruised joints, incompetent soldiers, and the price of ruined robes, while Jared walked serene, almost amused. Let’s see what game King Aurelius means to play once we step inside…
As the procession crossed the marble drawbridge of the palace, a slim figure in violet silk stepped from a colonnade, Yuliana’s sharp eyes catching the ropes before the guards even announced their prisoners.
Now Prime Minister of the realm, Yuliana wore a sweeping orchid gown whose jeweled hairpin caught the afternoon sun like a shard of lightning. Grace clung to her the way fragrance clings to fresh lilac.
Seeing Jared and Flaxseed bound, she froze, a single stunned heartbeat, then rage blazed behind her lashes, hot enough to melt the palace snow that still lingered in shaded courtyards.
