4: Darken War

20: Alexandria

Chapter Twenty: Alexandria

The hallway felt colder the farther we walked. Stone beneath our feet, torchlight flickering on dark granite walls, the silence pressing in tight. My hand hovered near my sword's hilt, every sense heightened. I could feel the magic here, thick in the air—old, twisted, and humming with Theo's influence.

We stopped just short of the throne room. I raised a hand and conjured a small flame, golden and quiet, letting it float toward the massive iron doors. It slipped through the cracks and hovered within.

What I saw made my chest tighten.

Theo sat upon the Dwarven Throne, sprawled across it like a predator surveying his domain. He looked nothing like the man I remembered—no, he wore his power like a crown now. His eyes glowed faintly, one hand draped lazily over the armrest, the other resting on a blade I recognized as dwarven-forged.

And there, near the foot of the dais, stood two children. Girls. No older than eight.

Their yellow-blonde hair curled in soft waves around small, serious faces. They stood close to each other, not with fear, but with practiced precision. Dolls—real ones—hung from their belts, eyes too wide, too lifelike. One of the girls idly tapped her foot, her eyes fixed on the torchlight as if waiting for a cue.

I closed my fist, snuffing out the flame.

"He's using children," I muttered bitterly. "He's turned them into weapons."

I turned to Seraphina, fury burning low beneath my skin. "What can these two do?"

Seraphina's expression darkened. "The taller one is Aurora. She can summon stone golems—big ones. And the smaller one is Amethyst. She can possess dolls... including Aurora's golems."

Of course. I exhaled slowly. "They're not just for show."

A noise from the other end of the hall caught our attention—footsteps, several pairs, echoing off the stone.

I looked to Thalira. She nodded and raised her hands. A soft shimmer swept over us, turning our forms invisible again. I pressed my back to the wall as the figures rounded the corner.

Three of them.

A girl in her early twenties, her long yellow-blonde hair tied in bouncy pigtails that somehow made her look more menacing than innocent. A man, perhaps mid-twenties, with long hair tied into a neat topknot. And a younger girl—about Calista and Seraphina's age—with a short, choppy pixie cut and the same golden locks.

Their resemblance was obvious. These were my siblings.

They moved together like a trained unit, pushing open the throne room doors without hesitation. The last one in—Cassiopia, I guessed—glanced over her shoulder before the heavy door shut behind them with a thunderous click.

"What can they do?" Alexander asked quietly, tension clear in his voice.

"The younger one is Annora," Calista whispered. "She controls lightning."

"Noted," I said grimly. "And the others?"

"The man is Valenor," she continued. "He can astral project—not just himself, but others. That's how Theo's been appearing in so many places. And Cassiopia... she can read the stars. She knows what's coming before it happens."

"That explains too much," Alexander muttered. "So they're the reason Theo's always a step ahead."

"Then Valenor and Cassiopia aren't a direct threat," I said, "but Annora—she's dangerous."

"More dangerous than Silas," Sebastian warned. "She's unstable. Her temper makes storms look calm."

I clenched my fists. "If I had known I had siblings this young... I would have brought them to the palace the moment I took the throne. Gods, they would've been infants when I killed Father."