So he’s adapted. Keane’s voice held something that might have been admiration if it weren’t so catastrophic. Separate us. Force me into evacuation duty. Exhaust our resources before the actual solstice alignment.
I said, It’s a trap. He wasn’t waiting for solstice anymore. He was forcing us to spend our strength early.
Yes.
And we’re going to walk into it anyway.
Keane looked at me—no hesitation in those deep blue eyes, just grim certainty.
People are dying, he said simply. If I don’t open evacuation portals, thousands will die in the corruption spread. So, yes. We walk into the trap.
My fire magic pulsed hot under my skin, the kind of heat that wanted to burn something. Wanted a target. Wanted the master in front of me so I could make him pay for putting us in this position.
But rage wasn’t useful right now. Command was.
Call Parker, I said. Emergency council meeting. Now.
Keane was already moving, his portals opening to key locations. Marigold appeared first. She’d been in the library with Elio. Both of them took one look at our faces and didn’t ask questions.
Parker arrived within minutes, still in field gear from whatever operation she’d just left. My father came through a portal seconds later, the other interim council members filing in behind him.
Report, my father ordered.
I told them everything: Aurora’s arrival, Raven’s activation, the master’s tactical strike against us specifically.
Keane pulled up the data. Every corrupted wellspring globally is moving toward synchronization, not in four days but starting now. Population centers across six continents show cascade corruption patterns. Vienna, Tokyo, Chicago, Cairo, Sydney, Mexico City—all critical. Buenos Aires, Mumbai, Nairobi, Vancouver showing stage two acceleration.
The weight of that settled over the room like ash.
Casualties? my father asked.
Unknown, Parker said. Her voice was clipped and professional, the tone she used when the news was bad and she didn’t have time to soften it. But significant. Budapest is already reporting corruption spreading into residential districts. Chicago’s showing the same pattern. If we don’t evacuate—
Then we evacuate, Commander Voss interrupted. Pull everyone back. Protect what we can.
And abandon how many cities? Hartwell snapped. How many thousands?
Better thousands than everyone…
We don’t have the resources for full-scale global evacuation, Parker cut through the rising argument. Shroud Guard is already stretched across twenty-three active sites worldwide. We need portal support. Dimensional routes. Keane’s magic.
My father’s eyes found mine, then Keane’s, reading what wasn’t being said and what it would cost.
He’s forcing your hand, my father said quietly. Forcing Keane specifically into a position where he has to choose between saving people now or conserving strength for solstice.
Yes, I said.
It’s a trap.
Yes.
And you’re going to respond anyway.
People are dying, Keane repeated. His voice stayed flat, analytical, but I heard the weight underneath, the certainty of what he was about to do. If I can save them, I will.
My father looked at him for a long moment. Something passed between them—understanding, maybe, possibly respect for a choice my father would’ve made himself once.
Then we coordinate properly, my father said. He turned to Parker. Priority: population centers near corrupted wellsprings. Keane provides portal support. Emergency medical teams on standby at all major hubs.
