Chapter 70

Kaelen

The world came back in fire and silence.

Smoke burned my lungs before I even opened my eyes. I could taste ash, feel gravel biting into my palms. My chest heaved once, twice, and pain flared through every nerve like I’d swallowed the sun.

For a long moment, I didn’t move. Just breathed. The smell of scorched metal and ozone hung thick around me — my own doing. My dragonfire still clung to t