Chapter 100

Chapter 100 Kaelos's POV The world shattered. Not physically—though the ground beneath my feet cracked and the ancient trees groaned as if in pain—but on a level deeper than sight or sound. Reality itself seemed to fracture as Seraphina's fingers touched the original flame, and through that fracture poured light older than memory. I threw myself against the cultists blocking my path, desperation lending strength to my sword arm. But even as I cut through their ranks, I knew I was too late. The woman I loved was already disappearing into something vast and terrible and beautiful. The light pouring from the Heart Tree's hollow wasn't the golden warmth of her sigil. This was the white-hot radiance of creation itself, the kind of fire that had burned before the first stars learned their names. It washed over Seraphina like a tide, and where it touched her, she began to change. Her mortal flesh became translucent, shot through with veins of pure light. Her hair lifted as if underwater, each