Chapter 182

The mountain air was crisp, but it carried the weight of change. The village had never been this silent, yet I could feel the tension beneath it all. Every breath, every step, was laced with anticipation. My men—no, my brothers—stood at my side, fifty strong, their expressions hardened with purpose. We had trained for this, bled for this, and now, we would finally act.  

The time had come.  

Maelstrom awaited.  

For months, we had prepared, forging our bodies into weapons, sharpening our minds with magic, our will with steel. Every day, Riven pushed me further, made me stronger, ensured that when I stood before my father, I would not falter.  

I would make Sirius pay.  

Not just for Yong.  

Not just for Lira.  

But for my mother.  

For every moment she had spent suffering under his shadow.  

For every tear she had cried when she thought no one was looking.  

For every ounce of love she still harbored for a man who had destroyed our lives.  

He would see what he had created.  

And he would beg for mercy.  

A mercy I did not possess.  

As I adjusted the leather straps on my bracers, I heard the soft rustling of fabric behind me. I didn’t turn around.  

I knew it was her.  

My mother’s presence had always been a quiet warmth, a gentle touch in a world filled with cruelty. Even now, with the burden of war looming over us, she still carried that same sorrowful grace.  

“Aster.”  

I exhaled, finally turning to face her.  

She looked at me as she always did with a love that was boundless, with worry she tried to hide but never could.  

“You’re leaving,” she whispered.  

“I have to,” I said, my voice steady. “You know that.”  

Her fingers tightened around the small object in her hand, something silver and glimmering beneath the torchlight. She hesitated before stepping closer, pressing it into my palm.  

Her amulet.  

A relic of protection, infused with old magic, with memories of her past.  

“I cannot stop you,” she admitted, her voice breaking. “But I pray this will.”  

I clenched my jaw. “You think I’ll fail?”  

“I think you will destroy yourself.”  

Her words cut deeper than any blade.  

“I am not my father.”  

Her lips trembled. “But vengeance has a way of turning love into hatred. And hatred into ruin.”  

I looked down at the amulet, its silver chain glinting in the firelight. I had seen her wear this for as long as I could remember. Now, it was mine.  

“Promise me one thing,” she said, voice thick with emotion.  

I didn’t answer.  

“Do not kill him.”  

My breath hitched.  

I tore my gaze from the amulet to look into her eyes, the same eyes I had inherited.  

“You expect me to show him mercy?”  

“I expect you to be better.”  

I wanted to argue.  

To tell her that Sirius did not deserve my mercy. That he had never shown it to us, to Yong, to Lira.  

But I couldn’t.  

Because even now, after everything, she still loved him.  

And no matter how much I hated him, I loved her more.  

“I promise nothing,” I said at last.  

She closed her eyes, as if bracing herself for a fate she had seen long ago.  

Then, slowly, she leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to my forehead.  

“Come back to me,” she whispered.  

I swallowed hard.  

And then I turned away.  

I could not afford to look back.  

The village gates loomed before us, wide open, as if even the land itself knew it could not hold us any longer.  

Riven stood beside me, his sword strapped to his back, his expression unreadable. He had been the first to swear his loyalty, the first to see what had to be done.  

“We are ready,” he said.  

The others stood behind him, fifty strong, each carrying the fire of vengeance in their hearts. Some were warriors, others mages, but all were outcasts—men and women who had lost something to Sirius' rule.  

We were not just an army.  

We were a reckoning.  

I took a deep breath, feeling the surge of power within me—the dragon’s blood that ran through my veins, the magic that pulsed beneath my skin.  

I clenched my fists, feeling the energy crackle between my fingers.  

There was no turning back now.  

I stepped forward, and the others followed.  

We walked into the night, into the unknown, into the battle that would decide everything.  

And as the mountains faded behind us, I knew one thing for certain.  

By the time we reached Maelstrom, the world would remember my name.