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Chapter 22 - Chapter 7 – Return to the Tower

Volume 2 – Inheritance of Fire

Chapter 7 – Return to the Tower

The wind curled around the obsidian spires of the tower, cool and quiet. Hollowreach had settled for the night, its streets glowing with lanterns and arcane crystal-light. But at the heart of the kingdom, the tower waited — ancient, warded, and now awake.

Ezra had arrived a few days prior, already embedded in the shadows. He had worked his way through the undercurrents of the city like a man revisiting a home he'd never forgotten, feeding me intelligence faster than I could request it. Darius had followed, emerging from the northern road like a force of nature — proud, blood-dusted, and smiling through weariness.

We had caught up. We had planned. We had prepared.

Now, it was Naomi and Soren's turn to return.

Naomi appeared first — not announced, not escorted. Just there. The guards hadn't seen her enter the gates. One moment they were alone. The next, she stood at the threshold of the sanctuary tower, her cloak fluttering like desert heat and light.

She didn't knock. She didn't need to.

I met her at the mid-hall. Our eyes met. She placed a hand gently over mine — no words, just presence.

"I remember enough," she said quietly, "to ache."

I nodded. "That's all I needed to hear."

Soren came with noise, of course — and flair. A small caravan, stacked with ledgers and supplies. His staff. His guards. His influence. It followed him like a moving kingdom, even if he left most of it at the outer court. He walked into the tower halls dressed like the Merchant Kings of old, with a half-smile and tired eyes.

"I brought firebloom," he said, producing a bottle.

"I figured you might."

Soon, we gathered in the old war chamber beneath the tower — not the throne room, not the sanctum. Here, no magic could scry, no sound escaped, no illusion lasted. It was a circle of stone, a table carved in runes, and seats that hadn't known trust in a long time.

Ezra stood in the shadows, silent as always.

Darius leaned forward with elbows on stone.

Naomi sat cross-legged, thoughtful.

Soren poured wine into a silver cup and raised one brow.

I placed the spellstaff at the center of the table.

It pulsed once. A heartbeat of power. A memory.

"I called you," I said.

They all looked at me, but only Naomi held my gaze.

"And you answered."

"I remember the dive," Darius said first. "The rig. The pain. Then this." He gestured to his armor. "Everything after feels like… a history I didn't write but lived anyway."

"It's like I'm both," Soren added. "Me and… someone richer, crueler, more careful."

Ezra didn't speak.

He didn't need to.

Naomi finally opened her eyes. "This world has a soul. And it clings to us."

They all looked at me then.

I nodded. "It does."

I placed my palm over the staff's head.

A ring of runes ignited around each of them — not binding, but revealing.

Their mana signatures flared.

Tangled.

Conflicted.

"This world doesn't want to let go," I said. "It thinks we're its own. And unless your soul is strong enough, it will rewrite you."

Darius shifted. Soren looked down. Naomi's lips parted — but said nothing.

Ezra remained still.

"I severed my tie already," I continued. "Fully. I remember everything. Nothing here pulls on me anymore."

I stepped toward the center of the room.

"If you want that… I can cut the tether."

No one moved.

"I'm not forcing it," I said. "But if you hesitate… if you wonder which voice is yours and which one belongs to the man or woman you've become…"

I raised my hand.

"…then let me set you free."

Darius was the first to step forward.

He didn't speak.

He just nodded and lowered his head.

I placed my fingers at his temple. Whispered the name he'd almost forgotten.

Darius Cole.

Light surged through the circle. His shoulders tensed. Then released.

When he opened his eyes again, I saw him looking back.

Naomi followed.

Then Soren.

Ezra didn't move.

I turned to him.

"You already broke it," I said.

He gave the smallest nod.

"You always were the quiet one."

"No," he replied, voice smooth as glass. "Just the one who listens deeper."

We stood as five again.

Not avatars. Not echoes.

Ourselves.

Whole.

Darius stepped forward and rested both hands on the table. "Now that we're all here... what next?"

I looked down at the glowing runes. They pulsed once beneath the staff, steady and warm.

"Now," I said, "we decide what to do with the world that waited."

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