Chapter 88: Terms of Trust

The next move belongs to whoever can live with its cost.

The pursuit collides with the immortal gatekeeper feeding cities to strengthen a sealed god, forcing an alliance that neither Kael Rowan nor Lyra Voss is ready to name.

A locked route opens, a witness changes sides, and the opposition moves one step sooner than expected.

Kael Rowan keeps the larger goal in view: master each gate discipline before the ash dragon consumes his identity. The immediate problem is smaller, sharper, and impossible to postpone.

They stand close enough to feel the argument beneath the silence. Neither mistakes desire for trust, but neither can pretend desire is absent.

Their attraction grows through competence, danger, and the first honest confession.

The recurring signs of ash, runes, dragonfire return with a different meaning, linking this choice to what came before.

The evidence points toward someone they have both been protecting.