Chapter 33 The One Who Remains

• After the fire fades, all that remains is the face the survivors choose to believe. Smoke choked the air above Caelon’s inner tower. Flames licked shattered stone. Med teams moved through rubble in silence, their scanners pinging with only one signal: alive, but unstable. A silhouette limped from the crater. Coat scorched. Helmet gone. Left arm soaked in blood.
• The courtyard fell into a stunned hush. Rebels lowered their weapons. Civilians gasped. Layla pushed through the med line, heart racing, voice trembling.
• “Eron?”