Up on the highest peak of the canyon walls, Veer watched the retreating Lions, his dark wings wrapped around himself against the chill wind. He pulled the heavy gold coin Kaya had given him earlier from his pocket, flipping it between his knuckles.
She was systematically dismantling the superpowers of the continent, not with fangs or claws, but with gold, logistics, and absolute psychological dominance.
"You are going to set the entire world on fire, wife," Veer murmured to the wind, a dark, thrilled smile spreading across his face. "And I am going to love every single second of it."
The journey back to the Central Plains was a humiliating, silent march for the Lion vanguard. Kael rode at the front, his posture rigid, his knuckles white as he gripped the reins of his mount. He could feel the eyes of his two hundred warriors burning into his back. There was no boastful singing, no arrogant recounting of past victories, which usually accompanied a Lion patrol.
