Nox returned to Portentia a different man. The change was subtle, not a grand shift in power, but a quiet settling of his soul. The cold, hard edge to his authority was still there, but it was now tempered by a new, quiet confidence that was not born of arrogance, but of self-acceptance.
His companions felt it immediately.
"You seem… lighter," Serian said to him, her eyes full of a soft, relieved light.
"Just cleaned out some old baggage," he replied with a small, genuine smile.
The peace, of course, did not last. The God-War was a relentless, churning engine. While Nox had been dealing with his personal demons, the world had continued to burn.
Vexia's scouts brought news from all fronts. In the north, Odin's Norse pantheon was locked in a brutal, grinding war with a new, unexpected faction: the Fae Courts, the Seelie and Unseelie, who had emerged from their hidden realms to reclaim their ancient lands.
