There was no way Brian would have missed his younger brother's birthday. Everyone knew that much. His absence wasn't something that could be explained away by mere inconvenience or carelessness. The unspoken truth hung heavy in the air—something must have happened to him.
No other reason could make sense.
Unaware of this grim realization spreading among the others, Zarek walked toward the nearest open pit, his boots sinking slightly into the ash-dusted earth. A faint orange glow pulsed from below, the rhythmic flicker of molten veins that cut through the ground like arteries of light. Heat rippled upward in shimmering waves, distorting the air around him as he knelt to examine the state of the Goldfire stones.
The deeper he looked, the more he could feel it—the hum of concentrated mana trapped beneath the earth's crust, like a sleeping beast waiting for release.
