CHAPTER 54: CHAPTER 55 – THE BANNER OF BLOOD

🔄 Chapter 54 Recap

Kai, haunted by the memories of his former self—Kai’Zuran—prepared for the war brewing on all sides. Lyra’s return stoked old emotions and dangerous truths. Astra began unlocking ancient seals, manipulating powers beyond mortal understanding. Meanwhile, Velis challenged the capital, demanding surrender or divine judgment. The ghosts of the past marched beside Kai, and the fire in his soul threatened to reignite. With Yuri’s loyalty tested and Lyra’s blood-oath looming, the question isn’t who will strike first... but who will survive it.

🔥 Main Story

The crimson banner snapped in the wind, its torn edge dancing like flame.

Kai stood atop the battlements of Cael’dar, arms crossed, eyes narrowed against the fire-tinted horizon. Clouds roiled unnaturally above, drawn in by Astra’s sealwork. The sky bled hues of war.

Behind him, the council room had exploded in chaos—commanders bickering, strategists forecasting doom, mages muttering about curses woven into the very wind.

"She’s not attacking yet because she wants something," Yuri said beside him, her voice low, steady.

Kai glanced at her. Her armor was hastily strapped, one gauntlet still loose, yet she stood with unwavering resolve. "She wants me to break the seal myself," he replied. "To fall into Kai’Zuran willingly."

"And if you don’t?"

"She’ll provoke it," he murmured. "Through fear. Through guilt. Through blood."

Yuri shifted uneasily. "We should prepare the capital for siege."

"No," Kai said, voice colder than steel. "We march."

The war room fell silent when Kai returned.

"No evacuation?" General Dran asked.

"No retreat," Kai said. "We’re not rats hiding in tunnels. We confront her."

Lyra leaned against the war table, spinning a throwing knife between her fingers. "About time," she said with a smirk. "I was beginning to think you’d gone soft."

Kai looked at her, but there was no humor in his gaze. "This isn’t bravado. It’s a warning."

"To who?"

"To all of us."

He turned to the council. "Velis walks with a shadow none of you have seen. Astra whispers into her mind now—feeding her with visions, symbols, certainties. She believes in her cause. She thinks she’s saving the world."

The high priest of Cael’dar stepped forward. "Then we fight zeal with truth."

"No," Kai said. "We fight it with fire."

Hours later, beneath the war moon, the gates of Cael’dar groaned open.

Kai rode out with his elite—Yuri at his left, Lyra at his right. The field was unnaturally quiet, muffled like sound under water.

Then, she appeared.

Velis. Alone. Cloaked in ash-streaked robes, red and white. She walked forward barefoot, her feet barely leaving prints in the cursed soil. In her hands, she held a single scroll bound in black silk.

"Velis of the East," Kai called, voice echoing unnaturally across the empty field. "Speak your reason."

She unrolled the scroll and dropped it between them. "The Third Seal weakens."

"I’m not him anymore."

She smiled. "But he is you."

The wind picked up. Velis’s eyes glowed faintly with divine light—not hers. Astra’s.

Yuri’s hand twitched toward her blade. "You’ve become her puppet."

Velis didn’t even flinch. "I’m her blade. A blade does not need to think—only to cut."

Kai stepped forward. "Then let’s see if it breaks."

Velis didn’t attack. She dropped to her knees. "Surrender, and I will seal your mind. Refuse... and we all burn together."

A deep rumble came from the ground. The seal beneath Cael’dar vibrated faintly, like a beast stirring in its sleep.

Kai’s head throbbed.

And then Velis vanished—smoke in the wind.

Only the scroll remained.

Back in the citadel, Kai unwrapped the scroll under the moon tree. Lyra stood nearby, arms folded, watching every motion.

On the parchment were three symbols—flame, chain, and eye—all drawn in blood.

"Astra’s binding sigils," Lyra whispered. "The third one is breaking."

"What happens when all three fail?" Kai asked, voice quieter than before.

"You wake up. As him."

"And if I don’t stop it?"

"Then I kill you."

He looked up at her, eyes soft. "Will you?"

Lyra hesitated.

"I still love you," she said. "But I hate him more."

Kai nodded slowly. "Then maybe you’re the only one who can save me."

🩸 Bonus Scene – Velis’s Secret Prayer (Expanded)

Deep beneath the frozen cliffs of Harkon’s Hollow, Velis knelt alone in a temple lost to memory.

It wasn’t meant to exist anymore. Not after the Purge. The gods who were worshipped here had no names left in living tongues.

She drew a knife across her palm and let the blood drip into a basin of obsidian. It sizzled on contact, then shimmered into silver vapor.

She whispered into it.

"Do you hear me?" she asked.

Nothing.

"I believed in Astra. I followed her visions. I drank her blood and shared it with my sisters."

She trembled.

"But the things she shows me now..."

The vapor twisted into the shape of a dragon’s head—Kai’Zuran’s true form, scaled and monstrous.

"I don’t know if she wants to save the world... or burn it all just to see what rises."

Her voice cracked.

"I don’t know what I believe anymore."

The basin glowed red.

Then... a voice answered.

Not a voice of words, but pressure. Gravity. A whisper in the soul.

Velis collapsed, eyes wide, gasping.

You are not hers alone, it said.

She turned to the temple statues—long-forgotten gods with eyes carved out and mouths sewn shut.

One of them was bleeding.

The blood ran up the altar.

Velis screamed.

📢 Call to Action

⚔️ Blood will fall, and gods will rise.

📚 Add this book to your library if the fire inside Kai keeps you reading.

💬 Comment your theories: Can Velis still be turned, or is her fate sealed in prophecy?

🔺 Vote Power Stones if you want more betrayals, private confessions, and divine war.

🔥 The gods are watching. Make them tremble.

🔮 Next Time on Chapter 56 – The Third Seal Breaks

Astra makes her move. The Seal of Flame is shattered, and the full power of Kai’Zuran begins to awaken inside Kai—whether he wants it or not. Yuri discovers a letter that may undo her trust in Kai. Lyra finally draws her blade... and points it at the man she loves. Meanwhile, someone Kai trusts commits a betrayal so brutal, it will change the course of the war.