The sky was quiet.
Too quiet.
Tarn stood on the platform again.Alone. Covered in soot. Dried blood on his jaw.
The Trial Pit behind him?Gone. Nothing left but smoke and silence.
He didn't care.
He didn't regret it.
They'd enslaved people.
His people.
As the platform rose, clouds parted to reveal the Mid-Sky Ring.Vanyrian territory. Cold stone. Silver towers.
Fake peace.
He stepped off.
The guards didn't speak. Didn't salute.
They stared.
Like they saw a storm coming.
At the temple gates, she waited for him.
The handler. Same white robes. Same dead eyes.
"You disobeyed direct command."
Tarn didn't stop walking.
"They were prisoners."
"They were test subjects. That's different."
He stopped. Turned.
"Was my tribe a test too?"
Silence.
She looked past him.
"Follow me. The Council has summoned you."
The room was round. Floating. Ceiling open to the sky.
Twelve Vanyrians sat around the edge. Old. Powerful. Still as statues.
The one in the middle leaned forward.
A man of gold skin and crystal eyes. His voice echoed like bells.
"Tarn of Kashira. Former mortal. Current bearer of divine Spark. You stand accused of treason."
Tarn didn't flinch.
"I set people free."
"You destroyed sacred technology."
"It was built on chains."
One god snarled.
"You act as if you still belong to the dirt below."
Tarn stepped forward.
"I do. That dirt raised me. Fed me. Buried my people."
"The Ishvalans were exterminated for resisting elevation."
His eye twitched.
"Call it what you want."
"We call it mercy."
"And I call it murder."
The golden god rose.
"Enough."
He waved his hand.
Chains of light wrapped around Tarn's limbs. Legs. Neck.
They burned. He gritted his teeth, refusing to scream.
"You will be restrained. Judged. And—"
Boom.
The floor cracked.
The light flickered.
Tarn's eyes glowed red.
The chains melted.Dripped onto the floor like wax.
He stepped forward.
"Judged by you?"
"You forget what I am."
His voice rumbled deeper now. Something darker stirred beneath it.
"I was made by your war."
"Fed by your fire."
"And I'll repay it."
He turned to the room.
"You think this is about one pit?"
"This is about Kashira. This is about every child, every elder, every story you burned."
"This is just the start."
He walked out.
No one followed.
They were too stunned.
Too afraid.
Because the sky wasn't as safe as they thought.
And Tarn had just declared war.