Chapter 1

Samkiel counts the minutes since Dianna left, recalling her transformation into a winged beast that tore through Silver City. He remembers the deafening screams, his crash to the street, and her flight into the clouds. The memory underscores his sense of abandonment despite her earlier promise never to leave him.

In a televised interview, the anchor presses him about the creature’s disappearance and what to call him now that he has returned. Samkiel discards the alias Liam and publicly embraces his true name, Samkiel—the World Ender—while masking despair behind a staged, reassuring image.

Back at the Guild in Boel, Samkiel confronts Vincent and the newly assertive advisor Gregory about the interview going off script. Power flickers under his strain until Vincent urges him to release it; Samkiel summons a thunderstorm but gains no relief, still haunted by Dianna’s absence and the need to project stability for mortals.

Logan arrives with data showing a major electromagnetic broadcast spike coinciding with Kaden’s speech and ending after Gabby’s death, possibly reaching beyond their realm. Vincent dismisses it as impossible and irrelevant, prioritizing mortal comfort, while Samkiel fixates on the flatline following the death and the implications of an external audience.

Samkiel halts their argument, leaves Vincent to handle remaining media duties, and follows his own lead. Entering the conference room, he finds a woman waiting. She speaks, and he recognizes her: Dianna.