CHAPTER 22: THE SHOT HEARD ACROSS THE AGES

Caedrion’s shot had stunned the entire Ignarion host. Each soldier had a different reaction to the explosive crack of the sound barrier.

But none was more mortified than Valerius himself. He had watched the man beside him bleed out and die despite wearing an enchanted breastplate forged of Pyroclastic Iron.

The general’s chest had been pierced clean through by an unknown weapon. Killed on the spot.

No one knew where the attack had come from; nor what, exactly, had done it. Only that one of their commanders was now dead. And that terrified the army.

The soldiers immediately broke into high alert, raising their shields and driving them into the dirt, trying desperately to create a barrier.

They didn’t know Caedrion’s firearm could pierce through both layers of protection like parchment.

But Caedrion did not fire another shot.Instead, he returned to the castle where he found Aelindria waiting for him.

Having heard the sharp crack echo across the valley, she had assumed the worst. The distressed expression on his face nearly caused her heart to stop.

She rushed forward, wrapped him in a tight embrace, and stuffed his face into her chest in a comforting gesture.

"It’s okay... Whatever happened, it’ll be alright..."

Caedrion wasn’t exactly devastated... just deeply annoyed.

Yes, he had built the gun. Yes, it had worked. Yes, it had changed history.

But he’d forgotten to zero the sights.

His marksmanship was nothing special; it was average among rural American civilians from his old life.

He had been too giddy, too excited to test his weapon, and forgot something so critical, yet so basic.

Thanks to that oversight, he’d missed his actual target, Valerius, and hit the man on horseback half a meter away instead.

Still... being hugged like this?

He wasn’t complaining.

He wrapped his arms around his bride-to-be and buried his face further into her chest. His tone turned mockingly sorrowful.

"Oh, big sister... It’s just terrible! Thank the Architect I have such a beautiful fiancée to comfort me in my hour of grief!"

Aelindria’s brow twitched. She knew that tone.

Knew it well.

She clenched her fist and raised it, ready to bring righteous justice down upon the shameless scoundrel.

And then... something changed.

She took a breath. Relaxed her fingers. And instead used them to gently pet Caedrion’s rust-streaked hair.

"Little brother... Of course I’d comfort you. I’ll always be there for you... I’ll always be by your side... I’ll always love you... You know that!"

That furious tone. That tightening grip. That glow of reinforced muscle.

Caedrion’s instincts flared... something was very wrong.

Aelindria, as an apprentice formwright, was subconsciously reinforcing her body, and that grip? That embrace?

It was turning into a bear trap.

He started to squirm. His lungs were struggling beneath the heft of her magic-boosted bust.

He thought briefly of casting a counterspell, but he didn’t want to hurt her.

Such an action would only be taken if he felt his life were generally at risk.

Thankfully, before it reached that point, Aelindria let go.

He inhaled deeply, catching his breath, and just as he prepared to scold her, there was a flick.

She nailed him right on the nose.

Her eyes flared with a scolding rage.

"Don’t you ever take advantage of a lady’s kindness again, you little brat! Especially not mine! Or so help me by the Architect, I’ll rearrange your spine into a pretzel!"

Caedrion scratched the back of his head, trying not to laugh.

"I’m sorry, big sister. It won’t happen again..."

She stammered, cheeks flushed crimson, and turned her gaze away.

"See that it doesn’t... Now... I have to go take care of something! I believe Father and Mother are waiting for you in the Great Hall!"

She bolted off, likely to her room.

Caedrion smirked and took a deep breath, flexing his fingers as if he were measuring volume.

"D... no... Maybe DD? I’ll have to perform a proper examination on our wedding night..."

He sighed, slung his firearm over his back, and made his way toward the Great Hall.

He had much to explain, and a father to answer to.

---

Lord Malveris sat on his throne, stunned by the reports.

The barrier had flared to life, brighter and more lustrous than ever before. It had expanded, swallowing the fields, rivers, bridges, and mills outside the city walls.

And somehow it restored them from the cinders left behind by House Ignarion’s siege.

And then there was that sound.

A crack, like lightning tearing the sky open.

He couldn’t explain it. No one could.

Just as he prepared to send knights to find Caedrion, the young man walked into the chamber, firearm slung across his back, and knelt before his father.

Both Malveris and Sylene shifted their attention to the alien weapon on his back, but said nothing of it... yet.

There were more urgent questions.

"Caedrion, there you are! Have you heard the news?! The barrier has shifted!"

Caedrion raised his head and met his father’s eyes, calm and confident.

"Of course I have. I caused it. It’s nothing to worry about, Father. After a month of experimentation, I found a way to feed the engine that lay dormant in the catacombs. Frankly, it’s a miracle the damn thing managed to put out so much power after being asleep for so long."

Malveris and Sylene exchanged a silent glance, wide-eyed, stunned. Their expressions said everything.

Finally, Sylene, his aunt, spoke:

"Fed the Engine? You mean that ancient cage left behind by the Architect? You fed it... what, exactly?"

And so, Caedrion began to explain everything.

An hour passed as he unraveled the story of his partnership with Baelius, the forging of the rifle, the awakening of the Engine, and the first shot that would echo into legend.

It was a tale that was hard to believe. One that forced Malveris and Sylene to confront how little they really knew about magic.

How little the entire world seemed to understand it.

Though Caedrion didn’t know it yet. But today, he hadn’t just changed the battlefield.

He had ended an age.