“Khagan? What Khagan?”0

The five tribal chieftains had worn looks of disdain, but the glow beyond the railing wiped the sneers from their faces. One by one they hurried outside and stared at the fireball hanging in the night sky.0

The blazing flame was bone‑deep familiar, a heat branded into their very blood. Its light turned night into day.0

Inside Cloudrise, the original residents cowered in fear, yet some could not resist peering through cracked windows to see what was happening.0

Beneath the fireball, several hundred tribal warriors marched out. At their head stood Jen’gal Suljagar of the Trueflame Tribe.0

The chieftain of the Bronze Clad Tribe, Khor’eer Hudor, rolled his neck, the bronze sheen of his skin glaring in the firelight. He fixed Suljagar with a hard stare and asked, “What’s going...0