Merlin’s home was a palace of luxury.

Towering ivory spires pierced the clouds, while walls of polished black marble reflected the golden glow of floating crystal lanterns within the magnificence.

Intricate works of art and priceless sculptures were displayed in the halls.

Vast halls stretched endlessly beneath painted ceilings where paintings of dragons and ancient kings seemed almost alive.

Silken banners with the Halecrest crest drifted lazily in the scented air, and every corridor shimmered with treasures gathered from forgotten kingdoms.

Water flowed through silver channels carved beneath the translucent floors, glowing faintly with light

. Outside, gardens bloomed beneath a near eternal twilight, their flowers sparkling like stars.

The servants were like phantoms, gliding through the hallways with ethereal grace.

The grand mansion was secluded in a giant dome that separated it from the outside world.

It is made from an ethereal sight.

Merlin had made his home deep within a vast, mountainous range, away from civilization.

The place was only accessible from the sky, and she’d arrived with him a few weeks earlier through a vast teleportation circle inscribed into the ground of the luxurious courtyard.

As it turned out, seeing was believing.

It was the first time she’d encountered anything like it.

The obscure runes surrounding the circle were unlike anything she’d ever seen, stretching through the courtyard like a vast tapestry.

"You should consider yourself unusually lucky Merlin said with a faint smile.

His hair slowly turned white,e and he seemed to age right before her eyes.

"Few talented have made it into my home, and you’re one of those few who have reached this far."

Emily nodded hesitantl,y staring at the opulence before her with reverence.

The gargantuan dome was surrounded by snowy plains on all sides.

Outside the dome, the eerie stillness was only occasionally broken by the loud howling of the winds.

In contrast, a blissful silence filled the inside of the dome, and an illusory sun slowly orbited outside it.

Lush fields of grass colored the land around the dom,e spreading as far as the eye could see.

In this isolated, desolate place, it was almost impossible to reach the luxurious residence, let alone mount an attack against it.

The elusive dome selectively allowed only those whom the master of the mansion had granted access into his territory.

Within it, the flow and movement of time and space were very different from that of the outside world.

After the summit, she’d had a brief opportunity to talk to meet the current head of House Thane.

Damien McAllister seemed like a man of few words. His steely grey eyes had an unsettling depth to them.

Surprisingly, it was Merlin who had created an opportunity for her to talk with the man.

*****

"Come with me," he’d commanded quietly.

Emily found herself trailing behind him.

The moment Merlin had approached him, a dark figure had materialized behind the man. A green-eyed woman in a dark suit stood close to him,m staring at her and her benefactor with a somber expression.

Emily noted the dark, long staff strapped to her back.

"Lord Damien."

Merlin spoke in a soft voice,ce but the man turned, observing him curiously.

"Lord Merlin, to what do I owe the honour?"

Merlin smiled, his eyes glinting with mild amusement.

"It is not I, rather, my apprentice, that wishes an audience with you. I believe that you might be interested in what she has to say."

Suddenly, Emily found herself at the centre of attention.

Despite the ongoing conversations, it almost seemed like everyone in the room was listening intently to what she had to say.

"I—"

Damien raised a hand, offering her a gentle smile.

"Perhaps, we can speak somewhere more private.

Merlin nodded.

"May I join you?"

Marcus Snow stood there with a small, austere smile, his cane elegantly held before him.

Damien nodded.

"Of course."

Silently moving out of the conference hall, the group of five made their way to the lower floor.

The elegant cane Marcus held made no noise,se even with him rhythmically tapping it throughout the hallway.

They soon arrived before a massive set of double doors, a crest of a snarling lion artistically engraved into them.

Once they’d entered, the automatic doors slid closed behind them.

Merlin’s eyes ignited with silver fire, and the air around them crackled with blue streams of electricity.

The air rippled visibly,y and a surge of energy swept through the room.

The woman stiffened slightly, her fingers twitching for a split second.

Metlin gestured placatingly.

"This is an isolation barrier. A secondary measure, he murmured usd," to ensure the utmost privacy. Within this space, no one else can eavesdrop on our conversation." He turned tonEmily with a snide smile.

"You may speak your mind, child. "

Emily narrated the ’dream’ she’d had as accurately as she could.

Damien listened with rapt attention, his eyes boring into her own.

At times, it almost seemed as though he was literally staring into her.

"He said nothing to worry. That’s how he’d make it back."

Damien leaned back, staring at her with a pensive expression,n then eventually steepled his fingers, rs piercing her with a serious gaze.

"And how can we know you tell the truth? Is there anything you can show me?"

"I was there..."Merlin interjected." The girl was marked by one of your so-called Lords. She has the mark to prove it."

"I can vouch for her as well. I was there when it happened. Raven appears to be stuck in the same place as him."

"This mark, may I see it?"

Surprisingly, it was the woman beside Damien who spoke. Merlin held her gaze for a few moments, then nodded.

"I see no harm in it. Knock yourself out."

She calmly approached Emily.u

"May I?"

Emily offered her hand.

After rolling back her sleeve, her arm widened slightly.

At the place where the mark had been, there was nothing.

Nothing at all.

"What the—"

The woman’s grip on her arm tightened slightly, and a foreign energy flowed up her arm.

A warm sensation slowly flowed through her arm. Almost as though summoned into existence, two dark marks appeared on her arm, side by side.