The ascent to the Solaris Highlands had taken the better part of three days. As the Mountain Walker crested the final ridge, the landscape shifted from the suffocating canopy of the forest to a world of blinding, vertical stone.

  “Look,” Kael said, his voice dropping an octave as he stood at the carriage railing.

  Ahead, the horizon was dominated by a jagged silhouette of engineering. Aurelion, the Golden Spire

  Taren scrambled to the edge of the carriage, his knuckles white. “It’s... it’s a mountain of houses,” he whispered. Lyra remained silent, her eyes darting between the sheer scale of the battlements and the massive heavy-ballistae nests. For her, this wasn't beauty; it was a terrifying display of the Ministry’s absolute power.

  As the Mountain Walker reached the Iron-Silt GateWar Titan

  “It’s a biological winch,” Kael noted, analyzing the beast's breathing and the handler’s high-frequency whistle. “A low-rpm, high-output engine for the gate.”

  Passing through the gate was a sensory assault. They entered the Aurelion Trade Basin

  "Kael, look at the lights!" Lyra pointed upward. High above, massive stone bridges spanned the gaps between the rock face and the outer towers. Along these bridges, Spark-stone streetlamps

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  Kael observed the commerce of speed: stalls selling high-performance saddles and reinforced stirrups. The technology was medieval, but the obsession was familiar. This was a city built on the backs of beasts.

  Their guide led them upward to the Ministry PrecinctGrand Courtyard

  Soldiers in silver-and-blue plate armor were engaged in "Sync-Drills" with a new breed of beast: the Iron-Hide Mauler

  The Maulers were built like armored tanks, their six eyes scanning the field as they roared. Kael watched a sergeant take a corner on a Mauler. The beast drifted, its heavy claws tearing deep furrows into the stone for traction. Kael thought instantly.

  A gatekeeper—a scarred veteran with a Ministry crest tattooed on his throat—intercepted them before they reached the main administrative doors. "The Minister is in session," he rumbled. "You are 'Civilian Honorees.' You do not wait with the petitioners."

  He led them away from the cold marble halls to a fortified villa hanging over the edge of the Spire. "These are the Honor Quarters

  The room was a shock to their systems. The floors were covered in thick, hand-woven carpets, and the windows offered a terrifyingly beautiful view of the kingdom. After weeks of sleeping on dirt, the velvet-lined beds looked like clouds.

  Taren ran to the balcony, but Lyra sat on the edge of a bed, her eyes fixed on the door. "They're treating us like kings, Kael," she said softly. "But look at the windows. There are bars on the outside of the glass."

  Kael walked to the window and touched the cold iron. He looked down at the training courtyard where the Maulers were still screaming. "They aren't bars to keep us in, Lyra," Kael said, watching a Rider blur past on a Stalker. "They’re reinforcements. Everything in this city is built to withstand an impact."

  He sat down, closing his eyes. He didn't want the bed or the food. He wanted to know what it felt like to pull the reins on an Iron-Hide Mauler.