The long corridor in the Ironseat Defense Sector stretched clean white, sterile, and blinding, as if designed to eliminate any shadow.

  Aira walked there with an aura entirely different from the girl who had whined for ice cream earlier.

  Her appearance had metamorphosed. Her priestess robes were gone. Now, she wore a white shirt of slick silk tucked with military precision into a black pencil skirt wrapping her slender waist.

  Her long hair was no longer left dancing in the wind. That black crown was now rolled up, twisted neatly, and locked firmly behind her head using a silver jasmine flower hairpin.

  She didn't look like a priestess, let alone a teenage girl. She looked like a lethal young diplomat—beautiful, sharp, and cold.

  The clack-clack-clack of her heels broke the corridor silence, rhythmic, firm, and purposeful.

  Aira stopped in front of a metal elevator door with no physical buttons. She placed her palm on the scanner panel. Blue light scanned her fingerprints in an instant.

  Access Granted.

  The steel door slid open soundlessly. Aira stepped inside.

  Inside, there was only one button panel. Her slender finger pressed the lowest button. Not the ground floor, but far below it. A button with a cracked shield symbol.

  Whoosh.

  The elevator moved down with unnatural high speed.

  Aira felt gravitational pressure pull her insides. She stood still, staring at her own reflection on the metal elevator wall. Her ears rang softly, adjusting to the drastic air pressure change. She was piercing layers of earth, passing reinforced concrete foundations, heading to the deepest defense heart of the Kingdom of Carta.

  Moments later, the elevator slowed.

  Ding.

  The elevator door didn't open immediately. A heavy hydraulic hiss was heard, followed by the CLACK-THUD of steel safety locks being retracted.

  The thick door slowly split open.

  Instantly, Aira was assaulted by a muffled roar of activity.

  Before her, stretched the Ministry of Defense Bunker—a giant technological cavern buried hundreds of meters underground. The air here felt denser, smelling of ozone and stale coffee.

  Aira stepped out, her eyes sweeping the view before her with awe yet remaining calm.

  The room was the definition of organized chaos.

  Hundreds of staff in gray uniforms moved fast like worker ants. They jogged carrying tablets, shouted instructions through headsets, and typed with speeds blurring the vision.

  However, what dominated the room most was the light.

  The front wall of the bunker wasn't a wall, but a giant digital mosaic expanse. Hundreds of monitors of various sizes were arranged tightly from floor to ceiling, blinking displaying real-time data, topographical maps, thermal satellite images, and graphs of wildly moving energy fluctuations.

  Aira’s face was bathed in blue light from those screens as she stood on the observation balcony, staring at the defense "brain" of her kingdom working in panic mode.

  The elevator door opened with a heavy hydraulic hiss, releasing Aira into the strange silence at the nerve center of the kingdom's defense.

  Garreth, the burly Minister of Defense of Carta, welcomed her. No friendly smile, only a stiff and efficient respectful nod—typical of a former general. The man pointed to a black leather chair placed strategically on the glass observation balcony, slightly above the staff crowd, where one could see "everything".

  "Please, Lady Aira. A seat for the Palace's guest of honor."

  Aira sat. She crossed her legs elegantly, resting her chin on her hand propped on the armrest, ready to watch the show.

  Her eyes swept the room.

  This Satellite and Navigation Room was like a technological tomb. No windows, no sunlight, no time. Only cobalt blue light radiating from hundreds of screens, bathing the pale faces of analysts down there.

  Aira could feel the cold of the room kept constant at 18 degrees Celsius. For supercomputer servers lining up like black coffins on the back wall, this was paradise. But for humans? This was a giant refrigerator.

  The hum of server cooling fans usually serving as background music was now drowned by chaos.

  Aira saw data analysts on the operations floor—men and women in rumpled white shirts with sleeves forcibly rolled up—moving restlessly. She saw a female analyst spill her coffee onto the linoleum floor. The black liquid spread ugly, but no one cared. All their eyes, reflecting the blue screen light, widened to the maximum limit.

  "Sir..."

  The voice of a young analyst from Sector 4 cracked, traveling through the intercom to the balcony where Aira and Garreth were.

  "I... I detect a massive thermal spike. The scale... the scale defies logic. Across the entire kingdom territory. Simultaneously."

  Garreth narrowed his eyes. Aira saw the man immediately descend the iron stairs with heavy steps. Clang-clang-clang. His military boots created a rhythm of authority forcing heads to turn.

  Aira leaned forward, intrigued.

  The Shift Head, a middle-aged man named Hannes Evans with thick glasses slipping down a greasy nose, ran hurriedly toward Garreth.

  "Report," Garreth growled raspily.

  "We don't know, Minister," Hannes stuttered, sweat pouring down his temples. "Vigilant-1 spy satellite infrared thermal sensors are screaming. Initially, we thought system glitch. But backup satellites confirmed the same thing."

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  "What is it? Air raid? Coordinated forest fires? Volcanic activity?" Garreth snatched the tablet from Hannes’ hand.

  "Negative! All negative!" the young analyst replied. His fingers danced panicked on a mechanical keyboard, clack-clack-clack rough like a machine gun. "Spectrum doesn't match napalm or white phosphorus. This is... this is pure fire. But the pattern... by God, the pattern is too neat. I feel slightly familiar with this distribution..."

  Garreth looked up at the front wall. "Display on Main Screen. Now."

  The giant screen twenty meters wide in front of Aira blinked to life.

  Real-time thermal satellite imagery of the Kingdom of Carta spread there. The map usually dominated by dark blue and cold black colors, now changed completely.

  Aira held her breath. "So beautiful..." she thought unconsciously.

  Carta was burning.

  The digital map was filled with blood-red and blazing orange hot spots. They blinked wildly, appearing in a terrifying sequence, spreading like a virus through the earth's veins.

  "North-Northwest Sector," the analyst's voice read data with hunting breath. "Twenty-seven main points detected at the lip of Mirror Canyon. Heat penetrating sensor maximum scale. Confirmed. That is Ignis Magna Beacon..."

  Aira saw Garreth’s jaw harden. Ignis Magna?

  "Wait..." Another high-pitched cry from a female analyst in the East Sector. "I identify three strange hot spots in the Capital Sector, Crownbelt. Just lit up! Intensity far greater than the Canyon!"

  Garreth walked closer, his shadow swallowing the woman's work screen. "Coordinates. State them."

  "One right in the heart of the palace complex... Ivory Bone Hall. One at Sanjaya Family Mansion. And... one more at the Sagara Temple cultural heritage site on the outskirts."

  Aira fell silent in her seat. Sagara Temple... Her uncle's message rang back.

  "Sir..." whispered the first young analyst, face deathly pale like a zombie. He pointed at the main screen with a trembling index finger. "Look at the map... This isn't just thirty points."

  Aira looked up again at the giant screen.

  Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping.

  System notification sounds rang repeatedly, overlapping into an ear-painful droning.

  On that screen, hundreds—no, thousands—of new hot spots erupted. Like a firepox plague on the skin of the Kingdom of Carta map.

  From the freezing Shiver Mountains in the north, to tropical southern islands. From stone temple ruins in valleys, ancient king tomb sites, to menhirs on silent savannahs.

  Everything lit up.

  Aira could feel the shock freezing the room. Fifty adults held their breath witnessing something impossible. The probability of this event was zero point something trillion. Logically, this was madness.

  A senior analyst in the back row leaned back in his creaking chair, removing his headset. His tired old eyes stared at the kingdom map now glittering brightly like a Christmas tree from hell.

  "Oh God..." the old man murmured hoarsely.

  "Mr. Hannes? Minister Garreth? What is that?" The young analyst next to him asked with a voice wet with tears. "Are we being attacked by ballistic missiles? Is the enemy using orbital weapons?"

  Aira saw Garreth grip the analyst's chair back until his knuckles turned white. He didn't answer. But Aira knew Garreth saw the pattern.

  Hannes shook his head slowly, eyes not leaving the blinding screen.

  "No, Son," he whispered full of primal horror. "That is not an enemy attack."

  Hannes raised his weak hand, pointing at the giant net of fire on their homeland map.

  "That is our ancient defense network," his voice trembled between awe and terror. "They all... just woke up from a long coma."

  Aira saw Garreth take a sharp breath. The ozone scent in the room suddenly felt like the smell of ancient gunpowder. Something big, something far older than any ministerial position, was awakening.

  Five minutes later.

  Aira sat calm in her leather chair, but her sharp eyes swept every inch of the room now drowning in suppressed hysteria. Vibrations of pure fear traveled from the operations floor below to the observation balcony where she was.

  She saw analysts staring horrified at the main thermal map. Those fire points—now countless—kept appearing. Static. Burning. Servers behind roared loud, sounding like overheating jet engines, struggling to process data loads burning circuits.

  To Aira’s ears, their panic sounded like a joke. They were still debating cyber sabotage and foreign attacks.

  "Sir!"

  The shout sliced the noise like a hot knife.

  Aira leaned forward slightly. She saw a young analyst at a corner workstation stand abruptly. His chair shoved back roughly. The kid’s face was pale as paper, but his eyes...

  Eyes of a madman who just saw a ghost, Aira thought, interested.

  "Main screen! Display overlay S-K-09! NOW!" shouted the young analyst, violating all hierarchical protocols.

  The Shift Head was about to snap, but Aira saw Garreth raise a hand, stopping him. The general’s old instinct worked.

  "Do it," Garreth ordered coldly.

  Aira focused her gaze on the giant screen on the front wall.

  Left side: The thermal map of Carta hell they had already seen.

  Right side: A black expanse speckled with white. Star map of the southern hemisphere sky.

  "What are you doing, analyst?" Garreth growled, voice heavy. "We are in a national security crisis, don't play around..."

  "Wait, Minister! Please look!" the analyst cut in hysterically, pressing the Execute button.

  On the main screen, Aira watched both maps—Earth and Sky—begin moving closer.

  The star map rotated slowly digitally, adjusting its axis, then descended slowly like a transparent blanket over the thermal map of the Kingdom of Carta.

  Aira held her breath, feeling anticipation tickling her stomach.

  Stars descended. Fire points waited.

  And then...

  Click.

  Landed.

  Perfect.

  Aira saw Garreth’s shoulders slump, knees looking weak. Not a single point missed. Every single fire point on Carta land was now covered exactly, precise to the micron, by one star in the sky.

  "IT IS IDENTICAL! 100% PRECISION! ABSOLUTELY FLAWLESS!"

  The young analyst's scream triggered an explosion of uproar. The room was in chaos. The logic of scientists and soldiers collapsed instantly.

  "Impossible..."

  "That's magic!"

  "What kind of joke is this?!"

  The young analyst, now crying from sheer horror, pointed at the screen with a trembling finger, magnifying the map.

  "Look at this..." he whispered hysterically. "Horseshoe Constellation... Protector constellation of royal cavalry. Now look! Fire burns at Black Keep and along the snake fortress on the northern border!"

  He moved the cursor east. "Spear Warrior Constellation! A line of seven straight stars... now sticking exactly on the old noble castles in the eastern hills! Bank of the Great Seine River!"

  Aira stared at Garreth. The Defense Minister’s mouth was half open, forgetting his dignified image.

  Then south. "Night Goddess Constellation... now right over coral islands and sacred stones in the southern sea. Dum-Shadd Coral Fortress!"

  West. "Broken Bow Constellation! The last backbone of humanity... sticking on the great western desert, right over the mass grave ground of the First Civil War."

  "Enough... stop it..." someone mumbled behind, but the analyst was like possessed.

  He kept raving, pointing out Three Candle Constellation at hillside temples, Double Eye Constellation at ancient high courts, Mother’s Net Constellation at old villages, Stone Stair Constellation at valley menhirs, Sea Tooth Constellation at coastal lighthouses.

  Everything. Without exception.

  Then he zoomed fast to the Capital.

  "This is the Great Triangle Star Constellation... Triangle of Power... right at the King’s Palace, Sanjaya Family Mansion, and Sagara Temple Cultural Site!"

  Aira smiled thinly. Sagara Temple...

  Then, to Mirror Canyon.

  "Doorkeeper Mother Constellation... look closely..." The analyst sobbed. "Twenty-seven Ignis Magna fire points forming a curved pattern like a giant padlock choking the neck of mirror canyon tight. Lower Gate Constellation..."

  The room was silent, gripped by primal terror as the analyst continued naming other constellations—Chain Bearer, Last Child, Inverted Crown.

  One star cluster in the sky.

  One geometric pattern in space.

  One ancient fire cluster on earth.

  Aira saw Garreth grip the iron console in front of him, hands trembling.

  Aira could see puzzle pieces falling inside the Minister’s head. The man realized a terrifying truth. This wasn't war. This was a ritual.

  The Kingdom of Carta wasn't a country. This land was a Giant Ritual Chessboard.

  Aira stared at Garreth’s back which looked shrinking, hit by one question surely spinning in his head:

  Who?

  Who is the mad architect who designed this centuries ago? Who laid every foundation stone of temples and castles following the star map with godly precision, just to wait for this night?

  "So beautiful, isn't it, Mr. Minister?" Aira whispered softly, her voice swallowed by the room noise, yet her eyes sparkled staring at the star map now burning on earth.