Last Rite

In the Ardent Empire, noble houses rule through blood, magic, ancient oaths, and divine favor. Among them, House Vaelthorne stands apart. They are not just dukes. They are the hidden sword of the empire, chosen long ago by Azaeroth, the God of the Abyss, to end threats that kings, armies, and churches could not face.

But House Vaelthorne has forgotten its purpose.

Caelan Vaelthorne is the youngest bastard son of that house. Publicly, he carries the Vaelthorne name. Privately, he often uses his mother’s name, Veyr, because he hates what his family has become. To them, he is useful, inconvenient, and easy to discard.

When his older brother tries to erase him during a deadly family trial, Caelan is forced into the forbidden First Vault beneath House Vaelthorne. There, he finds a dying black dragon, an ancient truth buried by his family, and a power that was never supposed to wake again.

Now tied to the abyss, marked by a god of endings, and carrying a secret that could shake the empire, Caelan must decide what House Vaelthorne should become: the throne’s obedient blade, or the final judgment waiting beneath it.

Because some things deserve mercy.

And some things deserve to end.