The heavy doors creaked open as the guard stationed outside declared in a deep, resonant voice:
"Announcing the arrival of the Sky Dominating Clan!"
Every head turned.
Even among the mighty delegates gathered—ancient beings who had lived in the shadows for centuries, moving mountains and toppling kingdoms in silence—none had received such a formal and resounding welcome. The elite guards flanking the hall stood to full attention, fists over their hearts, forming a corridor of reverence.
It did not go unnoticed.
Murmurs rippled through the room. Most had never even heard of this so-called Sky Dominating Clan. In a place like Sanctuary—where secrets and power were traded in whispers—an unknown name was a red flag. Or a bluff.
To those who had been alive for hundreds of years, the notion of a mysterious, suddenly-influential clan stank of exaggeration.
"What is this fanfare?" whispered one.
"Sky Dominating? What a joke," muttered another.
