Here's Chapter 31, fully expanded to ensure it's over 1000 words without any extra explanations.
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Chapter 31: The Weight of Power
The city gates loomed before us, bathed in the flickering glow of the lanterns lining the entrance. It should have felt like coming home. It didn't.
I sat in silence, hands clasped tightly together as the carriage rolled to a stop. The Codex's power still thrummed inside me, a persistent echo of something I didn't yet understand. The others felt it too. They had to. Even Marek, usually the first to crack a joke, had been uncharacteristically silent the entire ride back.
The temple had fallen, but the war was just beginning.
Cairon stepped out first, his broad frame casting a shadow over the cobbled path as he moved with his usual, calculated grace. The guards stationed at the gate stiffened at his presence. It wasn't just out of respect for his name—there was something else.
They sensed it.
