Shadows at DawnThe cold breath of dawn crept across the cliffs of Vareth as Kael stood at the edge of the precipice. Below him, the sea churned in slow fury, waves crashing against jagged rocks that had tasted centuries of blood and storm. The wind tugged at his cloak, whispering fragments of the past—memories of Renshollow, of friends he had lost, of the promises he still bore.Behind him, the remnants of the resistance encampment stirred. Tents flapped in the wind. Fires crackled in the morning stillness. Every man and woman bore signs of war—bandaged wounds, sleepless eyes, armor dented and dull. And yet, they stood. They endured.Mira approached, her robes dusted with ash and dried blood, her eyes sunken with exhaustion. A thin journal was clutched in her hand, the spine fraying from use.“The scouts returned,” she said quietly. “The last of the Shadow Council have retreated into the Iron Hollows. But they won’t

The Long Silence There was still smoke over the hills when the Iron Hollows fell down behind them. The sky, which had been dark and full of black clouds and the shouts of cursed spirits, was now a delicate gold color in the serenity of dawn. Kael stood on the ridge above the battlefield, taking in the smell of ash and wildflowers. It was done. reinforcing the idea that war is bad. Grent joined him, hobbling a little, and his armor was burned and damaged. He responded, "We held the line." "The council is gone." The curse has been broken. Kael nodded. The words didn't sound like they were winning. They sounded like a eulogy. The survivors walked amid the dead below. Using makeshift stretchers, saying quiet prayers, and slowly remembering and lamenting. Mira knelt next to a young mage who had fallen while protecting a group of scouts. Selene helped carry an injured archer away from a burning road. Kael didn

The Oath's Embers The storm clouds that came over Eldros had nothing to do with the weather. As Kael and his friends got closer to the broken gates of the Iron Hollows, the sky themselves appeared to weep. At first, the rain was a whisper, then a hiss, and finally it soaked through armor and fabric. The Blade of Eryndor sizzled with each drop, and it pulsed with an increasing feeling of urgency as if it could know what was coming. Kael rode in the front, his face stiff and his mouth firm against the fear that was building in his chest. Selene rode next to him, quiet for once. The weight of what they were going to confront made her typical sharpness dim. Mira, Grent, and the rest of the Resistance pursued them. The Iron Hollows looked like a wound in the ground, with black stone that had been scarred by years of battle and depravity. It used to be a citadel for dwarven rulers, but it has long ago fallen into ruin