The cathedral erupted in chaos.Kael rushed, his sword cleaving the first Hollow Lord that dared to get in the way.Selene and Dain behind him slashed and stabbed like demons, their weapons flashing in the torchlight.And all of them, the creatures from the abyss, screeched.They weren’t human.They weren’t even alive.Kael’s sword opened a gash in one of them, but instead of blood, a thick, black mist gushed from its body.It didn’t stop.It kept coming.Kael gritted his teeth. "We need a way out!"Dain caught one of the Hollow Lords’ strikes in a bone-crunching block, gritting his teeth against the effort. “You think I didn’t know that?! ” ”Selene flipped back and landed, driving a dagger into Hollow’s assassin throat.She turned toward Calia. “You got us in here! You better have a way out! ”Calia ducked a clawed hand, severed the tendons of a creature’s arm, and rolled back.“There is no way out! ” she snapped. “This is their stronghold! ”Kael’s mind raced.They had stumbled into

In the distance, Duskfall burned.Smoke billowed into the sky, dense and unyielding, as the final vestiges of the Hollow Lords’ reign crumbled into chaos and blood.Kael didn’t look back.The war was over.Ronan was alive but vanquished.And for the first time in his life, he was free.Selene walked next to him, silent, her steps careful but sure.Dain plodded a couple of paces behind, muttering obscenities. “I don’t like this.”Calia kept her distance. She hadn’t talked since the fight.Kael tightened his grip on the sword.They had won.But then why did it still feel like something was lurking for them in the dark?A Warning in the NightThey reached the southern edge of the city just before dawn.The air was cold, the sky striated with the first blush of evening.Dain sank down onto a fallen log, massaging his shoulder. “Alright. What now? ”Selene, breathing heavily back against a tree. "We leave."Kael nodded. "We disappear."Calia tilted her head. “And then what? ”Kael looked at

The Hunter had moved like death itself.Kaiza had little time to respond.Next, the masked figure was a motionless stalwart, inscrutable, as if waiting for him to make an error.The next.It stood ahead of him already.Its blade lunged for his heart, a single, precise stroke designed to kill him immediately.Kaiza’s instincts screamed.His body acted before his brain could catch up.His sword rose to block.But the Hunter’s blade was gone.Kaiza’s breath hitched. What?The next second.Pain.A brutal, unnatural pain sliced along his ribs, black iron penetrating his side from behind.Kaiza choked, doubling over, blood dripping to the fissured ground.The Hunter had passed through him.Like a shadow.Like a ghost.Kaiza’s chest expanded, his eyes blurring for a moment.It had been too fast.Too impossible.Soryn’s voice yelled from behind him."Kaiza!"He hardly turned in time before the Hunter tore its blade free and sent him stumbling forward.Soryn was already in motion, her golden ey

The sword was a good fit for Kael. The weight, the balance—it was more than an instrument of death. It belonged to him, an extension of his will, forged in blood and fire.On the other side of the war room, Sarai watched him with that same amused smirk, her violet eyes gleaming in the dim torchlight. She lounged on the long wooden table, fingertips lazily skimming the edge of a silver dagger, like this was all some game to her."That’s better, isn’t it?" she said lightly. "Reunited at last."Kael stood slowly, stretching his shoulders. “Pain lanced through his body, but he ignored it. Pain was a whisper. His fingers clutched the hilt of the sword, the leather-wrapped pommel familiar against his palm.“I’m done,” he said, voice low, steady. “You should have killed me when you could.Sarai sighed, as if disappointed. "You think I didn’t try?" Her lips curved. “But you’ve always been too stubborn to die well.”Dain scooched next to him, greatsword slung over his back, a lazy grin spreadin

The stars hung cold and distant over the ruined outpost.Kael sat against the cracked stone wall, cleaning the blood off his sword.The blade had always felt like an extension of himself, a part of his body, his mind, his rage.Tonight, it felt heavier.The events at Emberhold churned in his head like a storm refusing to settle.Calia’s betrayal.Sarai’s control.Ceylan’s strength.Kael had lost battles before, but never like this.Not when it cost him more than blood.Not when it cost him trust.A shadow glided beside him.Selene.Her golden eyes flashed in the faint torchlight. "You're not sleeping."Kael sneered, but it didn't touch his eyes. "Didn't know we were allowed to."Selene let out a breath, sitting down beside him.For a long moment, neither of them said anything.Then, she spoke softly: "She didn't kill you when she had the chance."Kael didn't respond.Selene stood against the wall, fingers closing tightly around the dagger at her hip."You know what that means, don't yo