The bells of Arvendral tolled like thunder, not to summon worship, but to warn of doom. Smoke clawed at the sky, turning the moon red, and fire spread across the marble streets where children once played. The kingdom was burning.Kael staggered through the chaos, the taste of ash sharp on his tongue. Only hours ago, he had stood in the royal courtyard, training with wooden blades, dreaming of knighthood. Now the courtyard was rubble, and the air rang with screams.“They’ve breached the gates!” a guard shouted, his armor torn and bloody. “The capital is lost!”Kael froze. Lost? How could a kingdom that had stood for centuries fall in a single night? He gripped the small dagger at his side, the one his father had left him. It felt like holding a twig against a storm.Then he saw it.Through the smoke-filled street, the king’s guard fought desperately to shield a figure cloaked in gold. King Dareth himself—Kael’s sovereign, the man every child swore loyalty to—was retreating toward the p

The palace gates were broken. Smoke poured from shattered towers, and the banners of the Fallen Army flapped in the night wind. Kael and Lira crept through the ruined courtyards, stepping over corpses of soldiers and servants alike.Everywhere they turned, the invaders’ shadows lingered. Black-robed figures with glowing eyes moved with inhuman silence, cutting down anyone who resisted.Kael clenched his cursed blade tighter, though each heartbeat sent another wave of pain through his veins. The sword fed on him, demanding more.Lira pressed her back against a wall, bow in hand. “This isn’t just war. This is slaughter.”Kael nodded grimly. He had grown up in these courtyards, chasing birds, sneaking into kitchens, laughing with Lira under the stars. Now the stones ran red with blood.From the grand hall came a cry—a voice Kael knew. His father.“Stay back!” Kael whispered to Lira before she could protest. He dashed through the smoke and burst into the throne room.The king of Aeloria k

The chamber seemed to shrink as the cloaked man’s voice echoed against the damp stone. Survivors whispered uneasily, shuffling back as if his very presence carried poison. His hood shadowed most of his face, but the smirk was unmistakable—mocking, confident, dangerous.Kael instinctively shifted his grip on the Blade. Every instinct screamed to draw it, to silence the stranger before he could spread doubt. The Blade itself hissed eagerly in his mind. Yes… unsheathe me. One stroke and his words end forever.But Mira stepped forward first, hand on her sword. “Who are you? Speak quickly before I cut your tongue out.”The man chuckled, low and cruel. “So fierce, and yet so blind. Do you not see what stands before you? That Blade is no salvation. It is the doom of this kingdom. And the boy holding it will bring ruin to us all.”Gasps rippled through the chamber. Some nodded nervously, others shook their heads in denial. Children clutched at their mothers. The fragile hope that had begun to

The river hurled Kael downstream like a rag caught in a storm. His chest burned, every gasp stolen by the torrent. The shadows swam after him, their faceless heads breaking the surface like hunters.He thrashed wildly, reaching for air, but the Blade’s voice hissed through his skull. Let me cut the current, Kael. Let me carve the river itself. Yield, and I will carry you.“No,” Kael choked, spitting water. He couldn’t. If he gave in now, he wasn’t sure he’d ever come back.A sudden hand seized his arm. Mira. She kicked furiously, dragging him upward. “Don’t you dare let go!” she shouted, her voice hoarse over the crashing water.Kael clung to her, coughing violently. For a moment he thought they might steady themselves, but the river was merciless. It slammed them against rocks, tore at their limbs, and carried them deeper into its dark heart.Around them, the cries of survivors rose and fell. Some fought the current. Others vanished beneath it. Kael’s gut twisted, every lost voice cu

Dawn crept reluctantly into the gorge, spilling pale light across damp stone and shivering pools. Mist clung to the walls, heavy with the memory of the water-being. Every drop that dripped from the cliffs seemed alive, as though the gorge itself watched.Kael tightened his cloak and scanned the survivors. They were exhausted, hollow-eyed from fear and sleeplessness. Yet a strange energy pulsed among them—not hope, but something sharper. Suspicion. Division.He felt their stares. Some carried gratitude in their eyes, but many more whispered when they thought him out of earshot. The cursed blade… the chosen one… a savior… a demon.Mira noticed too. She walked beside him, her voice low. “They’re afraid, Kael. Afraid of you.”“They should be,” he muttered.The Blade pulsed at his hip, smug. Yes. Let them fear. Fear makes them bend.Kael forced the thought away. “We climb today. Out of the gorge. Once we reach the forest, we’ll move faster.”The climb was brutal. Rocks slick with dew, hand