The battlefield still smoldered with the stench of blood and smoke. The Riders of Ashen Flame had retreated into the night, leaving broken steel and scattered corpses in their wake. Eldrin stood over the ruins, chest heaving, his blade slick with gore. Around him, soldiers moaned in agony, clutching wounds that would never heal.Yet it wasn’t the carnage that hollowed his chest it was the look in Isolde’s eyes. The look of betrayal.She hadn’t spoken a word since the commander’s mask was torn away to reveal her estranged brother, Alaric the very man Eldrin swore to destroy. Her silence gnawed at him more than any wound.“Isolde…” Eldrin rasped, stepping closer.But she turned away, wrapping her arms tightly around herself. “Don’t. Not now.”Her words cut deeper than a blade. For the first time since the kingdom fell, Eldrin felt utterly alone.The camp was eerily quiet that night. Soldiers whispered among themselves, their faith shaken. Some no longer looked at Eldrin with the same re

The campfire burned low, its embers glowing like dying stars. No one slept. Men huddled in whispers, the weight of fear pressing down heavier than armor. Every eye flicked toward the tent where Alaric lay, bound in chains at Eldrin’s command not to punish him, but to contain the curse crawling across his veins.Yet to the soldiers, chains were chains.“He’s one of them,” a man muttered, voice sharp as a knife. “That mark same as the commander’s.”“Keep your tongue,” another hissed, though his gaze lingered uneasily on Eldrin’s tent. “If he hears you“Then let him hear!” the first spat. “How long before he turns on us? We followed him because he swore to save us. But what if he’s the very thing damning us?”The whispers grew, spreading like a sickness. Trust eroded in the dark.Inside his tent, Eldrin sat alone, sharpening his blade. The steel caught the light, gleaming red with reflection from the fire outside. His hands moved automatically, but his mind churned. He heard them their d

The ground convulsed as though the earth itself recoiled from what had been unleashed. From the jagged fissure in the ruins, the beast rose its body a grotesque amalgamation of sinew and obsidian, wings half-flesh and half-shadow. Each breath it took sent waves of corruption through the air, the stench of sulfur and rotting blood choking the soldiers who dared to stand before it.Eldrin felt the curse in his veins scream in resonance. The black tendrils beneath his skin writhed, crawling up his arms, and he clenched his fists until his nails drew blood. His own heartbeat seemed to sync with the monster’s roar.The soldiers broke first. Shields dropped. Swords clattered against stone. Some fell to their knees, weeping prayers to gods that no longer answered. Others turned and fled, their courage stripped bare by the living nightmare towering over them.“Hold the line!” Eldrin bellowed, though his voice cracked with strain. His words did little. Fear had already poisoned the ranks.The

The ruins shook with the beast’s rage. Its massive wings beat against the night sky, scattering debris and smoke across the battlefield. The soldiers who had not fled scrambled for cover, clutching their blades with trembling hands. The creature’s roar rattled the marrow of their bones.And in the heart of the chaos, Eldrin stood, his sword dripping with ichor, his body wreathed in shadow. The curse within him burned hotter than ever before, every beat of his heart pounding like a war drum. He could feel his humanity fraying, each breath pulling him closer to the abyss.From the fractured pillars at the edge of the ruins, the warlord stepped forward. His armor gleamed with the fire of the surrounding carnage, and the crimson glow of his eyes cut through the smoke. His presence was heavier than the beast’s roar, a suffocating force that silenced even the screams.“Look at you,” the warlord said, his voice calm yet venomous. “Pretending still to be a man. Pretending to be their savior.”

The citadel crumbled as the abyssal beast tore free of its shackles. Its body was a nightmare of horns, wings, and writhing tendrils of shadow, each movement collapsing towers into dust. Its roar split the heavens, shaking the very bones of the city.The soldiers screamed. Some fled. Others dropped to their knees, praying to gods that no longer answered.Eldrin stood frozen at the epicenter, his sword still buried in the ground. The curse within him sang in triumph, feeding off the unleashed horror. Every vein burned, every nerve screamed, but he forced his body to remain upright.The warlord’s laughter rolled across the ruins. “Magnificent. The chains of the old blood are broken. The world will kneel once more.”Isolde rushed to Eldrin’s side, gripping his arm. “You didn’t bind it you freed it!”“I know,” Eldrin growled, forcing his blade free. His eyes burned, one dark as the abyss, the other blazing like fire. “But if I freed it… I can kill it.”Alaric stumbled forward, his corrupt