The courtyard burned with the orange light of torches and the pale wash of moonlight. The warlord’s laughter still clung to the stone, echoing in Eldrin’s skull as his brother rose, wreathed in shadow and fury.Alaric’s blade gleamed black, slick with the same curse that pulsed beneath Eldrin’s own skin. They circled each other, two halves of a broken whole, bound by blood yet driven apart by choices made long ago.“Do you remember,” Alaric said, his voice like gravel, “when Father stood between us with his hands on our shoulders and told us we would always be stronger together?”Eldrin’s grip tightened on his sword. His throat burned. “I remember. But I also remember you standing at the gates when they slaughtered him, when you swore yourself to the Riders instead of defending our people.”Alaric’s jaw flexed. Shadows rippled down his arm, twisting his armor into jagged plates. “I swore to survive. You call it betrayal I call it truth. And now look at you, Eldrin. Cursed. Hated. Clin

The Revenant Beast descended upon Veylar like a nightmare made flesh. Its bulk tore through the crumbled wall, stone exploding into the air as if the earth itself recoiled. The creature’s hide shimmered with molten cracks, a lattice of fire pulsing beneath its skin. Its horns curved like scythes, its claws raked gouges deep into the cobblestones, and when it opened its maw, the world seemed to tremble.From its back, the warlord stood, his dark cloak billowing in the heated wind. His laughter echoed, cruel and triumphant. “This is the end of kingdoms! Bow to the old blood!”Panic tore through the city. Soldiers screamed, scattering as the beast’s roar split the night. The air itself grew thick, scorching, every breath a taste of ash and iron.And at the center of it stood Eldrin.His chest heaved, every heartbeat a war against the shadows clawing inside him. The curse raged, surging through his veins like wildfire, begging to be freed. He could feel its hunger pressing at the edges of

The dungeon lay in ruins. Smoke drifted like restless spirits across the shattered stone, and the acrid sting of burned flesh clung to the air. Where once stood the warlord’s black citadel beneath the mountain, now only jagged rock and broken chains remained.Eldrin stirred among the rubble, his head pounding, ears still ringing from the blast of shadow. His vision swam, blurred by blood dripping into his eyes. For a moment he thought he was buried alive, but then the pain in his chest reminded him he still breathed—barely.“Isolde…” His voice cracked. He pushed free of a fallen pillar, his arm trembling under the strain. “Isolde!”A faint groan answered him. Relief surged through his chest. He staggered toward the sound and found her half-buried under fractured stone, her armor dented, her lip split. He dropped to his knees, ignoring the fire burning in his muscles, and heaved the stones away until her trembling body was freed.Her lashes fluttered, her eyes finding him. “You’re stil

The night was a bleeding canvas of smoke and fire. The camp still smoldered from the ambush, charred tents caving in on themselves, the stench of iron and burnt flesh thick enough to choke a man. Eldrin stood among the wreckage, his blade slick with the blood of both foe and comrade. Around him, the survivors scrambled to drag the wounded out from the ruins, their voices sharp with desperation.But it wasn’t the flames that set Eldrin’s chest ablaze. It was the eyes. Dozens of them, peering from the shadows of the camp soldiers, once loyal, now unsure. They had seen the darkness crawl across his flesh in the battle, had seen the shadow-mark flare like black fire across his chest.The whispers were venom.“He’s cursed.”“No man bleeds shadows.”“He’s not our savior he’s their weapon.”Eldrin sheathed his sword slowly, fighting the urge to silence them with steel. He could feel the curse humming in his blood, hungry, eager, whispering. The warlord’s voice coiled in his head like a serpe

The air split with a roar that did not belong to any mortal throat. The warlord’s monstrous form towered above the battlefield, half-shadow, half-flesh, a grotesque fusion of man and beast. Horns jutted from his skull, black veins crawling down his chest like molten cracks. His eyes glowed crimson, not with rage but with a sickening delight, as though he had waited years for this unveiling.The defenders froze in terror. Men who had stood against blades and fire now quailed like children. The weight of the revelation hung heavier than the enemy’s siege itself.Eldrin, standing amid broken corpses and a storm of shadow, felt his lungs seize. His curse pulsed violently, threads of darkness binding his arms and chest. The beast called to him not with words but with instinct, like a predator recognizing kin.Isolde’s scream cut through the madness from atop the wall. “Eldrin! Don’t let it take you!”Her voice was a rope dragging him back from the abyss. He tightened his grip on his sword,