The battlefield lay in ruins.The once-proud palace was reduced to broken pillars and smoldering stone, its mighty walls collapsed into heaps of rubble. The crimson light had faded, leaving only a pale dawn creeping across the horizon.The silence that followed was almost unbearable.Not peace — not yet — but the stunned quiet of survivors who could hardly believe they were still breathing.Selene stood at the center of it all, her cloak torn, her body trembling with exhaustion. She leaned heavily on her sword, every breath ragged. Around her, the remaining soldiers knelt, too weak to rise, their armor blackened by soot and blood.The battle was over.But the war… the war had cost them dearly.Adrian staggered forward, his face pale and drawn.The last of the Master’s essence had been burned out of him, leaving his body fragile and his spirit frayed. Selene caught him as he swayed, wrapping her arms tightly around him.“You’re safe,” she whispered, as much to herself as to him.“It’s

The body on the gate was burned before dawn.Selene stood silently as the flames consumed the desecrated soldier, her jaw clenched so tight it ached. The message carved into his chest replayed in her mind over and over, each word a knife. “You may rebuild, little queen.You may dream.But you will never be free.”The Master was not just alive — he was mocking her.When the last ember turned to ash, Selene turned to Adrian and her surviving commanders.“No more waiting,” she said, her voice cold and decisive.“We hunt him now.”Later that morning, Adrian rode beside Selene as their small party left the ruined capital behind.They traveled light and fast — just a handful of trusted knights, General Myra, and two trackers sworn to Selene’s banner.Kael’s absence was a weight that none of them spoke of.His sword had been left behind in the hall, mounted on a black shield to honor his sacrifice.Adrian glanced sideways at Selene as they rode.Her face was pale, her expression unreadable,

The Master’s laughter echoed through the silent forest, twisting through the trees like poisoned wind.Selene’s grip on her sword tightened until her knuckles turned white.“Leave him!” she screamed, her voice raw with fury and desperation.“Come out and face me yourself!”Adrian tilted his head, his crimson eyes glimmering in the fading light. The sight was wrong — so wrong.His body, his face, but every movement alien, every gesture a cruel mockery of the man she loved. “Oh, Selene,” the Master purred through Adrian’s lips, his voice oily and rich.“Why would I abandon such a fine vessel when he comes with so many delightful memories? So many… weaknesses?”Adrian’s body stepped closer, slow and deliberate, his sword drawn.Each footfall sent Selene’s heart splintering further.“Adrian, I know you’re still in there!” she shouted, her blade trembling.“Fight him — please! Don’t let him take you again!”For the briefest instant, Adrian’s true voice broke through, a ragged gasp of defi

The mountains loomed ahead, jagged peaks clawing at a gray, storm-streaked sky.Wind howled through the rocky passes, carrying with it a bitter cold that cut through even the thickest cloaks.Selene guided her horse along the narrow trail, her posture rigid, her face set in the calm mask of a queen.Inside, she was unraveling.Every step forward brought her closer to the monastery — and closer to answers she wasn’t sure she wanted.Behind her, Adrian rode silently, his presence a steady weight at her back.Since the night she’d woken with her sword at his throat, he had barely let her out of his sight.But neither of them had spoken about it.Selene’s grip tightened on the reins.The memory of the blade hovering over Adrian’s sleeping form haunted her like a nightmare she couldn’t escape.I almost killed him, she thought. And next time, I might not wake up in time to stop myself.The trail narrowed until it ended at a chasm spanned by an ancient stone bridge.Mist coiled below, swallo

The cavern erupted in chaos.The black crystal burst apart in a storm of crimson light and shards of shadow, the sound like a thousand screams compressed into one agonizing moment.Selene was thrown back by the blast.Her body slammed against a stone pillar, pain lancing through her ribs. She gasped, shadows instinctively rising to shield her as fragments of glowing crystal rained down like shards of night.Through the haze, she saw it — the fragment of the Master.It was no longer bound within the crystal.It had taken form: a swirling, amorphous mass of darkness with a jagged mouth that opened in a voiceless scream. Crimson eyes blinked within its shifting body, each one locking on Selene.Adrian staggered to his feet beside her, sword drawn, his expression grim.“This isn’t all of him,” he rasped, gripping his blade tighter.“But it’s enough.”Myra and the knights rallied behind them, forming a defensive line as the monastery trembled around them.Keeper Vael remained eerily still,