Lucien pointed to a soot-black ghost standing near a stone hut. The ghost wore the beautiful, glowing armor of a high general."Look at them!" Lucien demanded. "I saw them in the vision! I saw the true King, tied in magical chains. I saw the honest Scholar who refused to burn the history books. I saw the brave General who lost her arm fighting for the people. I saw crying mothers and innocent children."Tears began to form in Lucien’s dark eyes."The Usurper did not throw away criminals!" Lucien cried out. "He threw away his rivals! He threw away anyone who was too smart, too brave, or too popular! He threw away the best people in the world, because he was a coward who wanted to sit on a golden chair!"Lucien took a step closer to the crowd. He opened his arms wide."You are not the descendants of criminals," Lucien said. His voice was now gentle, warm, and full of pure love for these broken people. "You are the rightful heirs to the Empire. You are the children of the true kings, the

The ground did not stop shaking. RUMBLE... RUMBLE... RUMBLE...It felt like a giant heartbeat coming from deep inside the earth. The sound of the Grave-Tide waking up at the bottom of the sinkhole was terrifying. Millions of ancient monsters, bone-dragons, and rotting flesh-golems were marching toward the Forgotten Village.Lucien stood at the edge of the dark abyss. He held the God-Slaying Spear tightly. His tens of thousands of shadow-knights stood behind him, waiting for his command to attack.But Lucien did not jump down.He looked at the bottomless hole, and then he looked back at the village. The people were crying in fear. The children were hiding their faces in their mothers' dirty dresses. The stone huts were cracking from the heavy vibrations.Lucien realized a hard, cold truth. He was incredibly powerful. His [Army of Shadows] was amazing. He could probably stand at the edge of this hole and kill monsters for a hundred days without stopping. But he could not protect every

Lucien smiled. This was the mark of a true king. He used his overwhelming power to protect and build, not just to destroy."Your village will be safe while we are gone, Kael," Lucien said, turning to the hunter. "Even if the first wave of the Grave-Tide arrives early, my shadows will hold the walls."Kael looked at the fortress. He felt a deep, overwhelming sense of hope. He gripped his bone spear tight. The fear of Kordas was still in his heart, but his belief in Lucien was stronger."I am ready, my Lord," Kael said firmly."Go gather your team," Lucien ordered. "Pick your two best, fastest scouts. We leave in five minutes."Ten minutes later, the strike team was ready. There were four of them.Lucien stood at the front. He wore his liquid shadow-cloak, but he kept it completely calm, looking like a normal black cape. He secured the God-Slaying Spear to his back.Kael stood next to him. Kael wore his best bone armor and carried his sharpest spear.Behind them stood Elara, the brave f

The canyon tried to break Lucien’s mind by using his deepest insecurities. It tried to remind him of the sixteen years of pain, rejection, and abuse he had suffered in the golden palace above. But the canyon made a fatal mistake.Lucien was not that weak, broken boy anymore. He had seen the truth in the Archive of the Exiled. He had absorbed the power of a god’s eye. He was the Shadow-Lord. His core struggle was over.Lucien did not cry. He did not step toward the cliff. He threw his head back and laughed.It was a cold, powerful, terrifying laugh. The sound of his laughter clashed against the magical wind, cutting through the whispers like a sharp blade."You think you can break me with the voices of liars?" Lucien said out loud. His purple eyes burned with intense, brilliant dark fire. "I am the master of the dead. You do not speak to me. I speak to you!"Lucien looked around. Jace was only one step away from the cliff edge. Kael was crawling toward the drop.Elara was reaching her

The air in the deep tunnels changed. It was no longer cold and damp. It was hot. It was incredibly, painfully hot.Lucien walked steadily forward. His heavy iron boots crushed the dry, red volcanic rocks beneath his feet. The sound of breaking rocks echoed loudly in the wide, tall tunnel. Behind him walked Kael, Elara, and Jace. The three hunters were panting heavily. Sweat poured down their pale faces. Their dirty clothes were soaking wet.The air smelled like burning sulfur, rotten eggs, and old ash. Thick clouds of dark grey smoke hung near the ceiling of the cavern. Small rivers of bright orange lava flowed slowly through deep cracks in the stone floor. The heat was so intense it felt like walking inside a giant baking oven."We are very close now, my King," Kael gasped. He wiped the stinging sweat from his eyes with the back of his hand. "This is the territory of the Blood-Iron Tribe."Lucien did not look tired. He did not sweat. The liquid shadow-cloak wrapped around his broa