Stone exploded beside Draeven's head.He threw himself behind a broken pillar as a spear of pale light punched through the chapel wall and carved a glowing trench across the floor.Dust filled the air.Someone screamed. Not an enemy. One of the children."Down!" Severin roared.Another blast struck. The ancient chapel shook. Fragments of stained glass rained from above.Draeven wiped blood from his eye and forced himself to look. Three days. The Witch had given them three days.One had already been spent reaching the hidden valley beneath Saint Aurek's tomb.Now the Church had arrived first. Not a handful of hunters. Not scouts. An army. White cloaks filled the ruins outside.Dozens of them.More poured through the broken gates every minute. And at their center stood a tall figure in silver armor.The man held no banner. He didn't need one. Every Church soldier stayed clear of him. Fear carried its own authority. Nerez crouched nearby. Silver blood dripped from his nose. Using his po

The tower doors exploded inward. Black stone shattered across the chamber.Church soldiers poured through the opening. White cloaks. Silver armor. Crossbows raised. At their center walked the Marshal.He entered without hurry. Without fear. Without surprise. As though he had expected to find Saint Aurek alive.The realization hit Draeven immediately. The Church knew. Maybe not everything. But enough."Move!" Severin barked.The executioner charged first. His blade crashed into the nearest soldier before the Church line could properly form.Steel rang through the chamber. Chaos followed. Draeven moved with him. Mournhook swept through the air.A crossbow shattered. A soldier hit the floor. Another stepped forward immediately. Disciplined. Relentless.The Marshal never moved. He simply watched. Studied. Measured. Like a man evaluating pieces on a game board.The children retreated toward the rear of the c

The black coffin burst apart. Dark shards flew across the chamber. Draeven raised an arm to shield his face. Stone exploded around him.One fragment struck a nearby pillar hard enough to crack it from top to bottom. Not stone. Not wood.Whatever the coffin had been made from, it carried power. Ancient power. Dangerous power. The figure inside stepped forward.Every torch in the chamber died instantly. Darkness swallowed the room. Then silver fire ignited behind the stranger's eyes.The light revealed a man wearing black armor older than any kingdom Draeven knew. No rust. No damage. No sign of age. Only perfection.The armor looked grown rather than forged. Like living metal wrapped around a corpse that had forgotten how to die. The stranger's gaze moved across the chamber. Across Severin. Across Oric. Across Nerez. Then settled on Draeven.And stopped.For a long moment, nobody moved. Nobody breathed. The pressure fillin

The floor split open beneath Oric.Stone cracked with a sound like thunder. The hunter dropped instantly, disappearing into darkness as the ancient chamber collapsed under his weight."Oric!"Draeven lunged.His injured shoulder screamed as he threw himself forward. His gauntlet caught Oric's wrist for half a second.Then more stone gave way. Both men plunged. Darkness swallowed them. The fall ended hard.Draeven slammed into a sloped pile of rubble and rolled. Loose stone battered his armor before he finally crashed against a wall.For a moment, the world spun. Then a sharp groan echoed nearby. Oric. Alive. Draeven pushed himself upright. Blood dripped from his nose. His left arm trembled from the lingering poison damage.Above them, dust poured through the jagged hole in the ceiling. Voices shouted. Severin. Nerez. Too distant.The collapse had sealed most of the opening."We're alive," Oric muttered.Draeven looked around."Don't celebrate yet."The chamber beneath the tomb was en