Blade of the Fallen Kingdom

Chapter 2 – The Curse Awakens

The street burned around them, but Kael no longer felt the heat. The blade’s cold power throbbed through his veins, steadying his breath, silencing his fear.

The black warrior charged, spear glinting red. Kael moved—too fast, too precise for a boy who had only trained with wooden swords. His blade intercepted the spear in a blur of black light. Sparks exploded, and the force rippled through the cobblestones.

Lira gasped. “Kael… what are you doing? That’s not you.”

Kael didn’t answer. His own movements terrified him. The cursed sword guided his arms like a puppet on strings. Each clash sang with unnatural precision, as if he had fought a hundred wars before this night.

But the whispers returned.

Kill him. Feed us. Claim his soul.

Kael gritted his teeth, forcing his will against the voices. He wasn’t their servant. He wasn’t.

The black warrior’s grin widened. “Good. The blade responds to you.”

Another strike. Kael blocked. His hands bled from the force, but he stood.

“Who are you?” Kael demanded, though his voice shook.

The warrior’s eyes burned brighter. “I am but a servant. The true master sleeps… and you will awaken him.”

Before Kael could press, an explosion split the street. A squad of the king’s guard rushed in, arrows raining down at the warrior. But the shadows swallowed them. With a flick of his spear, he cut men down as if they were paper dolls.

Kael’s stomach twisted. He wanted to help them—but the blade pulsed, dragging his gaze toward the warrior’s heart.

Strike. Now.

“No!” Kael shouted, shoving the blade downward, refusing its command.

The sword hissed, a shrill cry that only he could hear. His head pounded, visions flashing: corpses piled high, cities in ruins, rivers running red. And at the center of it all—him, wielding the blade like a god of death.

He staggered back. “Lira… I can’t… control it.”

She grabbed his arm, her eyes fierce despite the terror. “Then drop it! Before it takes you too!”

But could he?

The warrior advanced again, unharmed, amused. “He cannot let it go. The blade binds to blood. His fate is sealed.”

Kael’s chest tightened. Blood? Yes—his own hand still bled from the first time he grabbed it. The blade had tasted him.

Suddenly, the ground quaked. From the direction of the palace, a roar thundered across the city. A monstrous shadow rose, wings blotting out the firelight. The invaders had unleashed something far worse than soldiers.

“A dragon…” Lira whispered in horror.

No. Not a dragon. Kael saw the truth as its wings unfurled. It was a corpse, a beast long dead, stitched together by black magic. Its bones glowed with foul light, its empty eye sockets burning. A drake of the fallen.

The warrior lowered his spear, as if the fight was already won. “The kingdom is ash. Soon, only silence will remain.”

Kael’s pulse raced. The blade whispered louder, urging him to strike, to kill, to feed its hunger. But deeper within the voices, Kael heard something else. A whisper different from the rest. Quieter. Sadder.

Resist…

His breath caught. Someone—something—inside the sword was fighting against the others.

Lira tugged at him again, desperate. “Kael! We have to go before that… thing sees us!”

The corpse-drake roared, shaking the city walls. Its eyes locked onto the streets below. Onto them.

The warrior stepped back into the shadows, melting into the smoke as if he had never been there. “We will meet again, blade-bearer.”

Then he was gone.

Kael tightened his grip on the cursed sword. Every instinct screamed to run. But as the beast swooped down, fire leaking from its skeletal jaws, he knew running would mean death.

“Lira… get behind me.”

“Are you insane? That thing will kill you!”

“Then better me than you.”

The blade pulsed, answering his words like it had been waiting. Kael raised it high. Shadows coiled around him, cold as ice, sharp as steel.

The corpse-drake dived.

Kael braced himself, heart pounding, mind screaming. The whispers reached a crescendo.

Kill. Feed. Destroy.

And then—silence.

The drake struck. Kael swung.

The impact shook the earth.

When the smoke cleared, Kael stood trembling, his blade buried deep in the beast’s chest. Black fire erupted from the wound, racing through its bones. The drake shrieked, its body collapsing into ash before his eyes.

Lira stared, wide-eyed, her bow lowered. “Kael… you killed it.”

But Kael’s legs buckled. His arms burned, veins blackened where the blade’s power had coursed. He dropped to his knees, gasping.

The whispers returned, triumphant now.

One life ends. Thousands more to come.

Kael clutched his head, screaming. “Shut up! Leave me alone!”

The sword pulsed again, cold and unyielding. It would not leave. It would never leave.

And for the first time, Kael realized the truth.

The kingdom wasn’t the only thing falling.

He was.

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