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Chapter 34 – Shadows Over the Kingdom
The night over the Fallen Kingdom was unusually heavy, the stars veiled by thick clouds that carried the weight of an approaching storm. From the highest tower of Eldrath’s keep, the once-proud banners of the realm hung tattered, whispering in the cold wind like restless spirits.Eldrin stood at the edge of the battlements, staring at the horizon where faint torchlights of the warlord’s advancing army glimmered like an unending serpent of fire. His fists clenched at the stone railing, knuckles pale beneath the strain. Every flicker of light below was a reminder—time was slipping, and with it, the fragile hope of his people.Behind him, soft footsteps echoed. Isolde appeared, her cloak drawn tight around her shoulders, her eyes reflecting both fear and resolve.“You haven’t left this wall for hours,” she said gently. “The others are worried. I’m worried.”Eldrin didn’t turn. “How can I rest when the kingdom teeters on the edge of ruin? Every decision I make now… could cost thousands th
Chapter 33 — Blood of Flame
They chose a hollow beneath leaning pines where the wind softened to a hush and the snow packed tight underfoot. Kael set a small, mean fire and fed it with splinters while the Sorcerer traced a circle in the crusted snow with the iron ferrule of their staff. Runes formed like frost-flowers—six strokes each, clean and old. Isolde watched Aric’s hands the whole time, as if awareness alone might be a shield if the flame inside him woke hungry.“It won’t,” Aric said, forcing a smile he did not feel. His palms still remembered heat. His ribs still ached with the memory of holding back a sun.Kael grunted. “You said that in the cavern. Then we nearly cooked.”“I said I would try.” He wasn’t sure whether the heat under his tongue was anger or the taste of ash that never rinsed away.“Enough,” the Sorcerer said, not sharp, but final. They set the staff upright at the circle’s edge. “We do this now or not at all. The Warlord has felt you. You have felt him. Pretending otherwise wastes lives.”
Chapter 32 – The Warlord Stirs
Silence pressed over the ruined valley like a burial shroud. Frost-fanged spires trapped the Warlord in a jagged tomb, blue light webbing through the ice while a dim crimson pulsed at its heart—slow, deliberate, like the beat of a sleeping giant. Snow hissed where heat tried to live, steam curling off the prison in tired ghosts.All around, the battlefield lay strewn with broken shields and frozen banners. Ravens hopped from corpse to corpse, testing the armor with cautious beaks. What few scouts dared return crept along the ridges, eyes averted from the glimmering monolith. It was said to look too long at that ice was to feel it look back.Inside the frost, the Warlord listened.Not with ears. With flame.Far to the north, a thread of heat quivered through stone and root and sky—unmistakable, intimate. The boy. The blade. The blood. The Warlord’s awareness prowled along that thread the way a predator follows a wounded scent. The Vale had answered him; the old bond was awake. He smile
Chapter 31 – The Vale Awakens
The storm had quieted by the time they reached the edge of the Vale.Snow clung heavy to the pines, bending their branches low. The air was still, unnaturally still, as though the world held its breath.Aric tightened his grip on the sword, its new runes glowing faintly beneath the frost. Every step echoed with unease. His chest still burned from the fire that had erupted within him, and though he fought to bury it, the whispers were there—soft, seductive, promising.Kin, the voice murmured. He waits for you. He calls to you.Isolde walked close, eyes darting at every shadow. She hadn’t spoken much since the cavern, but her presence steadied him more than words could. Kael, meanwhile, muttered curses under his breath, one hand never far from his blade. The sorcerer strode ahead, staff glowing dimly, as though even they were wary of what lingered here.The Vale spread out before them—an ancient expanse of black rock and jagged spires, half-buried under snow. Crystals jutted from the gr
Chapter 30 – Fire in the Veins
The cavern was silent, but Aric could hear it.A low thrum, deep in his chest, like the steady beat of a war drum. It was not his heart. It was something older, something restless, something waiting.He sat apart from the others, blade across his knees, trying to calm his breath. The steel should have been cold, but beneath his palms it felt warm—as though it pulsed with the same rhythm inside him.Isolde knelt a short distance away, watching him with quiet worry. Her lips parted, then closed again, as though she feared her words might shatter the fragile stillness.Kael paced the cavern like a caged beast, muttering curses under his breath. The flickering glow of the crystals painted his face in pale firelight, exaggerating the tension around his jaw.The sorcerer stood before the altar, their staff planted firm, runes glowing faintly. Their eyes never left Aric.At last, Aric broke the silence. His voice was raw.“You said his fire didn’t burn me because it recognized its own shadow
Chapter 29 – Shadows of Blood
The silence after the battle felt heavier than the clash itself. Smoke curled in lazy spirals above the ruined field, where corpses lay frozen mid-stride, their faces locked in masks of fear. The frost-bound warlord loomed at the center, imprisoned in a jagged tomb of ice that glowed faintly with crimson veins.No one dared step close. Even sealed, his presence bled into the air—heat that refused to die, rage that seeped through the cracks.Aric’s chest burned with every breath. He leaned on his blade for balance, sweat freezing against his skin. His legs begged to collapse, but he forced them steady. Isolde was at his side, her hand gripping his sleeve tightly, as if letting go might pull him into the abyss.The sorcerer wiped blood from their brow, staff trembling slightly. Their voice, when it came, was hoarse but commanding.“We cannot remain here. His seal is temporary. The longer we linger, the stronger his flame will grow. We must leave—now.”Kael spat blood into the dirt and s
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