Gravespawn Dominion

Shadows in the Bloodline

Vaeloric slammed Lira against the wall of the holding room. The chains were loud in the light. "You said we had nine days until the first Sovereign arrives. Start talking. I will hurt you right now."

Lira smiled, her lip bleeding. Her face was sweaty and covered in ash. Her eyes still had that cold fire. "You think chaining me up makes you safe? The mark is already inside you Thane. I can smell it."

Elara stood by the door her arms crossed. She looked like she wanted to help Lira to shut her up. "This is pointless. She will say anything to hurt you."

Vaeloric told Elara to be quiet. He put his hand on Liras forehead. Took some of her memories. He saw pictures of hidden altars and people in robes chanting under moons. He also saw a face that made his stomach drop. It was Kael, standing beside Doctor Crowe in a lab coat laughing.

Vaeloric pulled fast. "Kael was not just working for Crowe. He was working with him from the beginning."

Lira laughed quietly. "It took you enough. Crowe does not make friends. He makes plans.. You helped him by giving him access to the gate."

Then people outside started screaming. Vaeloric pushed Lira back. Ran to the field. Elara followed him. The sun was. It looked like blood across the pitch. His guards were already fighting something small fast shadows that slipped through the fences like smoke.

One of the shadows grabbed a zombies chest. Went inside. The zombie started shaking then turned on its kind.

Vaeloric yelled, "Stop them!" He put on his bone armor. Charged. He used a flame whip. Caught one shadow in mid-air burning it to nothing.. More shadows came. Many more.

The Matriarchs voice came in urgent. "They are scouts. The Sovereign can see through them. Kill them quickly. They will find all your weaknesses."

A woman carrying water buckets dropped them. Ran. A shadow caught her ankle. She screamed as black veins spread up her leg. Vaeloric reached her in three steps cut the shadow with a bone blade. It was too late. The woman looked up at him with eyes.

"Make it stop " she whispered.

Vaeloric hesitated for a moment. Then he took her life before the corruption could spread. Her last memory was her sons face. It hit him hard. He brought her back to life this time and sent her to fight the remaining shadows.

Elara grabbed his arm. "You did not even give her a chance!"

"She was already dead " Vaeloric said,. The words did not feel right. The mark inside him felt warmer almost happy.

They fought for twenty minutes. When the last shadow disappeared the field was covered in bodies. His own people and civilians. The death count was heavy.

A system alert flashed red.

The Sovereigns influence was increasing. The mark was progressing. 19%. Vaeloric was losing control. He had only six days left.

Kaels voice came over the stadiums speakers, broadcast from outside. "Good morning, Gravespawn. Nice mess you made. Doctor Crowe says hello. Release Lira Voss. Open the gate fully by noon or we will fill your stadium with something worse than shadows."

Vaeloric looked up at the speakers. "Find where that signal is coming from " he ordered a technician.

Minutes later the man reported back. "It is coming from the university complex three kilometers north. They have defenses."

Elara stepped close her voice low. "We cannot fight everywhere. People are breaking. Some are saying that following you means dying "

Vaeloric met her eyes. She looked tired. He saw fear mixed with doubt. "Then they can leave.. The ones who stay will fight."

He gave orders. More guards on Lira. Teams to clean up the dead. Then he pulled Elara and two trusted captains into the war room.

"We will attack the university hard and fast " he said. "We will take out Crowe before he can do anything. I will lead a team. You hold the stadium."

Elara nodded slowly. Too slowly.

The team moved out an hour Vaeloric, six elite fighters and three living volunteers who still believed in him. They slipped through ruined streets, ash falling like snow. Every shadow made his skin crawl. The mark inside his chest beat with his heartbeat giving him strength but whispering doubts. *You could rule them all if you stopped pretending to care.*

Halfway to the university they were ambushed.

Monsters dropped from rooftops while Crowes gunmen opened fire from windows. Bullets bounced off Vaelorics bone armor. He fought back with flame whips and commands turning two enemy fighters against their own for a seconds.

"Push through!" he shouted.

They broke the line and reached the university plaza. There stood Kael on the steps grinning, flanked by Doctor Crowe. The doctors face was half-burned, twisted into something

"Welcome " Crowe called. "I have been studying your kind. Ashborn. Fascinating parasite class."

Vaeloric advanced. "You sent Kael to stab me in the back. Bad move."

Kael laughed. "Was not even hard. You are desperate for friends. Classic survivor guilt."

Then things got worse.

Kael raised a device. Pressed it. Explosives under the plaza detonated. The blast threw Vaeloric and his team backward. Two fighters disintegrated. Pain exploded in Vaelorics side where shrapnel punched through his armor.

He rolled to his feet, vision blurring. Crowes monsters charged.

Then it got even worse.

One of his volunteers turned and shot another team member in the back. "For the future!" the traitor screamed.

Vaeloric took the shooters life instantly fueled by rage. He fought like a storm. Whip, blade, command. Cutting toward Crowe.

Crowe simply smiled and stepped aside. From the university doors emerged something. A Sovereign-touched monster. Ten meters tall, built from hundreds of corpses fused with crystal veins pulsing with the same energy as the gate. Its eyes glowed dark.

*"Cataclysm Abomination: Sovereign Vessel. Level 52"*

"Behold my masterpiece " Crowe announced proudly. "Fed on gate energy you kindly provided."

The vessel roared. Its swing flattened a building wing. Vaeloric dodged, heart hammering. This thing was stronger than the titan.

He poured power into taking the life of every fallen around him his own. Strength flooded in. He grew taller armor thickening, into spikes. New ability unlocked: Eclipse Step. Shadow teleport.

He teleported behind the vessel. Drove both hands into its back trying to take its life.

Agony. The Sovereign energy fought back flooding his mind with visions of Earth broken open billions fed to hunger.. Worse. His own face, crowned in black crystal commanding the feast.

He tore free with a chunk of power anyway. His rank surged.

*"Ash Sovereign Tier → Eclipse Warden Tier"*

*"New Ability: Sovereign Dominion Pulse. Repel or Command lesser corrupted for 60 seconds."*

Vaeloric activated it

Rage and hurt fueled Vaeloric. He used the Sovereign Dominion Pulse. Some of the cultists who were not very strong. Then started fighting for Lira.. Elara and Lira did not give in.

A big fight started inside his base.

He went straight for Elara. She sent out chains of light that healed and also tied people up. "I am sorry Vaeloric. This is the way to help you."

He moved behind her using the Eclipse Step. Hit her with the flat side of a bone blade. She fell to the ground unconscious. He did not take her power yet. Not now.

Lira came at him with all her might. They fought in a personal and brutal way. It was like fire fighting against ash and bone. She cut him across the chest with a burning slash. He hit her back with a punch that broke her sword arm.

As she fell to her knees he stood over her. "You had your chance to stop this."

This time he took a lot of her power.

*[He got a part of her soul. He can now use the power of the Fire Sovereign. He also got some memories. He learned about the timeline.]*

These memories really shocked him. The big disaster that happened was not random. It was a plan to make the world ready for something.. Vaeloric was not just a normal person who helped others before he died. His family had a connection to the Sovereigns. A power that was hidden and came from an old experiment. That is why the Hidden Class chose him. That is why the mark on his body spread fast.

He was never completely human.

This news really upset him. He felt scared and worried as the mark on his body grew to 34%.

Liras body went limp. She was not dead. He made her into a soldier who had to listen to him. He took away her freedom for now. He wanted to use her power to help him.

Crowes big ship arrived at the gates. Broke through the outer defenses.

Vaeloric stood tall even though he was very tired and confused inside. "All our forces should come together. Fight the ship. We will end this today."

The final fight in the stadium was like the end of the world. His army, which now included the cultists who switched sides and Lira fought against the ship. He used all his powers moving around the ship and taking its power away.

In the end he threw a bone spear into the ships core and took all its power.

He got a lot of power. His rank went up again.. The Sovereign energy hit him back hard. He fell to one knee as he saw visions of planets being destroyed. He was at the center of it all.

When he got up the ship was destroyed. Crowe had run away again. Kael was nowhere to be found.

Elara was lying nearby tied up and awake. She looked at him with eyes. "What are you now?"

Vaeloric looked at his arm, which had veins and then at the survivors who were watching him with fear.

"I am what this world needs now " he said.. He was not sure. The Matriarch laughed softly in his mind. *. Maybe I am what this world deserves.*

A new alert came in.

*[A big fight between factions has started. The Gravespawn Dominion is now in charge of this area, for a while. Everyone is looking at us. The Eclipsed Sovereign will arrive in 5 days.]*