2025-02-01 12:05:41The air was heavy with the stench of blood and fire. Kael's gasps for air were ragged as he dragged himself through the city's ruined streets, his body screaming protest. Selis pulled him on, her hand clamped over his wrist like a vice, her dagger stained with fresh blood. Behind them, the shouted cries of pursuit echoed through the broken streets.
Darius was far from done. Kael ground his teeth together to silence the whimper as each step pulsed pain through the open wound in his side. "Goddamn. How much longer?" "Not far," Selis whispered sharply. "If we make it over the northern wall, we can vanish." A piercing whistle shattered the silence. Instinct took over. Kael pushed Selis out of the way just in time as an arrow whizzed by, burying itself in the wooden frame of a collapsed building. A second arrow followed, grazing his shoulder. Pain flared, but he pushed himself to move. "Move your ass, Kael!" Selis yelled, yanking him into a side alley. "They're closing in!" Kael sucked in a labored breath and forced himself to keep up. He could see that the ground was slick with blood and rain, and crumpled bodies lay about in grotesque heaps. The city had become a f*cking graveyard, and they were next if they didn't get out of there. Another set of footsteps pounded behind them. A glimpse over his shoulder sent ice down his spine four assassins, all clad in Shadowborne black, closing the distance with frightening speed. "F*cking persistent bastards," Kael spat. Selis didn't respond. She pivoted mid-stride, throwing a dagger with deadly precision. It found its mark, burying itself in the throat of the nearest assassin. The man gurgled, collapsing in a heap. The other three didn't slow. "Go!" Selis yelped, turning to meet them. "I'll take care of this!" "I'll show you to take care of this," Kael snarled, but she was already in motion. Her sword flashed and bit into the first attacker with a hideous crunch as steel chewed through flesh. Blood fountained in thick arcs, splattering the walls of the alley. The second assassin lunged, the curved sword cutting toward her neck. Kael barely had time to act—he kicked a loose stone, sending it skidding under the assassin's foot. The man faltered, just enough for Selis to ram her dagger up under his ribs. The last assassin snarled, drawing a pair of short blades. Selis barely had time to block his first strike before he pressed forward, forcing her back against the wall. Kael moved without thinking. He scooped up a discarded sword from the ground and drove it through the attacker’s spine. The blade punched through bone and muscle, protruding from the man’s chest in a gruesome display. The assassin’s body twitched before he slumped forward, lifeless. Selis wiped her face, her eyes wild. "I told you to run." "Fuck that," Kael panted. "We’re in this together." A familiar voice cut through the night. "So touching. But it won’t save you." Kael’s stomach turned to ice. Darius. He emerged from the shadows, his golden eyes gleaming with sadistic amusement. His sword was drawn, its blade still slick with blood from his last kill. Behind him, more assassins fanned out, blocking any hope of escape. Selis stiffened. "Shit." Kael tightened his grip on his sword. "I was hoping you’d bleed out, brother." Darius chuckled. "And I was hoping you'd just accept your fate. But here we are. You've made quite a mess, Kael. Did you really think you could just walk away? That I'd let you?" Kael spat blood onto the ground. "I don't give a fuck what you let me do." Darius exhaled, shaking his head. "Always the stubborn one. But it's time to end this." With a flick of his wrist, he motioned his men forward. The assassins lunged. Kael barely had time to raise his sword before the first one was on him. Their blades met in a violent clash, sparks flying as steel ground against steel. He twisted, dodging a second strike, and drove his knee into the attacker's gut. Selis moved like a ghost, slipping between foes, her daggers slicing through the flesh with merciless precision. She dodged one assassin's swing and plunged her blade into his armpit, twisting until his scream turned into a wet gurgle. Kael caught a glimpse of Darius watching, unmoving. Enjoying the show. "F*cking coward," Kael growled, cutting down another attacker. "Too scared to face me yourself?" Darius sneered. "Oh, I'll get my turn. But I want to see you suffer first." Kael narrowly avoided the strike. A razor-sharp knife cut into his thigh a slight wound, but enough to take him off guard. He clamped down, biting through pain as he propelled himself onward and forward, driven by rage to continue to attack. Selis let out a strangled cry. Kael spun round only just in time to see one of the assassins sink the blade into her stomach. "No!" He leapt forward, his sword arcing across the attacker's neck in a macabre curve. The man's head thudded into the ground. Selis staggered, pressing her hands over her wound. Blood seeped through her fingers, staining her clothes. She looked up at Kael, her eyes wide with shock, lips parted. "Damn it," she panted. "That's bad." He grabbed her before she could hit the ground. "Don't go. Just hold on, damn it." Darius sighed. "How disappointing. I expected much more from her." Kael's anger flared. He set Selis down carefully and turned to his brother. "You're going to pay for that." Darius sneered, raising his sword. "Then come and make me." Kael charged. The world blurred as he swung, every ounce of fury pouring into his strikes. Darius met him blow for blow, their swords clashing in a brutal, deadly rhythm. Kael's muscles screamed in protest, but he didn't stop. He couldn't. Then, Darius feinted a deliberate, calculated misstep. Kael took the bait. Darius' blade flashed, cutting deep into Kael's side. Pain exploded through him, white-hot and searing. He stumbled, his grip on his sword faltering. Darius laughed. "You always were predictable." Kael fell to his knees, blood pooling beneath him. He barely registered Selis' weak, gasping breaths behind him. Darius knelt beside him, gripping his hair, forcing him to look up. "This is where it ends, little brother. Any last words?" Kael smirked, blood dripping from his lips. "Yeah. F*ck you." Darius sighed. "Typical." Then, he drove his sword forward.
Previous Chapter
Related Chapters
Shadow Born Legacy Chapter 8: The End of the Line
The world smudged for Kael as the point of Darius's blade crept closer to his throat. His blood flowed unimpeded, and his body felt like it was shutting down, each passing second more excruciating than the last. He had thrown everything he could, every iota of his strength, but all seemed to go for naught. His eyesight began to darken, and for a second, he almost welcomed it.But then Selis's voice burst through the fog, weak but desperate."Kael!"The sound of her gasp cut through the night air, and Kael's eyes snapped open, his heart pounding in his chest. Selis her blood-stained body crumpled against the alley wall was still alive. And for a brief second, that thought ignited something inside him. A glimmer of defiance. A reason to keep going.Darius's blade was a mere inches from Kael's neck, yet the bastard savored it, watching him squirm."I've always wanted to see you break, Kael," Darius whispered, his voice cold and venomous. "This is what you get for trying to run. For tryin
Shadow Born Legacy Chapter 9: A Trail of Blood
The shadows closed in on Kael like a suffocating fog, the night air thick with the scent of death. His muscles screamed with pain as the strange elixir worked its twisted magic, healing his wounds with unnatural speed. But it wasn't enough. Not nearly enough. His body was still reeling from the brutal assault, his mind racing with the realization that the fight was far from over. That the real nightmare was just beginning.The footsteps came again, slow and deliberate, the sound echoing off the crumbling walls of the ruined city. Kael's grip tightened on his sword, the steel still slick with blood. He could hear them now, the killers closing in, their whispers like cold winds on his neck."Fucking bastards," he muttered under his breath.Selis lay motionless, her body crumpled against the alley wall. Her blood began spreading out across the ground. Kael's stomach twisted and dropped, but he pushed his emotions aside. Now was no time to let things get weak and fall apart. Not now when
Shadow Born Legacy Chapter 10: Last Stand
Kael's pulse pounded in his ears, the blood surging through him like a tidal wave, drowning everything else out. The figure before him moved with terrifying grace, the curved blade glinting in the dim light.He wasn't human, not entirely his movements were too smooth, too deliberate, and his eyes.Those cold, calculating eyes were filled with nothing but death. The last of the Shadowborne, the one Kael had not yet encountered, had finally shown his face.The figure took another step forward, his blade raised, the wicked smile on his lips barely visible under his hood. “You’ve been a thorn in my side for too long, Kael.”Kael's breathing rose in ragged gasps; the blood staining his clothes was heavy as his body fought to stay upright. The wild elixir that the enigmatic man had given him was a short-lived spurt of power, but it wasn't near enough.His wounds were deep, and the sear in his muscles began burning steadily. His grip on the sword was slackening."Not today, you son of a bitc
Shadow Born Legacy Chapter 10: Last Stand
Kael's pulse pounded in his ears, the blood booming through his body like a tidal wave, drowning out everything else.The figure before him moved with terrifying ease, the curved blade glinting in the dim light. He wasn't human, not exactly his movements were far too smooth, too deliberate, and his eyes. Those cold, calculating eyes held nothing but death.The last of the Shadowborne, the one Kael had not yet encountered, had finally shown his face.The figure took another step forward, his blade raised, the wicked smile on his lips barely visible under his hood. “You’ve been a thorn in my side for too long, Kael.”Kael gasped for ragged breaths, his blood-soaked clothing heavy as he struggled to maintain his posture. The strange elixir of the enigmatic stranger had afforded him a mere moment of respite in the battle, and it was over. His wounds were deep, and the burning inside his muscles continued unabated; his grip on the sword slipped.The figure's lips curled into a slow, predat
Shadow Born Legacy Chapter 11: A World of Ashes
Kael's legs shook beneath him, the pain of his wounds drawing him down to the ground, but he couldn't fall. Blood welled up around his boots and spread through the wet, dark alley to become a crimson nightmare.His breath panted out in rough gasps, his sword a dead weight in his hand, screaming from every inch of his body, his muscles protesting in sheer defiance. But he wasn't done yet. Not when more death was closing in.The footsteps came faster now, a cacophony of boots hitting the wet cobblestones, and Kael's eyes darted around the alley. The figures emerged from the shadows, their silhouettes black and predatory, their movements deliberate, as though they knew their prey was weak, already at the brink.Kael's heart thudded in his chest. His fingers tightened around his sword as he stumbled into a defensive stance, though every muscle in his body screamed at him to lie down and die."Where's your savior now, Kael?" one of the figures sneered, his voice rough with amusement. "Isn'
Shadow Born Legacy Chapter 12: Through the Fire
Kael breathed in shallow gasps, his chest heaving as he strained to stay upright. The warrior beside him was a blur of motion, a whirlwind of death, slicing through the last of the assassins with precision akin to that of a seasoned predator. Bodies littered the alley, blood thick in the air, but Kael's mind was solely focused on one thing: survival.More would come. They always did.But this time, Kael wasn't waiting to die.He stumbled forward, forcing himself to stand upright, his sword still clutched in his bloody hand. His vision swam, but he gritted his teeth, blinking away the dizziness that threatened to pull him under. The warrior glanced at him, his expression unreadable as he wiped the blood from his blades, his movements so fluid they almost seemed inhuman.Stay on your feet, Kael," the warrior growled. "If you want to make it out alive, you need to move faster.Kael shot him a glare, but there was no time for a response. From the shadows ahead, more figures emerged, their
Shadow Born Legacy Chapter 13: Ashes & Awakening
The first thing that Kael felt was pain.A low, searing pain pulsated from his sternum; his body groaned in dread as if he were melting into blackness.His ears buzzed, a dull, choking hum, the sound of everything else drowning out. Was he dead?No.The hurt was too genuine, too piercing.His heartbeat, though weak and steady, thumped against his skull like a drum of war, pulling him back from the edge of the void.Then came the cold.Something slick and wet was pressed against his skin, the unmistakable chill of stone underneath his back.He struggled to open his eyes, but the world swirled in reds and blacks.Torchlight flickered, casting the dancing shadows in shapes too grotesque for his frazzled mind.He attempted to shift, but a wave of pain washed over him, and a jagged gasp fell from his throat.He was alive but barely.A voice broke from the fog of his thoughts, low and laced with muted humor."You should be dead."Kael’s pulse spiked. He knew that voice.Knew it the way he k
Shadow Born Legacy chapter 14: Blood and Betrayal
Kael followed the strange woman through the winding tunnels, the cold night air spiky against his skin.His legs trembled, and his chest seared with every inhale, yet he forced himself to keep moving.He had no choice.She moved like a wraith silent, contained, each footstep in exactly the right place.The dagger Kael had begun with, the one she'd handed him earlier, still held fast by white-knuckled fingers.He didn't trust her.He couldn't.But she was his only way out.In the distance, a torch flared and sent quick slashes of light across the damp stone walls.Dirt, perspiration, and dried blood clung heavily in the air.Kael’s mind was spinning with questions, but his instincts told him that the smart thing to do was to shut up.He sought answers, but first he had to escape alive.Eventually, after an eternity, the woman stopped.Braced against the wall, head tilted just so to hear the unseen.So did Kael, holding his breath.Silence.Then a distant rustling of movement in front.
Latest Chapter
Chapter 75: Rewriting Fate
Mina's footsteps rang out in the darkness, the sand grinding beneath her boots as she stepped further into the center of the Ashglass Desert. It seemed as if the desert itself was observing her, the wind carrying whispers she was not yet prepared to hear. The moon, bloated and ghostly, hung like a lantern in the sky, casting long shadows across the desolate landscape.She had no way of knowing how long she'd walked. Time had lost all meaning. The world around her was a twist endless night and horizonless sands that moved forever. But she could not stop.Kaiza was inside somewhere.Somewhere inside the Sanctum Orbis, a secret crypt that had remained hidden for centuries. Myths talked about it as the birth of all tales, the very spot where ink and paper had first crossed paths, where the Author had penned the world into being. It was claimed that within its decaying walls, the Tear in the Story lay a tear in the fabric of reality where one could remake anything. And at present, that was
The Ink of Sacrifice
The Vault had fallen silent.Ashes of lost memories swirled like snowflakes around them. Where there was once the Redacted King — wrathful and enraged — lay now a blackened seal burned into the stone floor. It glowed weakly, like a flickering pulse of life.Kaiza floated inches from the ground, his form no longer fully his.Lines of writing moved under his skin, rewriting and shifting with each breath. Each second he was alive now was a draft, wavering between what he was and what he might be. His eyes no longer contained irises, only ink, dark and old, stacked with unnamed languages.Mina crawled towards him, her voice shaking."Kaiza, it's me. Come back.He gazed at her, and for an instant, she saw him. Really saw him.Not the damned boy who lived through death and mermaids.But the man who'd traded fate for liberty."Mina," his voice was like static. "You must go. The Vault will not hold."The walls shook once more, ink seeping from the crevices. The Redacted King had not been kill
Chapter 73: The Tide That Never Sleeps
The salt stuck to them well after they departed from the sea.Kaiza rested under the decaying arch of a ruined lighthouse, his clothing still wet, hair stuck to his brow in dripping ringlets. His left hand ached — not from the Pen of Recursion any longer, but from something within him, something ancient. Something's stirring.Mina knelt beside the fading fire Soryn had constructed out of driftwood and anger. She didn't say anything. Not since they emerged. Not since the sea whispered something in her ear before releasing her.Soryn finally spoke."The god we bound…" Her voice was rough. "It wasn't the only one, was it?"Kaiza's eyes never left the black sky. "No. That was only the beginning memory. There are others waiting to be recalled.""Or revised," Mina spoke low, her voice barely audible. "Because that's what we do now. Writers of the lost."A gull screamed overhead, cold and isolated.Elsewhere…Away from the sea, across parched deserts where no water had kissed earth in decade
Chapter 72: The Salt in Her Blood
The salt seared her lips.Mina lurched ahead, boots crunching on the salt-crusted rocks of the flooded temple. Water trickled from the ceiling like blood from an open wound. Above her, sunlight filtered through the shattered ribs of the dome, a broken recollection of the sea.She had been following the call.Not Kaiza's, although her heart wept with his loss.No, this one came from something deeper. Older.From them.The mermaids.Not the ones who raised her.The ones who waited.The ones who still breathed her name in the marrow of the world.She approached the altar at the center of the room. It glowed dimly with blue light, vibrating with the beat of a faraway heartbeat. Mina looked down at the reflection in the shallow water gathered on the surface of the stone.Not her face.Not quite.Her eyes were darker, deeper. Her skin glimmered faintly, as if moonlight had passed through water. Gills haunted the shape of her neck.Something within her was waking."Do you recall your purpose
Chapter 71 The Echo Between Pages
The stars were disappearing.Not all at once. Not like a light switch being flipped off but dwindling, softly, one by one, as if something was slowly scrubbing the sky away.Kaiza stood at the ridge's edge, the blood-stained page held hard in his fist. Soryn's breathing next to him was harsh and strained. They had lived through gods, rewrites, and the end of time itself. But this… this was different.This wasn't chaos.It was precision."'This world belongs to the forgotten now,'" Kaiza quoted, her eyes narrowing. "What does it even mean?"Soryn remained silent. She returned her gaze to Velhallow, where sparks of fire danced across the skyline, lanterns being lit by citizens attempting to be normal in a world that no longer knew what normal was.But then she saw it.Perched atop the central tower, the Tower of Testament, an ember of black flame.It did not glow. It consumed.And on all sides, the sky quivered.Soryn clamped Kaiza's wrist. "We need to leave immediately."Velhallow—Tower
Chapter 70: The Unwritten Rebellion
The Pen of Possibility floated in the air, quivering with unseen power. It shone with a soft, ethereal light like it knew Kaiza's determination but was afraid of the decision he was preparing to make.Soryn was at his side, silent but watchful. Lioran breathed shallowly, his gaze darting between the ink-filled room and Kaiza's motionless body. The silence was palpable too heavy like the world itself was holding its breath.Kaiza at last extended his hand to grasp the pen.The chamber throbbed, responding to his touch. The parchment walls blazed not in flame, but in billowing glyphs and runes that twirled in spirals, with glimpses of his history. The coward of the Second Rewrite, the dictator of the Fourth, the martyr of the Fifth… and the dreamer of the First.They were all looking at him now.But he did not quake.Kaiza fell on his knee, took a deep breath, and started writing.Let there be one truth. Let the Sixth Rewrite be not a correction… but a culmination. Let pain have meaning
Chapter 69: The Sixth Rewrite
The winds had shifted.Kaiza sensed it even before the temple bells tolled in Hollow City—the grinding slowness of fate twisting once more. For weeks, there had been peace. The sky above no longer ripped apart with the creaking of shattered timelines. The streets of Hollow City teemed with individuals rediscovering how to live.But deep within, Kaiza knew peace was borrowed time.He stood upon the topmost balcony of the Hall of Echoes, the ruin now refashioned into white stone and twilight sigils. The Pen of Undoing was lost, broken at the close of the Fifth Rewrite. But his mind was still a razor's edge—carved into him as a second self.Below, the city pulsed with life again.Children giggled. The Tethered had assumed new names, new meaning. They cultivated gardens on top of ancient ruins. Lioran's name was a silent prayer among them—whispered at dawn, when the light was gentle and the air was full of memory.Soryn sat down beside him with two mugs of spiced tea, her hair tied back,
Chapter 68: The Echo of the Unwritten
The dreams grew darker now.Not distorted by fear or sorrow but by the shadow of something forgotten. Kaiza stood in a forest that glimmered like paper trapped between worlds. Trees leaned backward. The earth breathed. And above, a blank sky throbbed like the pages of an unread book.In this dream, he wasn't alone.Standing in the clearing was a copy of himself—same voice, same height, but empty. Eyeless. Pale skin like parchment. Its mouth moved open and shut silently, its fingers smeared in ink that refused to dry."Give me the ending," it mouthed, again and again.Kaiza awoke to Soryn yelling his name.He panted, soaked with sweat, and surveyed the apartment they had occupied in the midst of Hollow City's reconstruction quarter. The dawn was not yet come, yet the horizon flushed pale blue toward morning.Soryn positioned herself by the window, the hand emitting the faint afterglow of remaining sigil energy an instinctual guard in the event he sprang at her during sleep.Kaiza drew
Chapter 67: In the Inkstorm
The black tower yawned in front of them, towering, written into a million lines of evil literature, each with words that wheezed nastiness. And this was the core of the Fifth Rewrite, the last citadel of Kairen the impostor writer, the treacherous brother.Kaiza and Soryn stood on the precipice of madness.Wind composed of shredded parchment whipped around them. Ink fell from the air like rain, soaking into the earth and becoming distorted forms of memories, skeletons of decisions they had never taken. A Kaiza who had murdered Soryn. A Soryn who had become the Shadowborne queen. All their nightmares were here. All their terrors had a voice.Nevertheless, they moved on.This world isn't just being rewritten," Soryn grumbled, dropping her hood low. "It's rewriting us."Kaiza's jaw clamped. "Then we don't let it."They stepped into the Inkstorm.It wasn't just weather; it was alive. Words hurled at them like daggers, embedding in their flesh, whispering lies into their bones.Kaiza stumb
