The Dark Blade: Return Of The General.

Chapter 17: Buried Truths

Jacob stumbled backward, shaking his head violently. "No. That is not possible. I would remember having a twin brother. I would remember my own family."

"Would you?" Roseline asked quietly. She reached into her jacket and withdrew a small tablet device. "Jacob, there is something you need to see. I have been investigating your family history since we reconnected. What I found was disturbing."

She tapped the screen several times, then turned it toward Jacob. The display showed classified military documents marked with security clearances far above anything civilian authorities could access.

Jacob stared at the screen, his eyes scanning the text with growing horror. At the top of the document was a birth certificate—dated twenty-seven years ago, listing Miranda and Thomas Krigg as parents. But instead of one child, the certificate showed twins.

"Jacob Alexander Krigg and Elijah Marcus Krigg," Jacob read aloud, his voice barely a whisper. "Born three minutes apart on the same day."

"Keep reading," Roseline urged gently.

Jacob scrolled through the documents. Medical records showing two healthy baby boys. Childhood photographs that should have existed but were mysteriously missing from all family albums. School registration forms that listed two children, then suddenly showed only one after age five.

Then he found the report that explained everything.

"Psychological evaluation of Elijah Marcus Krigg, age five years," Jacob read, his hands trembling so badly he could barely hold the tablet. "Subject shows extreme antisocial tendencies, violent outbursts toward twin brother Jacob, and concerning fascination with fire and death. Parents request immediate intervention."

The next document was stamped with red letters: CLASSIFIED—FAMILY RELOCATION AUTHORIZED.

"What does that mean?" Anna asked, looking over Jacob's shoulder at the screen.

Roseline's expression was grim. "It means the government authorized your parents to remove Elijah from your lives completely. They sent him to a specialized facility for children with dangerous psychological disorders."

Jacob felt like the ground was crumbling beneath his feet. "They told everyone he died. They held a funeral. I remember—" He stopped, his eyes widening. "No. I do not remember. I should remember my own brother's funeral, but there is nothing there. Just blank space where memories should be."

"Memory suppression therapy," Roseline explained. "Your parents were trying to protect you from the trauma of having a brother who wanted to kill you. They erased your memories of Elijah completely."

Anna touched Jacob's arm gently. "The healing I performed on you—it was not just physical. I poured energy directly into your neural pathways to accelerate your recovery. That kind of deep healing might have reinforced the memory blocks your parents put in place."

Jacob's legs gave out, and he sank to the ground among the rubble and ash. His entire identity was fracturing before his eyes. The massacre he had spent fifteen years trying to avenge—had it been orchestrated by his own brother?

"Show me more," Jacob demanded, his voice hard and cold. "Show me everything."

Roseline scrolled through additional files. Records of Elijah's time in the facility showed a brilliant but deeply disturbed child who manipulated staff, started fires, and once nearly killed another patient. At age twelve, doctors recommended permanent institutionalization.

Then, fifteen years ago, all records stopped abruptly.

"The facility burned down the same night as your family massacre," Roseline said quietly. "Twenty-three people died in that fire, including most of the staff and several high-security patients. Elijah's body was never found."

"Because he started that fire too," Jacob realized, the pieces falling into horrible place. "He burned down his prison, then went straight to our family home and murdered everyone. He staged it to look like a conspiracy, a planned assassination, when really it was just one sick child killing his own family."

Anna knelt beside him, the Mirror of Souls still glowing faintly in her hand. "The artifact is showing me more. Elijah did not work alone that night. He had help—people who wanted the Krigg family dead for their own reasons. He made a deal with them. He would eliminate his family and let them blame it on their enemies, and in return, they would help him build power until he was ready to return."

"The Crimson Dawn," Jacob breathed. "He has been working with them all along. While I was training to become strong enough to avenge my family, he was building an army to destroy everything our family stood for."

Roseline's tablet chimed with an incoming message. Her face went pale as she read it. "Jacob, we have another problem. Someone just posted your location on multiple dark web forums. Every assassin and bounty hunter in Seron will know you are here within minutes."

"Let them come," Jacob said, rising to his feet with cold determination. "I have fought armies before. A few assassins do not scare me."

"That is not what worries me," Roseline replied. She turned the tablet to show him a live video feed. "Look at this."

The video showed the Tate family mansion. Or rather, what remained of it after the earlier explosion. The feed switched to an interior view—the grand hallway where Jacob had first met Anna's family.

The Tate family knelt on the floor in a line, their hands bound behind their backs. Anna's sister Aria was sobbing uncontrollably. Her mother Elizabeth looked defiant despite obvious fear. Other family members Jacob recognized from the marriage ceremony all wore expressions of terror.

Standing behind them was a figure in black armor, his face hidden behind a mask identical to the one Jacob had worn as the Dark Blade. Even through the video feed, Jacob could sense the menace radiating from him.

The masked figure reached up and removed his helmet, revealing a face that was both familiar and horrifying. It was like looking in a mirror that showed a twisted, corrupted version of himself. Same features, same build, but marked by that terrible scar and eyes that held nothing but madness and rage.

Elijah Krigg spoke directly to the camera, his voice a dark echo of Jacob's own. "Hello, brother. Surprised to see me? You should not be. Blood always calls to blood, and the Krigg bloodline has unfinished business."

He walked along the line of hostages, trailing his fingers across their shoulders like a predator selecting prey. "I am at the Tate family mansion with your dear wife's relatives. Such a lovely family. It would be a shame if something happened to them."

Elijah stopped behind Aria and pulled out a knife, pressing it to her throat. She whimpered in terror.

"Here is my offer, Jacob. You come to me. Alone. No weapons, no tricks, no backup. You surrender yourself and the artifacts you have collected. Do this, and I will let these people live." His smile was cruel and cold. "Refuse, and I start killing them one by one until you change your mind."

To demonstrate his seriousness, Elijah gestured to someone off-camera. Three bodies were dragged into view—servants from the Tate household, their throats cut, their blood pooling on the expensive carpet.

"I have already killed three to show I mean business," Elijah continued. "The next three will die in exactly one hour if you do not arrive. Then three more every hour after that until you come, or until I run out of hostages. Your choice, brother."

The video feed cut to black.

Jacob stared at the blank screen, his mind calculating options and strategies. Every instinct screamed that this was a trap designed specifically to kill him. Elijah wanted him emotional, reckless, and alone.

But those were Anna's family members. Despite how terribly they had treated her, they were still her blood relatives. If Jacob let them die, Anna would never forgive him. More importantly, he would never forgive himself.

"It is a trap," Roseline stated unnecessarily. "He wants you dead, Jacob. If you go alone, you will not come back."

"I know," Jacob replied calmly. He looked at Anna, whose glowing eyes had returned to normal but still carried that otherworldly awareness. "But I do not have a choice. Those people are your family, Anna. I cannot let them die because of me."

Anna grabbed his arm desperately. "Jacob, no. You heard Roseline. It is a trap. Elijah will kill you the moment you arrive."

"Probably," Jacob agreed. He cupped her face gently in his hands. "But I am the Dark Blade. I have survived impossible odds before. And this time, I have something my brother does not."

"What?" Anna asked through tears.

Jacob smiled grimly. "I have you. And Roseline. And people who will fight for me instead of just using me." He turned to Roseline. "I am going to the Tate mansion. But I am not going alone, and I am not going unprepared."

Before Roseline could respond, Leo burst through the warehouse entrance, his face covered in blood and his eyes wild with panic.

"Sir!" Leo gasped, nearly collapsing from exhaustion. "Thank God I found you. We have a massive problem."

"I know about Elijah and the hostages," Jacob said. "I am already preparing—"

"It is worse than that," Leo interrupted desperately. "He is not just at the Tate mansion. He is broadcasting everything live on the dark web. Half of Seron's underworld is watching. And he just made another announcement."

Leo pulled out his phone with shaking hands and played an audio clip. Elijah's voice filled the warehouse with dark promises.

"My dear brother thinks he is a hero. The great Dark Blade, savior of the innocent. So let us test that heroism. Every hour you delay, I kill three hostages. But here is the interesting part—I am letting the internet decide which three die. People are voting right now on who should be executed first."

The audio clip ended, leaving horrified silence in its wake.

Jacob's blood turned to ice. This was not just about killing hostages. Elijah had turned it into entertainment, into a sick game where thousands of anonymous criminals would choose who lived and who died.

"How long until the first execution?" Jacob asked quietly.

Leo checked his phone. "Fifty-three minutes. And sir... Aria Tate is currently winning the vote."