The Forsaken Heir: Rise of the Shadow Monarch

Chapter 6: First Blood

 

The assassin's smile never reached his eyes.

"So..." he said softly, balancing effortlessly on the thick branch above Kael. "I finally found you."

Kael sprang to his feet, every trace of exhaustion replaced by raw adrenaline.

"Who are you?"

The cloaked figure chuckled.

"A question from a dead man."

Without another word, he vanished.

Kael's eyes widened.

Where did he—

A flash of steel sliced through the air.

Instinct took over.

Kael threw himself sideways just as a curved dagger slashed past his neck, missing him by no more than an inch. The blade carved a deep groove into the tree behind him.

The assassin landed lightly, his movements silent as a shadow.

"Not bad," he mused. "Most fugitives freeze."

Kael backed away, his heartbeat pounding in his ears.

"I don't want to fight."

"You don't get to choose."

The assassin lunged.

Kael barely raised his forearm in time. The dagger scraped against the iron chain still hanging from one of his wrists, sending sparks into the darkness.

Pain shot through his arm.

The force of the blow threw him backward.

He crashed into a fallen log and gasped for air.

The assassin didn't rush him.

Instead, he circled slowly, like a wolf testing injured prey.

"I've hunted men twice your age," he said. "None survived longer than a minute."

Kael clenched his fists.

He had never fought anyone who truly wanted to kill him.

Not with wooden swords.

Not with village bullies.

This was different.

This was death.

The assassin attacked again.

His dagger became a blur.

Kael ducked one strike.

Another cut across his shoulder.

A third grazed his ribs.

Warm blood soaked through his torn shirt.

He stumbled, breathing hard.

I'm too slow...

The assassin sighed.

"I expected more."

He disappeared once again.

Kael spun frantically.

Nothing.

The forest had become eerily quiet.

Even the insects had stopped singing.

Then—

A sharp pain exploded across his back.

He cried out as the dagger carved a long wound between his shoulders.

His knees buckled.

The assassin stepped out from behind him, wiping the blade clean.

"You disappoint me."

Kael collapsed to one knee.

His vision blurred.

Blood dripped onto the forest floor.

So this is how it ends...

The thought brought an unexpected calm.

He had escaped the execution only to die in a lonely forest.

No one would know the truth.

No one would remember his name.

The assassin slowly approached, raising his dagger for the final strike.

"Rest easy."

Kael lowered his head.

His left hand touched the ground.

The black mark burned.

A deep, familiar heartbeat echoed within him.

Thump.

The same voice returned.

"Live."

Kael's eyes snapped open.

A surge of cold power raced through his body.

The shadows beneath the trees trembled.

The assassin stopped.

"What?"

Without thinking, Kael thrust his hand forward.

The shadow beneath the assassin's feet twisted violently.

Long black tendrils erupted from the ground like living chains.

The assassin's eyes widened.

He leaped backward just before the tendrils wrapped around his ankles.

"What kind of magic—"

The tendrils chased him.

They moved like serpents, striking again and again.

The assassin rolled beneath one attack, sliced another apart, then vaulted into the air.

Kael stared at his own hand.

I did that...?

He hadn't cast a spell.

He hadn't spoken an incantation.

It had happened instinctively.

The assassin landed on a nearby boulder, breathing a little harder than before.

"So you've begun to awaken."

Kael slowly stood.

His wounds still hurt, but the strange energy inside him dulled the pain.

"I don't know what's happening."

"I believe you."

The assassin reached into his cloak and withdrew a second dagger.

"This just became interesting."

He charged.

This time, Kael didn't panic.

As the blades flashed toward him, he moved on instinct.

The shadows around his feet stretched upward, forming a dark barrier.

Clang!

Steel struck darkness.

The barrier rippled but held.

The assassin frowned.

"Impossible."

Kael swung his arm.

The barrier burst apart, sending black spikes toward his attacker.

The assassin twisted away, but one spike grazed his cheek, drawing blood.

He landed several meters away and touched the cut.

When he looked at the blood on his fingertips, he laughed.

A low, amused laugh.

"It's been years since anyone made me bleed."

Kael remained silent, struggling to control his breathing.

The shadows around him writhed restlessly, responding to every emotion he felt.

Fear.

Anger.

Confusion.

They fed on them all.

The assassin studied him for a long moment.

Then, unexpectedly...

He lowered both daggers.

"I've confirmed what I came to see."

Kael blinked.

"You're leaving?"

"For now."

He turned away.

Before disappearing into the darkness, he paused.

"There was once a man who looked at the world exactly as you do."

Kael frowned.

"What are you talking about?"

The assassin glanced back over his shoulder.

Moonlight illuminated Kael's face.

His silver eyes gleamed like polished metal.

The assassin's confident smile slowly faded.

For the first time that night...

His expression became one of genuine shock.

He whispered, almost to himself,

"...You have his eyes."

Before Kael could ask what he meant, the assassin vanished into the darkness, leaving behind only silence—and a mystery far more terrifying than the battle itself.