In the isolated peaks of Mount Umbra, where the winds howled like restless spirits and the shadows stretched long beneath the moon, stood the Shadowborne Estate.It was a fortress of silent death, an impenetrable labyrinth of gothic spires and hidden corridors. Within these walls, legends were not spoken they were carved in blood.The Shadowborne name was feared across kingdoms. They were the masters of the unseen kill, the architects of whispered demise.Each generation bred assassins of unparalleled skill, molded through discipline, brutality, and an unwavering loyalty to the family's code. Among them was Kael Shadowborne, the youngest heir to this dark dynasty.Kael knew no other life than behind these walls. Since the day he learned to walk, the harsh realities of the bloody lore hanging over them had defined him, trained him to brandish a dagger before he knew how to hold a quill, taught him that feeling was a sin and hesitation, death.Yet, unlike his siblings, he harbored quest

Kael's body crashed onto the cold, rain-slicked cobblestones. Ragged gasps came with every breath as he lay there weak and his limbs trembling in fatigue and agony, but the fire within his mind burned hotter than ever. Blood smells thick in the air: the sickly perfume of death clinging to his skin. Around him, the city had become a mass grave, bodies twisted in grotesque final poses, the streets painted in a viscous red sheen that shimmered beneath the pale glow of lantern light.Darius stood over him, the black steel of his sword glistening with the lifeblood of the innocent. His expression was one of disappointment, his golden eyes filled with something worse than hatred: amusement. The elder brother, the perfect assassin, the embodiment of everything the Shadowborne were meant to be. Kael had long feared Darius, but now, as he lay on the brink of death, that fear mutated into something else: a murderous resolve."You always were the weakest," Darius murmured, wiping a splatter of b

The city's bell tolled like a death knell, its echoes swallowed by the thick smoke curling through the ruined streets. The scent of burning flesh clung to the air, mixing with the putrid stench of spilled intestines and drying blood.Kael staggered against a half-collapsed wall, his breath ragged, his side burning from the wound that carved through his flesh. The stranger’s words still echoed in his mind, but there was no time to dwell on their meaning.Reinforcements were coming.He heard them before he saw them the rhythmic march of boots against stone, the clanking of armor, the murmur of voices exchanging orders. The Shadowborne's elite hunters had arrived.These were not city guards or common foot soldiers. These were killers trained in the same art as Kael, assassins raised from childhood to perfect the craft of death.A hiss of steel echoed through the air as Kael pulled a discarded sword from the corpse at his feet. His daggers were still strapped to his belt, but he would nee

The 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

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