The Ruins of ShadowborneThe wind whistled through the broken hulk of the watchtower, bringing with it the smell of blood and blackened stone.Kael's muscles protested as he forced himself upright, the drag of tiredness weighing upon his limbs.The shadows around them were abnormally thick darker than night itself, writhing as if it were alive, watching.Selene was kneeling beside him, applying pressure to her injured shoulder. Her black eyes, still burning with adrenaline, met Kael's."We have to get out of here," she stated, her tone strained with pain but authoritative.Dain cursed, turning onto his side."No debate." His face was covered in dirt and blood, and he gritted his teeth as he held his ribs.Kael willed his mind to concentrate beyond the pain.The words of the Bloodbound continued to rend his thoughts."You were never meant to be free, Kael."The Shadowborne legacy wasn't constructed on mere skill.It was constructed on something more. Something older.His fists curled.

The night sky bled crimson.Kael stood at the edge of a jagged cliff, overlooking the ruins below. The First Altar lay hidden within the valley, an ancient place lost to time. But now, its location was no longer a secret.Because it was burning.Flames licked the remains of stone pillars, casting shadows against the mountainside. Figures moved within the firelight not just one enemy but two.The Black Sigil had come first. Their troops had encircled the altar in an iron curtain, swords flashing under the flames. But they were not the only ones.The Bloodbound had come too.Selene swore. "That's not good."Dain took a harsh breath. "Understatement of the damn century."Kael curled his fists. His veins continued to vibrate with the strength he had roused in the cavern. He had only just begun to comprehend it, and now he could not help but employ it.The woman beside him wore a mask of ivory, its glow in the light of the flames. "They intend to ruin the altar before you can arrive," she

The gates to Shadowborne Estate loomed before them, black iron, encircled with sigils of binding and blood.Kael stood in the doorway, his pulse racing. And this place he had once called home lay dead, awaiting burial.Mist curled at their feet, slithering between the black teeth of the jagged stones like something alive.The estate’s towers loomed against a sky pregnant with storm, their silhouettes raking the heavens.Dain repositioned his hold on his sword.“It’s quiet. Too quiet.”Selene’s gaze darted toward the battlements.“They know we’re here.”Kael nodded. “They’ve been waiting.”Then.The doors creaked open by themselves.A silent invitation.Kael exhaled sharply. No turning back.They stepped inside.The great hall stretched before them, a monument of black stone and forgotten reverberations.Torches flared with blue flame, dancing light across looming columns.At the back of the chamber, an obsidian throne loomed on a dais. Empty. Waiting.And then.A shape stepped out of t

The world was too quiet.Too still.Asha knelt next to Ethan, blood pooled beneath the wound, his breathing shallow, his pulse weak beneath her fingers. His body was cold, and his veins still ran dark from whatever had attempted to claim him.The crevices through which the hand had come were closed and sealed as if they had never existed.But Asha knew the truth.And then something had gone reaching for Ethan.And next time it wouldn’t miss.Kastiel stood a few feet away, arms crossed, watching the aftermath with disturbing glee.“Well,” he said, tilting his head. "That was dramatic."Asha shot him a glare. "Not. Now."Kastiel smirked but didn’t press.She looked back at Ethan, tightening her fingers around his wrist.“Ethan,” she said, whispering, voice urgent. "Wake up."Nothing.Then.The wind shifted.And the world changed.A Rift in TimeThe battlefield, the blood, the bodies, the ruins.Vanished.Asha’s breath caught.She was no longer standing in the wreckage.She was somewhere

Blood and fire smelled in the battlefield.The air was cloying with the reek of iron.Kael was amidst the wreckage of the Shadowborne Estate, his sword wet with the blood of those who had come to take him back.The Hollow Lords looked on from the shattered throne room balcony, their masks inscrutable.And beneath them, mercenary factions had amassed; gladiators for hire from every corner of the continent.Some had once been loyal to the shadowborne. Others had come to seize authority for themselves.Kael wiped blood away from his eye, his voice unwavering. “Is this all you have?”.A silver-armed Hollow Lord walked forward, her voice a whisper over broken glass.“You misunderstand, Kael.This is not a battle.This is your execution.”.The mercenaries charged, and Kael danced disappearing into the smoke of the estate fire.A blade hissed by his ear; he spun, writhing into a counterblow that buried his sword into the abdomen of the first cutthroat.Selene's steps were quicksilver, dagger