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Shadow Born Legacy Chapter 47: The Last Enemy
In the distance, Duskfall burned.Smoke billowed into the sky, dense and unyielding, as the final vestiges of the Hollow Lords’ reign crumbled into chaos and blood.Kael didn’t look back.The war was over.Ronan was alive but vanquished.And for the first time in his life, he was free.Selene walked next to him, silent, her steps careful but sure.Dain plodded a couple of paces behind, muttering obscenities. “I don’t like this.”Calia kept her distance. She hadn’t talked since the fight.Kael tightened his grip on the sword.They had won.But then why did it still feel like something was lurking for them in the dark?A Warning in the NightThey reached the southern edge of the city just before dawn.The air was cold, the sky striated with the first blush of evening.Dain sank down onto a fallen log, massaging his shoulder. “Alright. What now? ”Selene, breathing heavily back against a tree. "We leave."Kael nodded. "We disappear."Calia tilted her head. “And then what? ”Kael looked a
Shadow Born Legacy Chapter 48: A Shadow from the Past
The Blackthorn Company was on its way.Kael knew it.Even as they drew away from Duskfall, even as the flames of the destroyed city receded from their view in the darkness behind them, he was certain.Sarai would not give up.She wasn't a bounty hunter or a mercenary.She was a hunter of hunters.And Kael was her quarry.The air was heavy with tension as they walked through the thick forest beyond the city. The remnants of the old world lay around them: shattered temples, deserted outposts, and artifacts of long-forgotten wars.It would've been the perfect hideaway.But Kael wasn't hiding.Not now.Selene led the way, her hands still clenched around her daggers.Dain followed behind her, his sword over his shoulder, still cursing under his breath.Calia, ever silent.Kael felt her eyes on him, looking at him.Waiting.She finally spoke."You knew her."Kael took a deep breath. "Yes."Calia's eyes narrowed. "She said you were one of them."Dain whistled low. "Now that's a juicy tidbit.
Shadow Born Legacy Chapter 49: Into the Lion’s Den
The Hunter had moved like death itself.Kaiza had little time to respond.Next, the masked figure was a motionless stalwart, inscrutable, as if waiting for him to make an error.The next.It stood ahead of him already.Its blade lunged for his heart, a single, precise stroke designed to kill him immediately.Kaiza’s instincts screamed.His body acted before his brain could catch up.His sword rose to block.But the Hunter’s blade was gone.Kaiza’s breath hitched. What?The next second.Pain.A brutal, unnatural pain sliced along his ribs, black iron penetrating his side from behind.Kaiza choked, doubling over, blood dripping to the fissured ground.The Hunter had passed through him.Like a shadow.Like a ghost.Kaiza’s chest expanded, his eyes blurring for a moment.It had been too fast.Too impossible.Soryn’s voice yelled from behind him."Kaiza!"He hardly turned in time before the Hunter tore its blade free and sent him stumbling forward.Soryn was already in motion, her golden e
Shadow Born Legacy Chapter 50: The Chains That Bind
The Breaking of ChainsPain seared like hot steel in Kael's veins, but he didn't relent.His wrists contorted, muscles straining as he tugged against the chains.Again. And again.A crack had appeared in the iron—tiny but spreading.His body cried out, his shoulder aching where Sarai had stabbed him.He could feel warm blood spreading beneath him, soaking into the icy stone floor.But pain didn't matter.Not now.Because if he failed, Selene, Dain, and Calia would be next.Kael clenched his teeth, letting out a sharp breath.Then—he pulled with all his strength.The first shackle gave way.A Rescue in MotionOutside the fortress, Selene huddled behind a ruined column, watching the guardsmen march at the walls of Emberhold.The night was heavy with tension.Calia stood at her shoulder, monitoring the flickering torchlight.Dain curled his fingers, his sword flashing like silver fire in the blackness."Fine," he grumbled. "One hell of a plan we have here."Selene let out a breath. "Kael
Shadow Born Legacy Chapter 51: The Blade’s Return
The sword was a good fit for Kael. The weight, the balance—it was more than an instrument of death. It belonged to him, an extension of his will, forged in blood and fire.On the other side of the war room, Sarai watched him with that same amused smirk, her violet eyes gleaming in the dim torchlight. She lounged on the long wooden table, fingertips lazily skimming the edge of a silver dagger, like this was all some game to her."That’s better, isn’t it?" she said lightly. "Reunited at last."Kael stood slowly, stretching his shoulders. “Pain lanced through his body, but he ignored it. Pain was a whisper. His fingers clutched the hilt of the sword, the leather-wrapped pommel familiar against his palm.“I’m done,” he said, voice low, steady. “You should have killed me when you could.Sarai sighed, as if disappointed. "You think I didn’t try?" Her lips curved. “But you’ve always been too stubborn to die well.”Dain scooched next to him, greatsword slung over his back, a lazy grin spreadin
Shadow Born Legacy Chapter 52: Blood and Betrayal
Kael's hand wrapped around the hilt of his sword.The instant the metal touched his hand, that familiar surge rushed through him: power, control, certainty.This sword had been with him for every war, every fight, and every loss.And now, it would be the sword that ended this.Sarai stood on the opposite side of the war table, smiling at him.She had tossed him the sword intentionally.Not as a token of surrender.But as an offer.A challenge.A test of whether he was still the same Kael she remembered or something worse.Behind him, Selene and Dain still stood ready, their hands still resting over their weapons.Calia, ever enigmatic.Kael slowly rose to his feet, sword in hand.His tone was steady and composed."No more games, Sarai."Her smile grew wider. "Then let's be done with it."Sarai was the first to move.Kael hardly noticed the change in her position before she was on him.Her sword arced toward his throat, swift, sharp, deadly.Kael deflected, steel clashing through the w
Shadow Born Legacy Chapter 53: A Blade in the Dark
The stars hung cold and distant over the ruined outpost.Kael sat against the cracked stone wall, cleaning the blood off his sword.The blade had always felt like an extension of himself, a part of his body, his mind, his rage.Tonight, it felt heavier.The events at Emberhold churned in his head like a storm refusing to settle.Calia’s betrayal.Sarai’s control.Ceylan’s strength.Kael had lost battles before, but never like this.Not when it cost him more than blood.Not when it cost him trust.A shadow glided beside him.Selene.Her golden eyes flashed in the faint torchlight. "You're not sleeping."Kael sneered, but it didn't touch his eyes. "Didn't know we were allowed to."Selene let out a breath, sitting down beside him.For a long moment, neither of them said anything.Then, she spoke softly: "She didn't kill you when she had the chance."Kael didn't respond.Selene stood against the wall, fingers closing tightly around the dagger at her hip."You know what that means, don't y
Shadow Born Legacy Chapter 54: The War of Existence
Calia’s warning came too late.The first arrow whistled through the air, barely missing Kael’s shoulder.The second slammed into Dain’s pauldron, knocking him back with a curse.Selene twisted aside as a third arrow shattered against the stone wall behind her.Kael’s instincts screamed.Move. Now.They had walked straight into Sarai’s trap.And there was only one way out.Through it.The Blackthorn Hunters StrikeThe first group of assassins fell from the rooftops, cloaks blowing as they silently landed in the courtyard.Six, Kael counted.No—seven.Each carrying curved daggers and long-range crossbows, their faces covered with obsidian masks.The crack Blackthorn Hunters.Dain growled. "I detest these quiet bastards."Selene's daggers flashed under the torchlight. "Then let's quiet them down."Kael did not delay.He charged forward, blade shining.A Dance of DeathThe first assassin charged; Kael dodged and plunged his sword into the man's ribs.A second assassin approached from behi
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Chapter 63: The Fires of Raven’s Hollow
The darkness of the night sky was painted with orange and black streaks. Fire from the burning armory writhed in the wind, with thick clouds of smoke billowing into the sky. The blaze was not just a diversion.It was a message.And Veyna would hear it loud and clear.Kael stood at the forest's edge, observing as Blackreach was aflame. The pilfered satchel of gold and weapons lay at his feet. Saren and Cassian flanked him, both panting from the close escape.Cassian swiped the sweat from his forehead. "You know she's going to come after us for this."Kael did not remove his gaze from the fortress. "That's the point."Saren snorted. "Boy, I hope you know what you're doing, because you just kicked the hornet's nest. And Veyna isn't the forgiving type."Kael turned at last, his eyes cold. "She wasn't supposed to be."The wind screamed through the trees. The far-off shouting echoed from the fortress as soldiers rushed to stem the chaos. Veyna's army would heal.But not before Kael took his
Chapter 62: A Silent Hunt
The evening air was heavy with the smell of blood and smoke. Kael's own breath was rasping gasps as he rode into the forest darkness, the wound a steady, burning pain that reminded him all too vividly that he still lived. Cassian and Lord Saren rode ahead of him, their shadows mere blurs in the moonlight.The trees stretched tall around them, their twisted limbs casting eerie shadows. Every rustle of the leaves, every crack of a branch, sent Kael’s instincts into overdrive.They weren’t safe.Veyna wouldn’t let them escape so easily.Cassian slowed his horse, glancing back at Kael. "We need to stop. You’re bleeding too much."Kael clenched his jaw. "We keep moving. They’ll send more."Lord Saren spun around in his saddle. "You've made yourself the enemy of the most deadly woman in the kingdom, boy. That wound will kill you before she even gets the chance if you don't stop and clean it."Kael knew they were correct, but each second they lingered was another second Veyna's army closed i
Chapter 61 The Choice
The halls of the prison were quiet.Not the kind of quiet that followed peace, but the kind that preceded violence.Selene was still on the hard stone floor, not moving, breathing slowly and carefully, listening.Footsteps.Two guards, by the sound of their weight. Their path never varied. They went to the cell in the distance, had a brief whispered conversation, then walked by hers.Same routine. Same error.They didn't expect her to still be awake.The moment they were out of sight, she moved.Slowly, she slipped her hand into the gap between the bricks by the floor—a tiny, almost imperceptible slit she had discovered two nights before. Her fingers stroked parchment.A note.She drew it out, hands steady, and unfolded the little piece of paper.There were only four words written."Be ready. Three days."No signature. No indication of who had slipped it in.But she knew.Kael.Selene crumpled the paper, stuffing it into her sleeve.Three days.Then it would all burn.Kael's BargainK
Chapter 60: A Throne of Chains
The iron shackles dug into Kael's wrists.They marched him through the destroyed city like a trophy.Emberhold, the battlefield it had once been, was now a conquered city under the flag of House Vaelor.Smoke drifted up into the air, the smell of ash and blood hanging in the air.His people his soldiers were brought to their knees behind him, their swords taken from them, their heads bowed.Selene knelt between Calia and Dain, her face in shadow, her golden eyes blazing with something treacherous.Kael felt her glare burning his back.Her anger was heavier than his chains.But she didn't know.None of them did.This wasn't the end.This was the beginning.Veyna believed she had won. That she had shattered him.But Kael was not broken.He was waiting.Lord Cassian Drayke stood by Veyna's side as they approached the great hall of Emberhold's keep.Cassian was looking at him once more. Quiet. Pensive.Kael still didn't know where Cassian's allegiances lay.A man without a cause is more d
The Queen’s Bargain
The air was heavy with the smell of blood and smoke.Kael remained still, his sword at his feet, the dull ring of steel on stone still echoing in his mind. Veyna's dagger was still pressed to the young rebel's throat, her silver eyes laughing."You made the right decision," she whispered, her voice as smooth as silk.Kael's fists were clenched at his sides. He breathed steadily, but below, a storm consumed him. He had seen the smirks on her soldiers' mouths. He had felt the weight of each watching gaze. They believed they'd crushed him.They were mistaken."Let him go," Kael stated, his tone cutting.Veyna cocked her head to one side, pretending to be interested. "And what promise do I have that you will not begin butchering my men the second I do?"Kael drew a slow breath. "Your word."Veyna's laughter was light. "Your word? A traitor's word? I apologize if I am not consoled."Selene, hidden in the midst of the commotion, shifted. Kael saw the movement out of the corner of his eye, h
Chapter 58: Dawn of Reckoning
It was a cold night.Kael sat by the fire alone, honing his blade in slow, careful strokes. The ring of steel on stone rang out in the stillness.The rebels who had managed to escape from the fall of Emberhold were resting or attending to their injuries.Dain sat closer by, arms folded, gazing into the fire, as Calia murmured orders to the injured.Selene hadn't said much since their flight. But Kael sensed her regarding him. Waiting.ThenFootsteps came.One of their scouts, a young woman named Ryn, emerged at the edge of the camp, her face white. "Kael. A rider arrived."Kael's hand on his sword tightened. "Where from?"Ryn hesitated. "Emberhold."The camp came alive. Selene stood at once, her golden eyes blazing. "House Vaelor?"Ryn swallowed. "They delivered a message for you."Kael rose. The whole camp felt the gravity of the words as Ryn handed Kael a sealed document, the red wax stamping an all-too-familiar sigil.The sigil of House Vaelor.Kael ripped it open.Kael,I have you
Chapter 57: The Betrayer’s Gambit
Smoke filled the air. Emberhold burned.The seemingly impenetrable fortress was now reduced to rubble, its great walls battered by the uprising's attack. Screams and the ring of steel echoed off the streets. The firelit shadows stretched and danced, transmuting warriors into phantasms of battle.Kael navigated through the carnage like a storm. His sword was smeared with blood, his breathing hot and steady. He wasn't fighting to stay alive.He was fighting to win.Across the courtyard, Selene vaulted over a broken cart, her twin daggers flashing like fangs. She landed on an enemy officer, her blade sinking into his throat before he could even scream."Status?" Kael barked as she joined him, her face smeared with soot and sweat."Dain and Calia are securing the lower barracks." Selene wiped her blade clean on a fallen soldier’s cloak. "We’ve taken the outer walls, but"A faraway blast interrupted her.From the eastern tower, a black flag unfurled.Not Emberhold's colors.Not rebellion co
Chapter 56: The Blade That Devours
Pain.Not the kind that seared.Not the kind that poured like blood.This pain was profound. Chilling. Eternal.Like something had plunged into his soul and attempted to rip him asunder.Kael's hands clasped the hilt of the Blade of Oblivion.And the world splintered.Kael was not in the ruins.Not in the forest.He was nowhere.A chasm stretched in all directions, infinite and black.And before himA figure sat on a throne of cracked obsidian.Not human.Not divine.Something between.The voice thundered like a storm."You are not worthy."Kael gasped. "Then kill me."The figure laughed."You cannot be killed, Shadowborne.""That is your curse."Kael's heart rate decreased.Because secretly, he already knew that.And that was why the architects feared him.The throne room shook.The figure stood up, stepping down towards Kael.It was tall. Cloaked. Unseen.And in its handA sword exactly like the one Kael now clutched."You have taken a sword not for mortals."The being lifted its sw
Chapter 55: A World Unraveling
The night had been too silent.The Purgeborn had vanished, and its absence didn't feel natural.Kael cleaned his sword, his heart still racing.For the first time in his life, he had battled something that wasn't supposed to be battled.And emerged victorious.But that victory tasted bitter.Because now he had more questions than answers.Behind him, Selene still gazed at Calia.Dain rubbed his temples, grumbling, "I think I hate magic now."Kael's silver eyes landed on Calia."Start talking."Calia breathed.Then, finally, she said something."You believe the Blackthorn Company is your arch-nemesis," she told him.Her voice was barely above a whisper."But it's not."Selene rolled her eyes. "Then who is?"Calia's hands clenched into fists."The ones who created the Blackthorn Company."Dain's face grew harder. "You mean Sarai?"Calia shook her head."No."She raised her eyes.Her golden eyes flared."I mean the ones who created us all."The words sat suspended in the air like a curse.
