Shadow Ascendant

s reduced to graveyards of splintered wood and bone. For weeks, a feral chill had gripped the land, sinking claws into the hearts of its people. Whispers carried tales of shadows moving i

d the horizon where the Black Hills loomed like the spine of some ancient, slumbering monster. In his hand, he clutched a tattered map, its edges curling like burned flesh. The map

e not just men; they were vessels for a curse older than the mountains, a lycanthropic plague that twisted flesh and soul into something monstrous. Magnus had seen the aftermath: villages to

he truth. The curse was n

armor gleaming like obsidian in the moonlight. Her dark hair was pulled tight, her face a mask of resolve, but her eyes betrayed a flicker of u

low and steady. "The survivors... they spoke of wolves. N

d, but he didn't turn

pital is next. If we don't stop them, Eryndor falls. But this isn't ju

ty and resolve, but the beast inside him growled in acknowledgment. He had hidden it for years-the scar on his chest, the fevered dreams, the nights when th

gh with suppressed rage. "But not

how do we do that? We're soldiers, not sorcere

oth human and not. "We find the source of their power. The Forbidden

ce is a death trap. No one who's gone near it

art of the curse-a relic, a ritual, something that binds the Suldari

as the storm clouds above. Kiera's expr

n control it? The

e barely above a whisper. "If I don't, it'll c

, his pale skin almost glowing, his eyes glinting like a wolf's. Once a revered mage of Eryndor's court, Elyon had been exiled for delving into forbidden rites-rites that had left h

w, predatory hum. "You seek to cage the be

less against Elyon's kind. "I'm not here for games, sorcerer. You know the Suldari's p

rom my own chains?" He stepped closer, his voice dropping to a whisper. "To break the curse, you'll need more than fire and

ss, of the night the curse had first claimed him. He thought of Kiera, of his men, of the kingd

gnus said, his voice like iron. "You'll co

. "As you wish, my lord. But beware-the Citadel

iera. Her face was grim, but her eyes burned with the sam

ng into hell

his armor, where the beast's mark pulsed like a

d mournful, a chorus of hunger and rage. The Suldari were coming. And with

ers, and as the moon rose higher, he fe

d not s

t