EVERYONE KNEW BRAXTON was a brute, all muscle and menace wrapped in human skin. Tall, barrel-chested, and infamous for his ruthlessness. Even now, a gleam of satisfaction danced in his eyes as he forced Halena to her knees.
Halena had been a beauty once, and in her prime, he had desired her. He'd offered her everything, but he had no title, being the son of a lowly baker, he didn't even have a last name to offer her.
So she'd thrown herself at the first noble that batted his eyelids at her, gotten married and flaunted her pregnancy in his face. But as fate often works, Halena's fall had been swift.
She had become the talk of the town for months - abandoned by her husband after birthing a cursed child. A son whose eyes gleamed like a magical beast's. A son who was the very embodiment of everything that Braxton despised.
And now, Halena, all bones and skin, was a shadow of the beauty she had once been. Her hair, once dark as midnight, was now streaked with white. Her eyes, once vibrant, had dulled to an unseeing grey.
Braxton despised her for it, despised her denying him what she had once been, and for what she had become. The decay was a betrayal in his eyes.
Imagine his surprise when Lord Varik had sent for him last night. The boy had sung like a canary, revealing how Adrian had masterminded the plot and deceived them into aiding him.
The blood Braxton had been owed for years, and now, at last, there was a reason to collect it.
"Well, well," he drawled, drawing the terrified eyes of every villager. "Look at this - a mother so devoted, she'll die to keep her boy's secrets." He glanced at the terrified crowd, turning the moment into a cruel spectacle.
"Do you really think that beast is worth it?"
Halena lifted her chin, though her face was bruised, and her voice was quiet but defiant. "My son is worth ten of you, Braxton."
Adrian's vision tunneled, his body coiled with fury as he watched the captian yank her up by her hair. Her sightless eyes stared straight ahead, but there was no weakness in her, only the same quiet, iron determination that had been there his whole life.
"Where are you hiding him, you bitch?!" he snarled. "Where is that cursed son of yours, Adrian Black?"
Adrian's fists clenched. Bloody coward, he seethed. He crept closer, using the burning houses as cover, moving silently from one shadow to the next, his heart pounding in his ears as he neared the scene.
A guard raised his blood-soaked sword, its point leveled at her neck, waiting for the captain's signal.
"For the last time," Braxton said, "I asked, where is your son?"
"I don't know," Halena responded, "and even if I did, I would never tell you. So you best get on with it."
Adrian's rage snapped. His entire being exploded in fury.
Daevera's voice hissed in his mind. - "I know what you're thinking. Don't do it. This is exactly what he wants." -
The captain stepped back, nodding to the guard in front of Halena, who swung his foot instead of his sword, slamming it into her stomach. She fell backward with a painful scream, clenching her stomach.
They won't kill her yet. They're using her to draw me out. And if they take her, they'll torture her until she dies, no matter if I show up or not.
In that moment, every ounce of restraint, fear, and caution Adrian felt dissolved. His mother - the only person who had ever truly accepted him, was being tormented in front of him, and the rage was too much. The world faded around him, and in that instant, there was only one thing left to do.
I won't stand here and let her die.
He surged from the shadows, the dagger summoned by Daevera's will appearing in his hand midway through his movement. With a cry of fury, he struck. The blade sank between the guard's exposed side, silent, deadly.
The guard crumpled without a sound, the crimson pool forming beneath him staining the earth.
Adrian pivoted, immediately taking a protective stance in front of his mother. He leveled his bloodied dagger at Braxton and locked eyes with the captain in a silent challenge.
A flicker of surprise crossed Braxton's features before it twisted into a mocking grin. "Look who's come to play the hero." His voice was cold, dripping with mockery.
"You just killed a City Watch guard. Do you know how much your head is worth now? The Lord wants you alive, but he didn't say in one piece."
Adrian's breath was ragged, adrenaline surging through him like wildfire. The sight of his mother, still kneeling in the mud, was all the motivation he needed.
He knew she was now quiet for his sake, not wanting to distract him from what she no doubt believed was foolishness. That was how his mother thought, always calculating and calm, even in the face of danger.
If I can help it, they're all going to die. Every single bloody one of them.
"Twenty guards," Daevera said, cutting through Adrian's murderous plotting.
"What?"
"There are twenty guards in total, excluding the one you killed. Eighteen have grey cores, while Braxton and another guard have green cores. No magical weapons in sight. Your only advantage in this fight is your speed."
Their conversation took place mentally, happening within nanoseconds, and barely any time had passed since Braxton's speech about the price on his head.
Adrian allowed the anger that was fighting to burst out of him rise. The captain, the guards, all of them, they had hurt his mother, and he needed them to pay.
He felt the heat building up from his core, spreading to his irises, and every part of his body. It was still building when the first guard moved to strike.
But Adrian was already gone - too fast. He spun and slammed the guard to his knees, his dagger sliding across his throat in a smooth, perfect arc. The guard hit the ground, already dead.
"Behind you!" Daevera warned, and Adrian spun to see a blade slicing the air with deadly intent. He missed it by a hair, but the guard managed to nick his thigh, blood staining the edge of his pants. Pain flared through his leg, but Adrian barely noticed it.
Another guard lunged, but Adrian was already on him. He ducked, avoiding the sword's swing, and kicked the guard's legs out from under him. As the guard fell, Adrian pounced, slashing with his dagger until the blood soaked his hands and face, the warm red liquid splattering his skin.
One after another, the guards fell, their bodies hitting the earth with sickening thuds. Adrian lost himself in the carnage, in the brutal, relentless rhythm of the fight. His mind was numb, consumed entirely by the thrill of bloodshed. Each death was a sweet release.
The metallic smell of their blood sang to him, called to him, offering him release from the anger that had been building up since he realized that Jax had betrayed him
They all deserved to die.
"Monster..." one guard whispered, horror flaring in his eyes before Adrian's blade silenced him.
Some of the villagers began to scatter in fear as Adrian unleashed his brutal vengeance upon the City Watch, hoping the bloodbath would let their escape go unnoticed.
But Braxton noticed. "Kill anyone who moves!" he yelled to his men, while some happily peeled away to chase after easy targets.
Adrian's eyes began to glow with every life he took, swirling torrents of green and gold that sent dread down the spines of his enemies.
I always knew Halena's son was born with cursed eyes for her sin, but this is something entirely different! Braxton thought as he stared in horror at the blood-soaked child who kept advancing with every kill.
Adrian's eyes glowed brighter, the rage in his veins consuming him entirely. Three guards charged in unison, but it was a wasted effort. By the time the battle ended, they were all dead - slit throats, gaping wounds, lifeless bodies littering the ground.
Braxton, now watching the slaughter from a reasonable distance, cursed under his breath. His composure was gone, replaced by fear. His remaining men were panicked, backing away from Adrian.
No one wanted to take their chances anymore.
He's bleeding from so many cuts, how can he still be standing? Ten of my best men dead in minutes! What manner of creature did Halena bed to birth a monster like this? Braxton thought.
Braxton's confidence was faltering. His men were retreating. His pride wouldn't allow him to show fear, but his body was betraying him. He wanted to run, but his soldiers were watching.
He took several steps back, trying to make his retreat as graceful as possible. He couldn't let his men see him tuck tail and run from a fourteen-year-old.
"Retreat! Fall back, now!"
He didn't have to give the order, his men had already fallen back, eyes darting nervously between Adrian and their captain. Braxton cursed their cowardly retreat on the inside.
Adrian stepped forward, his eyes locked on Braxton's, his voice deadly calm. "And where do you think you're going? None of you are leaving here alive."
The captain's face twisted, pale with terror. "Summon it, now!" he barked to a red-haired guard beside him.
The guard he was speaking to hesitated, glancing nervously between the captain and the monster. "But Captain, if we do a summonning her -"
"Now!" Braxton yelled. "Or we die by his hand!"