The moon hung low over the small village of Emberglen, its pale light casting long shadows across the crumbling buildings. The night was silent, save for the distant cries of the wind through the trees. But within the walls of a modest cottage, a child cried out in terror.
Richard North was no stranger to fear. From the moment he had drawn breath, it seemed that fear had been his constant companion. His mother, a kind-hearted healer, had always been his source of warmth and safety. His father, a warrior of some renown, had long since disappeared, leaving only the haunting memory of a man who had abandoned his family when they needed him most.
Tonight, however, the fear that gripped Richard's heart was not of a cold, absent father, but something far darker something that slithered from the deepest corners of the world.
A monstrous roar shook the earth, rattling the windows of their cottage. Richard's mother, Alina, rushed into his room, her face pale with terror. Her hands, usually so steady, trembled as she wrapped him in a protective embrace.
"Richard, you must run. Now!" she cried, her voice filled with an urgency he had never heard before. "Hide! Don't let it find you!"
Before he could respond, a deep, guttural growl echoed through the house, followed by the sound of something crashing against the walls. The cottage trembled as the ground beneath them shook. Richard's heart raced as he saw the fear in his mother's eyes. She had never been afraid of anything before.
"Go now, Richard!" she screamed, shoving him toward the back door.
Richard hesitated, his mind racing. His mother had always protected him, always kept him safe. What could be so powerful that even she, a seasoned healer, was terrified?
But there was no time for questions. He stumbled toward the door, but before he could open it, the entire house seemed to groan, and the wall to his left exploded in a burst of splintering wood.
A monstrous figure stepped into the room its eyes glowing with a sickly green light, its massive form towering above them. Its body was a grotesque blend of muscle and sinew, its skin covered in black scales that shimmered in the dim light. It was like nothing Richard had ever seen before, a creature born from the depths of nightmare.
Richard's mother stepped in front of him, arms outstretched. "Run!" she cried again, her voice filled with a fierce, desperate strength.
The monster growled, its enormous jaws snapping as it lunged toward her. In one swift motion, Alina raised her hand, a shimmering light glowing from her palm. But the creature was too fast. It struck with terrifying force, knocking her to the ground. Richard screamed, his voice breaking as he watched his mother's body crumple beneath the beast's claws.
"No!" he shouted, his legs frozen in place, unable to tear his eyes away from the horrific scene.
The creature turned its gaze toward him, and Richard's blood ran cold. It was coming for him next.
But as the monster took a step forward, something inside Richard snapped. A surge of power rushed through him raw, unbidden energy that filled every fiber of his being. His heart pounded as he felt the darkness in the air, the same darkness that had consumed his mother. The darkness that had taken everything from him.
With a primal roar, Richard's hand shot out, and in that moment, he could feel something inside him shift. The world around him seemed to slow, as if time itself had bent to his will.
The beast paused, its eyes narrowing. Richard's vision blurred, but he could see the world with new clarity. He raised his hand again, his fingers twitching as an unfamiliar force began to coalesce in the air before him. It was like a pulse, a thrum of power that resonated deep within him.
The creature lunged.
Without thinking, Richard's hand shot forward, and the world exploded in a flash of light. The creature howled in agony as it was thrown back, its body crashing into the wall. But Richard didn't hear it. He couldn't hear anything. The world around him was a blur of chaos, his thoughts a storm of grief and rage.
His mother's lifeless body lay before him, and something dark and terrible began to form inside him a burning need for vengeance. A promise to never let this injustice go unanswered.
But as the last of his strength waned and the monster rose again, something even more terrifying than the beast came to him. A figure, cloaked in shadow, appeared before him its presence both foreign and strangely familiar.
"Richard North," the figure said in a voice like a whisper on the wind. "You have tasted power. You have seen the true face of the world. You will be the one to change it. But be warned such power always demands a price."
And just as suddenly as it appeared, the figure vanished, leaving Richard alone in the wreckage of his childhood home. His mother's death would be the catalyst for his journey a journey to the Tower, to destroy the darkness that had claimed his world and to destroy the gods that had allowed it to thrive.
From this night on, Richard North would be defined by vengeance, and the world would tremble before him.