The air grew colder as Kiran stepped toward the ruins of Vardros Keep. The towering stone walls, once proud and unyielding, now lay in decay, half-buried beneath layers of creeping mist.
His boots crunched against broken stone, the sound swallowed by the eerie silence that clung to the place. This was no ordinary ruin. Something lingered here.
The Void pulled at him, whispering in the back of his mind.
Kiran exhaled sharply, forcing the sensation away. He had felt this before—the creeping weight of unseen eyes, the feeling of being hunted.
But this time, it was different.
This time, he wasn't sure if the hunter was even human.
The Burden of Power
Kiran clenched his fists, the Hollow Mark pulsing faintly against his chest. He could feel the lingering energy from his last battle, the power coursing through his veins like wildfire.
He had embraced it.
Not fully, not yet—but enough to know that whatever was changing inside him was no longer just a curse.
And that terrified him.
Power like this could consume.
It could twist a man into something else. Something inhuman.
His father had warned him about power without control. Was this what he meant?
Kiran shook the thoughts away. There was no time for doubt.
He had come to Vardros Keep for answers.
For the Void Shard.
And if the whispers in the darkness were true, then he was not alone.
The First Warning
A sudden chill prickled his skin.
Kiran stopped.
A shadow flickered at the edges of his vision. A movement—silent, quick. Gone before he could focus.
He exhaled slowly. He was being watched.
His hand drifted to his sword, fingers tightening around the hilt.
Then, a voice.
"You walk blindly into your own doom, Kiran."
The words slithered through the air, neither loud nor soft—simply there.
Kiran turned sharply, blade drawn.
Nothing.
But the voice laughed.
Low. Mocking.
"You think your power is enough? That you understand what you carry?"
The shadows shifted. And this time, a figure stepped forward.
A woman, cloaked in deep black, daggers gleaming at her sides.
Lyssara.
The Battle Begins
Kiran didn't hesitate.
He lunged.
Steel met steel in a flash of sparks, his blade clashing against her daggers. She twisted effortlessly, moving like water, her strikes precise and impossibly fast.
Kiran barely deflected the next blow before pivoting, forcing distance between them.
Lyssara smiled. "Good. You've improved."
Kiran ignored the taunt. His pulse thundered, the Hollow Mark burning hotter.
She had come prepared. She wasn't here to kill him outright.
She was testing him.
And that meant she had something worse planned.
The Real Trap
Kiran shifted his stance, but before he could strike again, the ground trembled.
A pulse of dark energy erupted from the ruins, sweeping through the air like a storm.
Kiran staggered, his vision swimming.
And then—they came.
Figures emerged from the darkness, wraith-like creatures, their hollow eyes locked onto him. Their very presence made the air crackle with unnatural force.
Kiran cursed.
Lyssara had never been his true enemy here.
She had been the distraction.
And now, as the first wraith lunged for him, Kiran understood the real battle had just begun.
To Be Continued…