The Citadel's great iron doors groaned as they buckled under the force of Varik's assault. The warlord stood motionless, one gauntleted hand resting against the metal, his presence alone enough to make the ancient structure tremble. His army of shadowborn swarmed the steps, tearing through the last defenders as Kaelen and Lyria fought their way forward.
Kaelen's sword cut a glowing arc through the air, severing another creature in two. Lyria moved beside him, her daggers a blur of silver, dispatching foes with deadly precision. But for every beast they felled, two more took its place.
"We can't keep this up!" Lyria shouted, backstepping as a monstrous, four-armed abomination lunged at her. She ducked under its swing and drove a dagger into its skull.
Kaelen didn't answer. His eyes were locked on Varik. The warlord had yet to move, as if the carnage around him was beneath his notice. But Kaelen felt it—a dark pull, an oppressive weight that made his breath shallow. Varik wasn't just a warrior. He was something far worse.
The gates shattered with a final, deafening crack.
Varik stepped forward.
The remaining knights of Eldrath turned to face him, forming a desperate line at the Citadel's threshold. One of them—a grizzled captain—raised his sword. "Hold the line!"
Varik lifted his hand.
Dark energy exploded from his palm, a wave of seething shadows that swallowed the defenders in an instant. Their screams barely had time to leave their lips before their bodies withered, reduced to ash.
Kaelen's heart pounded. This wasn't just a war. This was extermination.
"Kaelen!" Lyria's voice snapped him from his horror.
He turned just in time to block the strike of another creature, its claws screeching against his blade. He shoved it back and drove his sword through its chest, but his focus was already on Varik, who strode into the Citadel unchallenged.
"We have to stop him," Kaelen said, his voice tight with fury.
Lyria wiped blood from her cheek, eyes hard. "Then let's move."
Together, they ran into the collapsing Citadel, into the lair of the Hollow King.