The winds howled across the Frostscar Plateau.
White drifts curled through the ruins of an outpost long abandoned, its shattered walls buried beneath ice and silence. But the silence was deceptive.
Kael strode through the snow-laced courtyard, Ashrend gripped in his hand, its crimson edge pulsing like a dying ember in the storm. Behind him, Lyra pulled her cloak tighter, scanning the skeletal remains of frozen towers. Darric's armored boots crunched through snow beside her, his warblade drawn. Isryn walked slightly apart, eyes glowing faintly under her hood, her steps soundless.
"Three Veilspawn," Lyra whispered, scanning the terrain. "Maybe more."
"Four," Isryn corrected softly. "Buried. But stirring."
Kael didn't respond. His gaze fixed on the shattered sigil at the center of the outpost. A cracked Sovereign seal—defiled. Black scorch marks and claw-gouged symbols spoke of recent conflict.
"They were here," Kael muttered. "Malrik's hounds. Testing the wards."
A hiss tore through the air—followed by a shriek.
From beneath the snow, creatures erupted. Misshapen things of ice and rot, bound in fragments of armor, faces covered by frostbitten masks. Veilspawn. Minor ones—scouts, bred for sabotage and speed.
They lunged.
Kael moved.
Ashrend flared to life, red lightning dancing along its edge.
He spun into the first, cutting through its neck with a blur of crimson light. "Flare Rend."
The beast split in half, its frozen guts sizzling in the snow.
Darric met the second with a shield-bash, staggering it before skewering its chest. "One down!"
Lyra's bow thrummed—arrows laced with fire enchantment pierced through skulls like meteors. "Keep the high ground!"
The third leapt at Kael's back—Isryn's blade flashed, severing it mid-air.
They moved like a single force. Fluid. Deadly. Together.
More came—six, then ten. A swarm rising from snow and shadow.
Kael narrowed his eyes. The Crimson Mark on his chest shimmered beneath his tunic, heat pulsing from beneath the fabric.
He inhaled—and the storm seemed to pause.
"Ashrend—ignite."
The blade answered. Flames surged up its length.
Kael leapt forward, cutting a swath through the oncoming wave.
"Crimson Spiral."
He twirled mid-air, slashing in a vortex of light. The ground shook. Three Veilspawn were cleaved in half before their screams could reach the wind.
He landed hard, knees bent, breath steaming in the cold.
Darric chuckled. "That one's new."
Kael didn't smile, but there was fire behind his eyes. "Learning to burn brighter."
A final screech echoed. A larger creature appeared—twice the size of the others, cloaked in glacial hide, jagged bone horns cresting its head.
An Icebound Devourer.
Kael stepped forward, but Lyra caught his arm. "Wait."
She nodded to Isryn, who had stepped forward, her hand outstretched. A pulse of silver-blue light erupted from her palm—runic script swirling around her wrist.
Chains of light shot forward, binding the beast in mid-charge.
Kael didn't hesitate.
He sprinted.
"Crimson Divide."
Ashrend split the creature from shoulder to thigh in a single, devastating blow.
Steam hissed from the wound. The Devourer shuddered… then collapsed.
Silence returned. But it was heavier now. Tainted.
Kael stood over the corpse, the glow fading from his blade.
"They're pushing harder," he said quietly. "Malrik knows I'm coming."
Lyra sheathed her bow and walked beside him. "Let him know. Let the whole cursed realm know."
Isryn looked skyward. "The storm isn't ending."
"No," Kael said. "It's only beginning."
He turned toward the path ahead—toward the deep snow and jagged peaks.
Toward the Cindermoor.
"Let's move."