After Ashmoor's uprising, Kaelen did not stay to wear a crown. Power had already poisoned the Elders; he feared it might poison him too. Instead, he left under starlight, walking the roads once more.
But he did not walk alone. From the crowd that had sworn the oath, a handful followed:
Mira, the hunter's daughter he once saved, grown fierce and sharp-eyed.
Jareth, a smith with scarred hands, who had forged his chains and now sought to break them.
Tovin, a boy no older than fifteen, carrying only a wooden flute and stubborn courage.
Together, they wandered from village to village, not conquering but kindling. Kaelen taught them the oath, not as law but as promise: to stand against cruelty, even when it meant standing alone.
Chapter VI – The Lord of Blackspire
Word of the oath spread like fire in dry grass. But so too did the wrath of those in power.
In the fortress of Blackspire, Lord Drennek ruled with iron chains. His men scoured the countryside, branding any who whispered the oath with a mark of shame. Those who resisted vanished into his dungeons.
When Kaelen and his companions arrived at a village beneath Blackspire's shadow, they found fear heavy in the air. Families whispered of kin taken, of children sold. Yet none dared rise.
That night, Kaelen stood at the village square, torch in hand, and spoke:
"Freedom is not given—it is taken. I was cast out, but I found life in the wild. You are not broken unless you choose to kneel."
Mira shot an arrow into the sky, the flame trailing like a star. One by one, villagers lit their own torches. The oath was spoken aloud.
And when Drennek's soldiers came at dawn, they found not cowering peasants but a village united.