🔥 Chapter 2 — The First General
The shattered villages of the northern highlands lay in eerie silence. Smoke curled from burned rooftops, and frost clung to broken stone. Kael and Rhyne rode cautiously, the Ember along Kael's arm pulsing faintly, sensing lingering magic.
Rhyne narrowed his eyes. "These attacks are new. Whoever's behind them isn't like the King's previous generals. They move faster, strike harder, and leave almost no trace."
Kael clenched his fists, Ember coiling around him. "Then we find them. And we end it before the King can use them to rebuild his army."
A faint shimmer of light appeared on the horizon, subtle but unnatural. Kael slowed, feeling the Ember's pulse quicken. "There," he said. "Something's hiding in the hills."
As they approached, the ground beneath their horses trembled. A figure stepped into view—tall, armored in shifting bronze and black, eyes glowing with a green flame. Unlike the previous generals, this one radiated a calm, precise danger. Every movement seemed calculated, as if the air itself bent to his will.
"The King's new general," Rhyne muttered, gripping his blade tightly. "I've never seen anything like him."
The general spoke, voice low and commanding. "Kael of the Ember… I've been waiting. The King sends his regards."
Kael ignited the Ember, flames spiraling like living serpents. "You'll need more than the King's words to stop us."
The general's armor shimmered, and shadows stretched from it, forming whips of green energy that cracked against the frozen earth. Kael dodged instinctively, Ember lashing out to deflect the strikes. The force of the blows shattered stone, and the northern wind howled through the ruined village.
Rhyne leapt forward, slashing at the green shadows. "Kael! His power is different—anticipate, don't react!"
Kael's eyes narrowed. The Ember pulsed violently, and he realized he could sense the flow of the general's attacks before they happened, a faint rhythm beneath the green energy. "Then I'll move with it… strike at the gaps he can't defend!"
The first clash began, fire against shadow, Ember against energy, marking the start of a deadly duel. The northern highlands would witness the rise of a new threat—and Kael would have to push the Ember beyond anything he had ever known.