The cold edge of a silver spear pressed against Kaelen's throat while his own soldiers lay dead around him. He could smell the thick scent of iron and wet earth filling the grand courtyard of the palace.
"You served us well, but dead men tell no secrets," King Valerius said with a thin and cruel smile.
The king waved his hand casually to signal the royal executioner who stood behind the kneeling captain. Kaelen felt a sharp sting as the heavy blade sliced through the back of his neck.
"May your soul rot in the darkest pits of the world," the executioner hissed in a low and raspy voice.
Kaelen tried to speak but only a gurgle of thick blood escaped his lips and stained his leather armor. His vision began to spin rapidly as the world turned into a blurry mess of gray and white.
He fell onto the pile of his fallen brothers while his heart gave its final heavy and painful thud. Darkness did not bring the peace he expected but a cold and hungry void that started to roar.
"Is this truly how it ends for us after all we gave?" a voice echoed from within the shadows.
Kaelen felt his cold fingers twitch as a strange black smoke began to pour from his open and fatal wounds. The pain was suddenly replaced by a freezing sensation that felt like ancient winter ice.
The king turned his back to walk toward the warm lights and music of the great banquet hall. He did not see the shadows of the dead mercenaries starting to rise like ink from the floor.
"Stop right there, your majesty," Kaelen said with a voice that sounded like grinding mountain stones.
Valerius froze in his tracks and slowly turned his head with a look of pure and utter confusion. His eyes widened when he saw Kaelen standing upright despite the deep and mortal wound.
"How are you still breathing, you filthy and persistent dog?" the king shouted with a trembling hand.
Kaelen pulled the silver spear out of his own flesh without shedding a single drop of fresh red liquid. The hole in his neck was filled with swirling darkness that glowed with a faint purple light.
"I am no longer a dog who follows a master like you," Kaelen replied while narrowing his pitch black eyes.
The king stumbled backward and tripped over the heavy hem of his long and expensive purple robe. He scrambled to get up while screaming for the elite royal guards to return to his side.
"Kill this monster at once and burn his remains!" Valerius bellowed until his face turned a deep shade of red.
Ten armored guards rushed into the courtyard with their swords drawn and ready to strike the undead man. Kaelen simply raised his pale hand and felt the ground vibrate beneath his heavy leather boots.
The shadows of the dead mercenaries stood up and formed solid bodies made of pure and shifting smoke. They held jagged blades of darkness that seemed to swallow the flickering light of the nearby torches.
"Protect the king from these demons!" the lead guard yelled while charging toward the nearest shadow.
The shadow warrior moved with a speed that no living human could ever hope to match in battle. It swung its dark blade and sliced through the guard's steel chest plate as if it were soft paper.
Kaelen watched the bloody scene with a cold and detached expression on his scarred and pale face. He felt no pity for the men who had just participated in his unfair execution minutes ago.
"Now you will understand the weight of the lives you threw away," Kaelen whispered to the dark sky.
The courtyard became a theater of high screams and the loud sound of breaking human bones. Every guard who fell rose again as a new and loyal member of the growing shadow army.
Valerius watched in horror as his elite protectors turned into the very monsters they were desperately fighting. He realized that there was no stone wall high enough to keep this nightmare out of his home.
Kaelen stepped over the bodies and approached the massive throne room door with heavy and rhythmic steps. He looked at the golden crest of the kingdom and felt a surge of pure and ancient hatred.
"This city will burn before the sun rises above the horizon," Kaelen promised to the flickering shadows.
He kicked the massive oak doors open and revealed the terrified nobles hiding inside the golden hall. The hunt for the crown had officially begun.
The hunt for the crown had officially begun.