A grave for the fallen will be all that remains of this world. Elian finished his sentence while his boots kicked up a cloud of silver dust that shimmered like ground diamonds.
"The empire is harvesting the souls of heroes to feed their mechanical gods," Elian whispered with a voice full of cold rage.
Kaelen looked at the iron cage and saw the black claws scratching against the metal with a sound that made his ears bleed. He felt the shadow dragon in his chest thrashing around as if it recognized the scent of a long lost brother.
"If that man in the cage is a hero, then I am the saint of the abyss," Kaelen said while gripping his dark hilt.
The holy knights stopped their horses and formed a defensive circle around the rattling iron box. Their leader raised a torch of blue fire and the light hit the trees, causing the shadows to scream in pain.
"I can smell the stench of a ghost hiding in the fog!" the lead knight shouted while drawing a heavy mace.
Kaelen stepped out from behind the rotted oak tree and let his shadow expand until it touched the hooves of the horses. The animals whinnied in terror and tried to buck their riders into the freezing mud of the forest floor.
"You should have stayed in your cathedral where the light is safe," Kaelen challenged with a voice that echoed from the trees.
The knights did not hesitate and launched a barrage of glowing spears that hissed through the air like angry serpents. Kaelen swung his sword in a wide arc and a wave of purple smoke swallowed the projectiles before they could reach him.
"Master, do not kill the one in the cage yet because his soul is still tethered to the sun!" the shadow dragon warned in his mind.
Kaelen dashed forward and used a shadow step to appear directly behind the lead knight. He slammed his palm into the man's back and sent a surge of darkness that turned the knight's silver armor into brittle glass.
"Tell me what you are doing to your own people!" Kaelen demanded while the knight fell to the ground.
The knight coughed up a mixture of blood and golden light while he looked at the iron cage with an expression of fanatical devotion. He did not seem to feel the pain of his shattered ribs or the coldness of the shadow.
"We are perfecting the vessel for the coming of the solar god," the knight whispered with a bloody smile.
Kaelen felt a chill that had nothing to do with the winter wind as he realized the scale of the empire's madness. He turned his attention to the iron cage where the scratching had suddenly stopped.
"Elian, use your runes to break the seal on that box before they can trigger the self destruction!" Kaelen yelled.
The strategist moved with the fluid grace of a dancer and placed his glowing hands on the iron bars. The blue energy of his runes fought against the golden light of the seal in a shower of sparks that lit up the entire forest.
"The seal is not a lock but a bomb designed to wipe out everything within a mile!" Elian screamed while his skin began to smoke.
Kaelen jumped toward the cage and wrapped his own shadow around Elian to protect him from the heat of the light. He felt his human heart beating one last time before the coldness of the curse took over his entire chest.
"I will not let another brother die for a throne that does not exist!" Kaelen roared while pulling at the iron bars.
The iron cage groaned and began to melt under the combined pressure of the shadow and the ancient runes. A blinding flash of light erupted from the center of the box and threw Kaelen backward into the deep fog.
Kaelen opened his eyes and saw the cage had been torn open like a piece of wet paper. A figure stood in the center of the clearing who was neither a man nor a machine.
"You should have left me in the dark, Kaelen," the prisoner whispered with a voice that sounded like a thousand breaking swords.
Kaelen looked at the face of the prisoner and felt his soul tremble with a mixture of horror and recognition. It was the face of the first soldier he had ever lost, the man who had taught him how to hold a sword.
"Gideon, they told me you were buried in the valley of the kings," Kaelen stammered while trying to stand up.
The man named Gideon looked at his own hands which were now made of shifting gears and burning solar light. He let out a scream of pure agony that caused the trees to wither and turn to ash instantly.
"The power of the forbidden curse is the only thing that can stop my heart from exploding," Gideon said while moving toward Kaelen.
Kaelen realized that the empire had not just stolen the souls of the dead but had turned them into living weapons of mass destruction. He saw the silver ship returning in the sky and heard the sound of a thousand mechanical hearts beating in unison.
"We cannot stay here because the hunger of the abyss is waking up in the valley," Elian warned while grabbing Kaelen's arm.
Kaelen looked at Gideon and then at the sky where the light was beginning to drown out the moon once again. He knew that the fight for the throne was no longer about a kingdom but about the survival of the human soul.
The hunger of the abyss was calling out to the shadows in his blood.