The oily black mist thickened, swirling into a towering pillar that seemed to swallow the moonlight itself. From the center of this darkness, a pair of crimson eyes ignited like dying embers. Marcus, who was struggling to stand, immediately fell to his knees, pressing his forehead against the cold cobblestones.
"My Lord... the vessel has awakened. The wings are hers," Marcus whispered, his voice trembling with a mix of fear and devotion.
A tall, slender figure stepped out from the mist. He wore armor that looked like it was forged from solidified shadows, and a crown of jagged obsidian sat upon his brow. This was Kaelen, the Shadow King. He didn't look at Marcus; his gaze was fixed entirely on Eliana.
"So, the prophecy wasn't a lie," Kaelen said, his voice a smooth, terrifying silk that vibrated in Eliana's very bones. "The Angel of the Void has finally unfurled her wings in the world of men."
Eliana felt a crushing weight on her chest. Her Shadow Wings flared instinctively, their obsidian feathers bristling like a threatened predator. "Who are you? And why has Marcus betrayed me for you?" she demanded, though her voice wavered.
Kaelen took a step forward, and the ground beneath his feet turned to frost. "Marcus is merely a pawn who knows his place. As for me, I am the one who has been waiting for you for a thousand years. Those wings you carry... they do not belong to you, Eliana. They are a key. A key to a door that should never have been locked."
He raised a hand, and the shadows around Eliana began to coil like serpents, slowly tightening around her ankles. She tried to fly, but her wings felt heavy, as if the very air had turned into lead. The betrayal of her friend and the arrival of this dark monarch felt like a nightmare she couldn't wake up from.