By the time Dreamgate began its descent, Kael's legs had gone half numb.
Standing on a flying sword for hours sounded glorious when tavern singers told the tale.
In reality, it meant wind screaming in his ears, his calves burning, and the constant fear that one wrong shift of balance would send him tumbling thousands of feet to his death.
Lady Magister Isara stood at the front of the colossal blade like a statue carved from winter moonlight, white hair streaming behind her. She did not sway once.
Kael hated how effortless she made everything look.
The Dread Mire spread beneath them in endless gray-green ugliness.
Swamps.
Rivers like black snakes.
Rotting forests.
Patches of farmland clinging stubbornly to life at the edges.
Near midday they finally spotted a sizeable settlement ahead.
A river ran along its northern wall. Vast rice fields stretched southeast in neat lines of green and gold.
Isara glanced downward.
"What place is that?"
Auryn stepped forward. She had traveled farther than most of them and knew the outer provinces well.
"That's Mirwatch," she said. "One of the largest towns on the edge of the Dread Mire. Merchants coming from the south usually stop there before entering the marsh."
Isara gave a small nod.
"We begin our investigation here."
She guided Dreamgate downward.
The massive sword descended beyond the town walls, landing several miles outside Mirwatch in a quiet patch of wilderness. The divine blade shrank at once, folding into a streak of silver light before vanishing into Isara's sleeve.
Kael still wasn't sure how powerful people casually did things like that.
At the bottom of a nearby hill sat a roadside tavern.
Smoke rose from its chimney.
The smell of roasting meat drifted through the afternoon air.
Isara looked toward it.
"The Dread Mire is sparsely populated. Once we enter, food and clean water may become difficult to find. We eat now and prepare supplies."
That was the most beautiful sentence Kael had heard all day.
They entered the tavern and quickly drew every eye in the building.
Well—mostly the women did.
Auryn looked like a golden war goddess.
Sylva carried herself with graceful calm.
Mira had soft, gentle beauty.
Selene—
Kael's pulse stumbled.
Her hair was different now.
Pinned higher.
Styled in the manner of a woman who had been claimed.
His stomach twisted.
No one else here knew what it meant.
He knew.
And every time he looked at her, memories of the previous night slammed into him like wildfire.
Blood on white sheets.
Her screams.
Her nails in his back.
Her body shaking beneath him.
Then—
pleasure.
Violent, impossible pleasure.
Kael nearly choked on his own saliva and looked away.
Selene noticed.
Her cold stare struck him like a knife.
He immediately stared at the floor.
Good. Safer that way.
They ordered tea and food.
Kael had just begun attacking a bowl of noodles when chaos arrived.
Horses outside.
Shouting men.
Heavy boots.
The tavern servants rushed toward the entrance with eager smiles.
Big customers.
Twenty-some mercenaries stormed inside.
Every one of them was armed.
War hammers.
Axes.
Cleavers.
Heavy blades.
They looked like men who solved most disagreements by crushing skulls.
And every single one of them immediately noticed the women at Kael's table.
Their eyes widened.
Some looked embarrassed and quickly turned away.
Others stared openly like starving wolves.
One man nearly walked into a chair while gawking at Lyra.
Kael's chopsticks creaked in his grip.
Selene frowned.
Zaeli bit her lip in irritation.
Mira blushed.
Auryn and Sylva ignored them completely.
Lyra looked utterly unconcerned.
Kael began rising from his seat.
Isara's cold voice stopped him instantly.
"What are you doing?"
Kael froze.
He remembered very clearly promising not to cause trouble once they left the mountain.
He sat back down slowly.
"Nothing, Master."
Isara's gaze remained icy.
"The world beyond our gates is not quiet. Eat your food. If any of you start needless conflict, I will punish you personally."
Kael shoved noodles into his mouth with the fury of a condemned man eating his last meal.
The mercenaries took over nearly half the tavern.
One especially massive brute sat at the table beside them.
He wore expensive clothes beneath his armor.
Likely a bandit lord or mercenary captain.
A thick black beard covered half his face.
His eyes stayed fixed on Lyra.
Unblinking.
Hungry.
Kael noticed and nearly snapped his chopsticks.
Keep staring.
I dare you.
Two more seconds and I'll rearrange your face.
One of the mercenaries raised a cup.
"Second Boss! Young Lord Ashford raised the bounty again!"
That caught everyone's attention.
The mercenary laughed.
"Eight silver crowns for every skeleton skull now!"
The table erupted in cheers.
"If we haul in another big batch like last time, we'll be swimming in coin!"
"And women!"
That earned vulgar laughter.
The bearded brute still stared at Lyra.
He swallowed visibly.
"Even the finest courtesan in Aureheim wouldn't compare to that one."
He was talking about Lyra.
Kael almost stood again.
Then Lyra turned.
And smiled.
Gods.
Even Kael forgot how breathing worked.
Her lips curved with playful warmth.
Her eyes softened.
Her expression promised sin, ruin, and bliss in equal measure.
The entire table of mercenaries went silent.
Several men looked physically dizzy.
One dropped his cup.
Kael stared like an idiot.
Then Isara spoke.
"If anyone here harms civilians for amusement…"
Her gaze drifted toward Lyra.
"…they will not be accompanying me to Aureheim."
Lyra's killing intent vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
She turned back with a pout.
"I was only teasing."
The mercenaries slowly recovered.
One leaned forward.
"I heard something even better yesterday."
"What?"
"Someone sold red skeleton skulls in Mirekeep."
Kael immediately looked up.
Auryn and Sylva exchanged a glance.
The mercenary lowered his voice dramatically.
"Fifty silver crowns each."
The bearded brute frowned.
"You sure?"
"Absolutely. Friend of mine just came back from Mirekeep."
Another added, "Apparently someone in the city is buying them."
The brute leaned forward.
"Where were they found?"
"Near Gravecut. At the Ancient War Camp."
The table grew excited.
"We should push deeper into the mire this time."
"If we find thirty or fifty of those things, we can spend a month drowning in pleasure."
Drunken cheers erupted.
Then one man hesitated.
"What if red skeletons are stronger than normal ones?"
Another immediately mocked him.
"What, scared?"
"If you're frightened, go home and hold your children."
The first man exploded in anger.
"I was asking a practical question!"
The two nearly started fighting.
Their leader ignored them and kept glancing at Kael's table.
This time his eyes moved between Lyra—
Selene—
and Sylva.
Kael inhaled noodles so violently he nearly inhaled the bowl.
Bastard.
Keep looking at Selene and I'll carve your eyes out.
Their group finished eating.
Isara stood.
"Sylva. Take Mira and Kael. Purchase supplies."
Kael blinked.
"Why me?"
Isara looked at him.
That was enough to make him shut up.
"Yes, Master."
—
They purchased dried meat, grain cakes, fresh water skins, and medicinal herbs.
Kael complained the entire time.
Mira laughed softly.
Sylva ignored him.
Soon the group left Mirwatch behind.
The moment they entered the outer wilderness, Isara's expression darkened.
"There is corruption here."
Auryn nodded.
"A large amount."
Sylva frowned.
"And blood variants have already appeared."
Kael perked up.
"Blood variants?"
"The red skeletons?"
Sylva nodded.
"Their bones are valuable alchemical materials."
Lyra folded her arms.
"Blood skeletons rarely form naturally."
Her smile vanished.
"Someone is making them."
That silenced everyone.
Isara thought for a moment.
"We go to the Ancient War Camp."
Then she looked at Kael.
"Ask someone where Gravecut lies."
Kael groaned.
"Why am I always—"
Isara raised one eyebrow.
Kael immediately sprinted toward the nearest farmer.
A few minutes later they were moving again.
Using the Ground-Sprint Art, they raced across the land like arrows loosed from a bow.
They passed two villages.
Then the settlements vanished.
The land grew lonelier.
Hill after hill.
Dead trees.
Fog.
Silence.
Auryn suddenly stopped atop a field of broken stone.
Everyone halted behind her.
Kael stepped forward.
Then frowned.
Skeletons.
Dozens of them.
Broken.
Scattered.
Headless.
He counted quickly.
"Twenty... maybe thirty?"
He crouched beside one.
"All missing their skulls."
Auryn nodded.
"Experienced hunters."
Kael blinked.
"How can you tell?"
Sylva answered calmly.
"Skeletons can keep moving even after losing limbs."
She pointed at the corpses.
"The quickest way to disable lesser undead is breaking the spine."
Kael looked closer.
She was right.
Every skeleton had shattered vertebrae.
"Oh."
That was embarrassingly smart.
They searched further but found nothing else.
Soon they resumed moving.
Ten miles later—
more skeletons.
Then more.
Then even more.
All headless.
All destroyed.
Kael groaned.
"We came all this way and local bounty hunters killed everything first."
Mira giggled.
"You make it sound like you wanted living skeletons."
Kael snorted.
"If they move, they're alive enough."
Ahead of him, Selene spoke without turning around.
"By that logic, corpses can be alive too."
Kael blinked.
"What?"
"I once heard of a dead man climbing from his coffin just to continue arguing."
Mira burst into laughter.
"That sounds impossible."
Selene's tone remained icy.
"So does Kael."
Kael wisely said nothing.
Still—
he couldn't stop smiling.
She was speaking to him again.
Even if she sounded like she wanted him dead.
Progress.
Auryn stopped once more.
This time her face had gone grim.
Ahead stood a wall of dense forest.
The air reeked.
Rot.
Blood.
Something far worse beneath both.
Lyra moved away from the group and stopped before several vine-covered trees.
Kael hurried after her.
"What is it, Shreve Lyra?"
She pointed ahead.
"Clear the vines."
Kael flicked his wrist.
The Eight-Claw Flamescourge exploded from his sleeve.
The dragon-scale whip tore through the vines in a storm of ripping wood.
Then the smell hit him.
He staggered.
Nearly vomited.
Behind him, Selene gasped.
Kael looked forward—
and his blood turned cold.
A circular pit stood hidden between the trees.
Its walls were built from human heads.
Thousands of them.
Skulls still wore strips of rotting flesh.
Hair floated in thick black-red blood.
The pit overflowed with organs.
Hearts.
Livers.
Intestines.
Human remains bobbed in the foul liquid.
Mira began shaking.
"What... what is that?"
Even Isara's expression darkened.
Lyra stared silently.
Then spoke.
"A corrupted formation."
Sylva's eyes widened.
"The Grief-Binding Array?"
Lyra looked at her with visible approval.
"I'm impressed."
Sylva bowed her head modestly.
"I've only read old records."
Lyra turned back toward the pit.
"Come."
"If there is another one seven miles northeast…"
Her eyes narrowed.
"…then we have our answer."
They ran.
Through thicker forest.
Through tangled roots.
Through darkness.
Kael suddenly remembered Selene's fear of gore.
He slowed enough to move beside her.
Her face was pale.
Her breathing uneven.
"Sel…"
She glared at him.
He corrected himself instantly.
"Elder Soror Selene."
Her glare worsened.
Kael swallowed.
"When we find the next one... don't get too close."
She stared ahead.
For a long time she said nothing.
Then she gave the smallest nod.
Kael's chest tightened.
He leaned closer.
"About last night... I—"
Selene turned her head.
Her glare nearly stopped his heart.
Kael shut his mouth so fast his teeth clicked together.
They continued in silence.
After nearly half an hour—
they found it.
Another blood pit.
Identical.
Human heads.
Organs.
Rotting blood.
Death.
Mira turned away and vomited.
Isara stared at the formation.
"What exactly is this?"
Lyra's playful tone was gone.
"The Grief-Binding Array."
"A forbidden art of the Root Doctrine."
Her expression hardened.
"It uses the dead to create more dead."
She looked over the endless wilderness.
"Lord Ossian was supposedly destroyed centuries ago by a wanderer from the Primordian Reach."
Her voice dropped lower.
"This technique should have vanished with him."
Isara's eyes narrowed.
"So someone is using this ancient battlefield."
"To build an army."
Mira wiped her mouth weakly.
"Those hunters…"
Her voice trembled.
"The skulls they're collecting…"
Realization spread across every face.
Kael finished the thought.
"They're helping build this thing."
And somewhere deep within the Dread Mire—
something screamed.
"No," Lyra said, shaking her head as she crouched beside the blood pit. Her usual lazy smile was gone. "True skeletons have no flesh left on them. These heads still have skin. Meat. Eyes."
She nudged one with the tip of her boot.
The swollen head rolled over in the sludge.
One pale eye slipped halfway from its socket and hung by a wet strand.
Mira gagged so hard she nearly dropped to her knees.
Kael wished she had.
Because then he could've looked at her instead of the pit.
Instead of the hacked-off heads stacked like butchered fruit.
Instead of the ropes of intestine floating in black-red blood.
Instead of the smell.
Gods.
The smell.
Rot. Iron. Human waste. Sweet decay.
He'd smelled death before.
This was different.
This smelled deliberate.
Murder arranged carefully.
Mira clutched her stomach and forced herself to look again. Her face had gone white.
"These…" she whispered. "These aren't old remains."
"No," Lyra said quietly. "Judging by the rot? Less than three months."
Selene stared at the pit with cold fury in her eyes.
"So someone is hunting living people," she said, voice flat, "cutting off their heads, tearing out their organs, draining their blood…"
She swallowed.
Then forced herself to finish.
"…and using them for this."
Auryn's golden eyes sharpened.
"That much is obvious."
Her voice was calm.
Too calm.
"Someone is using fresh corpses, blood, and organs to fuel dark rites. They're corrupting the ancient dead buried here."
Lyra rose and looked over the swamp.
"Each smaller pit receives corruption from a central source."
She pointed toward the endless marshland.
"Then it spreads outward. Miles at a time."
Kael stared at the horizon.
Miles.
The Dread Mire stretched farther than he could see.
"How many pits are we talking about?" Isara asked.
Lyra exhaled.
"That depends on whoever built the formation. A weaker one might use three."
She paused.
"A stronger one?"
Her eyes darkened.
"Hundreds. Maybe thousands."
Even Auryn looked shaken.
Sylva let out a slow breath.
"Four hundred thousand dead soldiers are buried beneath this swamp."
Her voice had gone quiet.
"If all of them rise…"
She didn't finish.
She didn't need to.
Kael's skin crawled.
An army of four hundred thousand undead.
No walls would stop that.
No kingdom would survive it.
He immediately pointed at the blood pit.
"Then we destroy every single one of these."
Lyra blinked.
Then laughed.
Actually laughed.
Kael frowned.
"What?"
Selene pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Are you truly this stupid?"
Kael bristled.
"I beg your pardon?"
"If there are hundreds of these pits," she snapped, "you'll die of old age before you destroy them all."
Kael opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
"…that is an annoyingly good point."
Selene folded her arms and looked away.
"If they all draw power from a central source, destroy the main pit."
Kael stared at her.
Then grinned.
"That's brilliant."
Her ears turned pink.
"Stop looking at me like that."
"I'm looking at you like you saved us several months of manual labor."
"Shut up."
Lyra smirked.
"Smart girl."
Selene looked absurdly pleased for half a second before catching herself.
She immediately returned to looking irritated.
Kael noticed.
And stored that away for future use.
Isara turned to Lyra.
"Can you find the main pit?"
Lyra rose.
"We're about to find out."
Then she vanished into the trees.
The others immediately followed.
---
They ran for nearly half an hour.
The swamp slowly changed.
The rotting wetlands gave way to dense forest.
Then—
water.
Lyra suddenly stopped.
"Oh."
Kael nearly crashed into her.
"What—"
He froze.
A lake sat hidden in the middle of the forest.
It looked impossible.
Its waters were green as polished emerald.
Perfectly still.
Not a ripple.
No insects.
No birds.
No wind.
It looked beautiful.
And horribly wrong.
Mira gasped softly.
"There's an island."
There was.
At the center of the lake stood a small island wrapped in hanging vines.
And on that island—
a towering platform of green stone.
A ruined structure rose atop it.
Elegant roofs.
Broken towers.
Collapsed walls.
Ancient beauty strangled by vines.
Kael stared.
"What is this place?"
No one answered.
Selene pointed.
"There."
A narrow hanging bridge stretched from the island toward the far shore.
Isara nodded.
"We cross."
They moved around the lake—
then stopped again.
Voices.
Metal.
Screaming.
Cracking bones.
Kael grinned instantly.
"Oh, now that sounds interesting."
They burst through thick brush—
and found chaos.
Dozens of armored soldiers battled over a hundred skeletons near the bridge entrance.
Kael blinked.
Then blinked again.
The soldiers were winning.
Easily.
The skeletons rushed like starving animals, clawing and biting.
But the soldiers moved like trained veterans.
Heavy leather armor.
Iron helmets.
Round shields marked with snarling tiger heads.
Short axes instead of swords.
Their formation never broke.
They hacked through skeleton legs, hips, and spines with brutal efficiency.
Bones exploded everywhere.
Auryn narrowed her eyes.
"Iron Maw Legion."
Sylva nodded.
"They adapted quickly."
She watched one soldier split a skeleton's spine with two clean axe strikes.
"They know exactly where to hit."
Kael looked disappointed.
"This is barely a fight."
He had really wanted something dramatic.
Near the rear of the battlefield stood another group of soldiers protecting a single young nobleman.
Kael immediately noticed him.
Mostly because the man looked unbearably impressive.
Tall.
Broad shoulders.
Dark skin kissed by the sun.
Sharp eyes.
Expensive robes.
A jade crown.
He looked young.
But he stood like someone used to command.
Calm.
Controlled.
Dangerous.
Skeletons kept falling.
Soon only a few dozen remained.
Lyra shrugged.
"If this is all they're dealing with, they'll survive."
Isara nodded.
"We destroy the main pit. Let them clean up the rest."
They turned—
then the forest exploded.
Trees snapped.
Branches shattered.
And over a hundred more skeletons poured from the woods.
The soldiers' formation buckled.
Several men were dragged down screaming.
Bones tore through flesh.
Blood sprayed.
The young noble roared orders.
His men fought to regroup.
Kael's eyes lit up.
Finally.
He looked at Isara like an overeager dog.
"Master?"
She stared at him.
He smiled wider.
"Please?"
She sighed.
Then nodded once.
Kael exploded forward.
"THE LITTLE SAINT-LORD ARRIVES!"
His sleeve burst open.
The Eight-Claw Flamescourge screamed into the air like a living dragon.
It punched through a skeleton's ribcage.
Kael yanked backward.
The skeleton exploded into flying bones.
Two more leaped at him.
The whip coiled around their arms—
SNAP.
Both limbs tore free.
Kael twisted again.
The skeletons shattered midair.
Burning fragments rained across the battlefield.
He landed in a crouch.
Whip spinning.
Fire roaring.
Skeletons rushed him.
He tore through them.
One after another.
Bones shattered.
Skulls burst.
Spines snapped.
His whip danced like a flaming serpent.
He laughed like a lunatic.
"Oh this is much better!"
Behind him, Mira clapped wildly.
"Kael! That was amazing!"
Kael nearly ascended on the spot from pride alone.
Then he looked toward Selene.
She was staring at him.
Actually staring.
His heart jumped.
Then he noticed her expression.
She looked annoyed.
He chose to interpret it as admiration.
That felt healthier.
The skeletons kept charging.
Kael slaughtered them in waves.
The Iron Maw soldiers rallied behind him.
Together they crushed dozens more.
Then—
the noble raised his hand.
His soldiers abruptly pulled back.
They retreated into defensive formation around him.
Kael frowned.
"What?"
He looked at the remaining skeletons.
Then back at the soldiers.
Then at the noble.
"…are they seriously making me do all the work?"
He snorted.
"Fine."
He spun the Flamescourge faster.
"I'll carry."
Then the noble ripped off his outer robe.
A servant tossed him a black war staff.
The noble launched over his own soldiers and crashed into the battlefield.
His staff came down like thunder.
A skeleton's skull exploded.
He spun.
Another skeleton was cut in half.
He looked at Kael.
"Two."
Kael blinked.
"…what?"
The noble smiled.
"A competition."
Kael's eyes widened.
Then narrowed.
"Oh."
He grinned slowly.
"Oh, I like you."
And charged.
The two young men tore through the battlefield.
Kael moved like wildfire.
The noble moved like a storm.
Every strike crushed bone.
Every movement screamed confidence.
"Nine to six!" Kael shouted.
The noble snarled and attacked harder.
His staff whistled with enough force to break stone.
Even Lyra looked impressed.
"Not bad."
Auryn frowned.
"That staff style looks familiar…"
Kael noticed the noble catching up.
Absolutely unacceptable.
He lashed his whip sideways—
stealing a skeleton the noble had nearly killed.
The creature was ripped away screaming.
Kael incinerated it.
The noble stared in disbelief.
"You stole that!"
Kael laughed.
"Win faster."
The noble lunged at Kael's next target.
Kael stole that one too.
Then another.
Then another.
The noble looked ready to murder him.
"I hate you."
"A lot of people do."
Kael flashed a grin.
"Yet I continue thriving."
The gap widened.
Thirty-nine.
Twenty-six.
The soldiers began shouting.
"That little bastard is cheating!"
"How dare you disrespect our young lord!"
"We'll skin you alive!"
Kael looked at the noble.
"Oh?"
He smirked.
"You're important."
The noble glared.
"Shut up and fight."
Kael laughed harder.
"I like you even more now."
He fought with ridiculous swagger.
Spinning.
Posing.
Showing off.
Selene looked like she wanted to throw him into the lake.
The noble began sweating.
The remaining skeletons were nearly gone.
Then—
he suddenly stopped.
Completely still.
Kael paused.
"…giving up?"
The noble raised two fingers.
A black ward-script appeared between them.
Kael blinked.
"…oh no."
The ward ignited.
Shot into the sky.
Then shadows exploded from empty air.
Seven black riders.
Silent.
Ghostly.
Soldiers mounted on spectral warhorses.
They charged through the skeletons.
Then vanished.
Everything went still.
Every skeleton froze.
A single crack echoed.
Then another.
Then hundreds.
Every skeleton split apart at once.
Collapsed.
Dead again.
Silence swallowed the battlefield.
Kael stared at the empty field.
Then at the noble.
Then at the pile of shattered bones.
The noble tossed aside his staff and turned with infuriating calm.
He smiled.
"Forty-seven."
Kael stared.
The noble's smile widened.
"To forty-six."
Kael's jaw dropped.
The noble gave him a slight bow.
"My apologies."
Then he twisted the knife.
"You lost."