The sky was bleeding again.
High above the forested ridges of the Ashen Peaks, clouds churned like a wounded beast, roiling with stormfire and sulfur. Birds had long since fled. The animals had gone silent. Even the wind seemed to fear what marched toward the Sovereign Sanctuary.
Beneath that cursed sky, Maldrakar, the Ash General, walked.
Each of his steps scorched the land. Trees blackened and crumbled in his wake. The soil cracked and smoked. The air rippled with the residue of broken oaths and corrupted flame.
He did not speak.
He did not rage.
His presence alone was ruin enough.
Within the Sanctuary
Kael stood on the outer ledge of the hidden cavern, his blue eyes glowing faintly beneath the shadowed hood Eva had given him.
He stared toward the horizon.
He couldn't see Maldrakar yet—but he could feel him.
A pressure building with every passing hour, like a scream rising beneath his skin.
Sylara landed beside him, her wings stirring the air. Her silver mane shimmered in the glow of the protective runes she'd carved into the mountain's mouth.
"It's him," Kael said quietly.
Sylara nodded once. "Yes. The fallen knight. The Demon Lord's executioner. He has come."
Eva approached with her staff in hand, newly reinforced with a crystal core carved from the Sovereign Vault. "The wards are set. But they'll only buy us time. Maybe hours."
Kael took a slow breath, then turned to face them both. "Then we make every second count."
Preparing for the Unstoppable
The Sanctuary, ancient and half-forgotten, now roared with magic and movement. Eva conjured flame wards along the entrance tunnel, weaving spells of distortion and entrapment. Sylara strengthened the cavern walls with earthen magic, invoking old rites only Sovereigns could channel.
Kael trained.
He didn't stop—not to eat, not to sleep.
He sparred with Sylara until his arms trembled. He pushed his senses until he could feel the heartbeat of the mountain itself. He summoned the Sovereign fire again and again—each time, closer to control.
But still, every time he closed his eyes, he saw flames falling from the sky. He saw villages burning. He heard screaming.
He saw Maldrakar.
"Am I ready?" Kael finally asked Sylara that night, sweat dripping from his brow.
Sylara studied him. Her green eyes glowed in the firelight. "No," she said simply. "But you will not get to choose the hour of your battles. Only the kind of man you are when they arrive."
Maldrakar Reaches the Gate
The moment came at dawn.
A wall of smoke rose from the trees below. Birds fled in every direction. The air stilled.
And then… they heard the footsteps.
Kael, Eva, and Sylara stood atop the ridge above the Sanctuary entrance. Kael's heart pounded. His hands glowed with contained fire.
From the haze emerged the monster.
Maldrakar.
Twice the size of a man, encased in cracked obsidian armor fused to his flesh. Flames pulsed between the gaps. His face was a mask of agony carved into steel. Two glowing swords hung from his back like crosses of fire.
He looked up. Straight at Kael.
And spoke for the first time:
"Sovereign."
The word was not an accusation. It was a sentence.
Kael stepped forward. "I'm not afraid of you."
Maldrakar tilted his head slightly. "You will be."
Without another word, he raised one arm—and fire descended from the sky in a great burning wave.
The Siege Begins
Kael threw up his arms and conjured a barrier—his Sovereign flame clashing with Maldrakar's inferno. The impact thundered through the mountain, shaking stone and soul alike.
Eva cast chain wards to seal the entrance, Sylara leapt into the air and dove toward the Ash General, her wings igniting with Sovereign might.
The battle had begun.
And Kael stood at the center of it.
Alone, but not abandoned.
Afraid, but still fighting.
A flame, still small—but growing brighter.