As soon as Shatterstar's analysis came through, Micah's voice cut into Ethan's comms, laced with urgency.
"Boss, rumor has it a Blood Clan stronghold was found in this region. People say it looked a lot like where you are now. You need to be careful—don't run into a Blood King. Supposedly, once upon a time, the strongest warriors on this star banded together to fight one. In the end it was a pyrrhic victory: the Blood King survived, and almost all the warriors were wiped out."
Ethan didn't bother replying. He had just reached the chamber marked on the decrypted map. With Shatterstar's layers of code peeled away, the heavy door finally slid open, and what waited beyond made his stomach sink.
Blood Clan.
A whole cluster of them.
'Micah, you damned jinx', he swore to himself.
The worst part wasn't just their presence—it was the glowing names hovering above their heads. Never, in all his time in the Sea of Death, had Ethan seen anything like that.
