The fortress of Eridral loomed like a corpse against the pale horizon. Its towers, broken and leaning, clawed at the sky as though trying to escape the darkness that suffused their stones. The closer the group came, the heavier the air grew.
A faint hum pulsed through the ground—steady, unnatural, like a heartbeat.
"Ritual magic," Elira whispered, her silver eyes narrowing. "It's already inside the walls."
Kael cursed under his breath. "We don't have time for a full siege. If we go in through the main gate, we'll be swarmed."
Sirena adjusted the strap on her shield. "Then we find another way. Stealth may not be our strength, but neither is suicide."
Rihan's gaze was fixed on the shattered gates ahead. From within, faint violet light spilled out, flickering against the mist like a beacon of doom. His fists clenched, flames licking around his knuckles.
"We go in fast," he said. "No hesitation. If the ritual finishes—this world won't have a chance."
---
🌑 The Watchers
As they crept closer, Elira raised her hand. "Wait."
Her magic shimmered, and suddenly the faint outlines of runes appeared across the ground—intricate wards carved into the dirt itself. One wrong step and alarms would ring across the entire fortress.
"They've layered the approach," Elira muttered, her brow furrowed. "Shadow wards. Designed to drain intruders."
Kael smirked, rolling his shoulders. "Good thing we've got an elf who actually knows how to break them."
She shot him a sharp look, but knelt beside the glowing runes. With delicate precision, she whispered an incantation, her fingertips tracing over the lines. One by one, the runes sputtered out, the ground dimming.
When the last flicker faded, Rihan exhaled. "Nice work."
But Sirena stiffened suddenly. "We're not alone."
Shadows moved atop the walls. Hooded cultists, their faces hidden behind bone masks, peered down. Their hands glowed with sickly light.
One of them raised his staff, voice cutting through the night. "They approach! The vessel walks among them!"
Rihan's stomach twisted, anger and dread colliding in his chest. "They know."
---
⚔️ First Clash
The cultists unleashed bolts of shadow that screamed through the air.
"Down!" Sirena shouted, raising her shield as the blasts slammed into it, rattling the earth. Elira retaliated, firing arrows of pure light that streaked upward, striking one cultist squarely in the chest. His scream echoed as his body dissolved into smoke.
Kael leapt forward, his blade glowing with runic fire, and hurled it skyward like a spear. It impaled another cultist, who tumbled from the wall with a sickening thud.
But more shadows stirred. From the broken gate poured masked warriors—armed with twisted blades, their bodies moving unnaturally, like puppets.
"They've been corrupted," Elira hissed.
Rihan's flames roared to life, burning hotter than ever. "Then we burn them down!"
---
🌌 The Push Inside
The fight at the gates was brutal. Cultists chanted as they fought, their voices rising in unison with the pulse of the ritual inside. Every kill the heroes made seemed to make the air heavier, as if the fortress itself hungered for blood.
Rihan cut through the corrupted warriors with blazing arcs, his flames leaving charred streaks in the dirt. Sirena smashed through attackers with her shield, her strikes precise and unyielding. Elira's arrows pierced skulls with deadly accuracy, while Kael carved a path with relentless fury.
Finally, the gate collapsed inward, the wards shattering with a thunderous crack.
They had breached Eridral.
---
🌑 Inside the Fortress
Darkness swallowed them as they entered. The ruined halls reeked of ash and blood. Faint chanting echoed from deeper within, rhythmic and rising. The walls were lined with shattered statues—once heroes of the realm, now defaced and dripping with black ichor.
Sirena touched the edge of one broken figure. "This place was sacred once." Her voice trembled with anger. "And now it's a tomb."
Elira's ears twitched. "Shh… Listen."
From deeper within, a scream tore through the air—inhuman, distorted, filled with rage and agony.
Rihan froze. He knew that scream.
It was the assassin.
---
🌑 Cult POV
Within the ritual chamber, the Cult Mistress raised her hands. The assassin's body was bound within chains of shadow, convulsing as black veins spread across his flesh. His eyes snapped open, glowing crimson, his scream shaking the chamber.
"Yes," the Mistress hissed. "Rise, Herald of the Eclipse. The vessel approaches—he will see what awaits him."
The runes flared brighter, casting twisted shadows across the walls.
---
⚔️ Cliffhanger
The heroes followed the sound, moving deeper into the fortress. Each step brought them closer to the ritual's heart.
The chanting grew louder, the walls shaking. And then—they saw it.
At the center of a massive chamber stood the Mistress, her arms raised in triumph. Suspended in the ritual circle, the assassin's body twisted, reshaped by shadow, his scream echoing like thunder.
His eyes snapped open, blazing crimson.
The Herald had been reborn.
Rihan's flames flickered violently as he whispered the words through clenched teeth:
"This… is our fight."