Azar stood at the cavern's edge, his gaunt figure cloaked in robes that flickered between shadow and flame, the shard in his chest pulsing with forbidden energy. His red-rimmed eyes, once golden, burned with a fanatical resolve—as he gripped Solbane, its scorched sunstone and Echo bone resonating with a dark rhythm. Mbweha's phantom form swirled beside him, its three tails of wind and shadow lashingl—amber eyes glinting with twisted delight. The cultists, their black-iron masks gleaming, knelt in silence, awaiting his command.
Azar's gaze hardened, his voice a dry chant—whisper-scheme-whisper. "The child's harmony grows stronger. The-void's light must be shattered before it unites the tribes." Mbweha's laughter shifted—"HA"-male-"HA"-female—"Oh, little sun, their dawn dances—shall we snuff it out?" Azar's lip curled, a cold smirk: "Indeed, Trickster. Send Kofi, my blade of eclipse, to sow discord."
From the cavern's depths emerged Kofi, Azar's most trusted enforcer, a towering figure whose presence silenced the gathered Shades. His skin, once kissed by the Jua's sun, bore ashen scars that coiled across his muscular frame, remnants of forbidden rites. His hair, cropped tight and stark white, framed eyes that glowed a deep violet, pulsating with corrupted Solar Aura. Clad in blackened armor forged from obsidian and etched with jagged runes, it shimmered faintly, channeling his dark essence.
At his side hung Nightreaver, a massive curved blade crafted from Echo bone and infused with void flame, its edge humming with a menacing tone. Kofi's loyalty to Azar was forged in blood and battle, a bond sealed by the promise of eternal dominion.
Azar traced a sigil in the air with Solbane—his movements a ritual of power. "Kofi, my shadow's edge, journey to the Savanna's border. Disrupt their harmony, and brand their thunder-boy with Grieffire. The void-born's beast must falter."
Kofi knelt, his deep voice resonating—"By your will, Prophet." Mbweha's eyes flickered, "Dance well, shadow boy—leave them lost in mirage!"
Kofi rose, his violet eyes flaring as he summoned his Aura, the cavern trembling. With a swift Tailwind Step—WHOOSH-vanish-WHOOSH—borrowed from Mbweha's art, he dissolved into a gust of black wind, leaving a trail of distorted air. Azar watched, his sanity teetering under Mbweha's relentless whispers. "The eclipse advances," he intoned. "The child of light's fate bends to my silence."
The dunes pulsed as Kofi's mission unfolded, a shadow blade slicing toward Jua's radiant dawn. The wind carried Mbweha's whispers—promising a storm of deception to come.