The morning after the royal council, the palace grounds were quieter than usual, as if the stone itself held its breath. Soldiers trained in small groups across the courtyards, but their movements lacked the usual discipline. Fear had settled into the kingdom fear of demons, fear of invasion, fear of the unknown. Only one place still rang with certainty: the training field.
Raelan stood alone there, moving through a sequence with his blade precise, fluid, lethal. His strikes cut the air with such sharpness that even the dust hesitated before falling. He was a knight shaped by countless battles, a man whose skill rivaled legends… yet even now, grief sat like a stone behind his ribs.
I watched him from afar. He hid it well, as he always had. But Kaelar's death had carved a hollow in him that even he could not close.
The general the king's brother, a mountain of a man forged by war stepped onto the training field. His presence bent the attention of every soldier nearby. Even Raelan paused, if only for a heartbeat.
"You're training early," the general said, his voice low, cutting through the morning air.
Raelan slid his blade into its sheath. "There is no time to waste."
The general came closer, his gaze sharp.
"Tell me something," he said. "How did demons take Aramoor? Even with the Blade there?"
Raelan's jaw tightened. His fingers curled slightly, betraying a tension he otherwise concealed.
"These demons were not the ones from our stories," Raelan answered. "They had strength beyond anything we've seen. And the beings beside them… whatever they are… they were stronger still."
The general nodded slowly, absorbing the words.
"And you're not angry?" he asked suddenly. "Kaelar was the only one who could match you. The only one who ever pushed you to your limits. His death… does it not enrage you?"
Raelan's face remained still.
"It does not bother me," he said.
A lie so thin even the wind knew it.
The general exhaled, a deep sound filled with understanding and disbelief. "You think you hide your emotions well. But your rage is loud enough to shake stone."
He walked past Raelan toward the rack of training weapons. Soldiers glanced nervously as he lifted a wooden sword thick enough to break bone.
"Let us see," the general said, "if the fire in you has truly dimmed."
Raelan raised an eyebrow. "Using wooden blades?"
"Do you fear you cannot keep up?" the general asked, smiling like a man preparing to tear mountains apart.
Raelan said nothing. He only drew one of the wooden blades. The air around them shifted.
Then the general moved.
He swung with such power that a gust of wind exploded outward, carrying dust and pebbles across the field. Raelan barely dodged, feeling the air burn past his cheek. The soldiers around them staggered as the force ripple hit.
And Raelan understood.
The general was serious.
Raelan blocked the next strike, but even the block sent a shockwave crawling up his arms. The earth beneath them cracked. Soldiers stumbled back. The duel had already surpassed mortal limits.
High above the courtyard, on a balcony, the king watched in silence.
Erias heard the first shockwave from halfway across the palace. His heart jumped. He sprinted toward the training field, weaving through servants and guards until he reached the courtyard breathing hard, eyes wide.
And there he saw them.
Raelan and the general clashed like storms colliding. Every block was thunder. Every strike was a hammer of divine intent. Wooden swords splintered under the pressure but held just long enough for both men to push their limits.
Erias froze, jaw slightly open.Even in my timeless sight, I could feel the awe in him.
Raelan's movements were breathtaking precise, calculated, honed by discipline Kaelar once respected. The general fought like a dragon held in human form, every swing a declaration of strength earned across continents.
Raelan saw Erias watching.
And something inside him sharpened.
In a fluid motion, he parried the general's heaviest strike, using the force to pivot behind him. The general turned but too slowly Raelan's blade was already descending toward his neck.
The general's instincts ignited. He raised his arm to block but Raelan had already anticipated that. He leaped into the air, turning mid-movement, flipping over the general and twisting his arm around the general's shoulder.
They hit the ground hard.
Raelan pinned him effortlessly.
Silence spread across the field.
Soldiers stared in disbelief.
The general laughed softly, breathing heavily. "So… even drowning in sorrow, you still fight like this."
Raelan released him and rose. The general stood a moment later, dusting himself off before offering his hand. They clasped forearms like warriors who had survived the same storms.
Then the general turned to leave.
As he walked past Erias, he stopped only for a heartbeat.Erias swallowed hard, his body instinctively tensing. The general's power rolled off him like heat from a forge.
Before Erias could say a word
The general lunged.
It happened so fast that even time flinched.
Erias gasped, stumbling backward but the general wasn't attacking him at all. His arm shot past Erias, fingers closing around someone's throat.
A man Erias hadn't seen.A man who had been standing behind him too closely.A man whose eyes widened not with fear, but with fury.
The spy.
The assassin sent to kill Erias.
The general lifted him off the ground with one hand.
"You hide your killing intent poorly," he growled.
The spy snarled, his corrupted essence flickering around him like pitch-black mist. With a sudden, unnatural twist, he kicked the general in the chest. The impact forced the general to release him.
The spy landed lightly, crouched, preparing to strike. He no longer pretended to be human. His posture shifted feral, calculating, deadly.
Erias stumbled back, heart pounding.He had felt the killing intent earlier, but he hadn't understood what it meant.
The general wiped a smear of blood from his lip, eyes narrowing.
"So," he said quietly, "you're no ordinary spy."
The spy smiled darkly.
"You have no idea."
His fingers elongated, turning into jagged, blade-like claws.
"Erias," Raelan said sharply without taking his eyes off the spy, "step back."
Erias obeyed immediately.
The air thickened. Soldiers on the field reached for their weapons. The palace guards raised shields. The spy took a slow step backward, gauging the numbers around him.
I felt his thoughts.He wasn't here to fight an army.He only needed one death.
The traitor's order echoed inside him.
Kill the boy.
The spy flashed forward too fast for mortal eyes but the general was faster, intercepting him with a fury that cracked the tiles beneath their feet. Raelan followed, a blur of steel and precision.
Erias watched, breath frozen in his chest.
He had seen Kaelar fight. He had seen Raelan fight. He had even seen demons fight.
But this this was something new.
The spy moved like a nightmare given flesh, twisting his body into impossible angles. His claws slashed through stone like cloth. Raelan and the general attacked from both sides, but the spy blocked with vicious efficiency.
Their strikes clashed in a flicker of sparks.
The three warriors moved like storms tearing at each other.Shockwaves rippled across the courtyard.Servants screamed and fled.The king stood at the balcony, expression darkening with each passing second.
Erias watched every movement, trying to understand.Trying to learn.Trying to breathe.
At last, the spy leaped backward, flipping through the air and landing on the far side of the field. For a single instant, he stood still. The corrupted essence around him darkened.
He prepared to flee.
But Raelan was already in motion.
And the general was right behind him.
Erias could not see the exact strikes only the blur of motion, the flash of steel, the crack of stone shattering beneath their feet. When the dust settled, the spy was on one knee, breathing heavily, blood dripping from a gash across his side.
Raelan's blade rested at the back of his neck.
The general's wooden sword pressed against his chest.
The spy looked at Erias with hatred so pure it burned.
"This is not over," he hissed. "The traitor will"
He did not finish.
Raelan struck the side of his head, knocking him unconscious.
Guards rushed in, binding the spy in chains reinforced with magic and steel. Even unconscious, his presence radiated danger.
The general turned to Erias, eyes sharp.
"You were the target," he said.
Erias felt the weight of those words crush down on him.His throat tightened.His hands shook.
Raelan stepped closer, his expression unreadable.
"This is what it means," he said quietly, "to follow the path Kaelar set before you."
Erias didn't respond.He couldn't.
The world felt heavier than ever before.