The metallic scent reached them before the sight did.

  It wasn’t strong, but it was constant. As if the air itself had been steeped in iron.

  Selene was the first to stop.

  “Do you smell it?”

  Lucan had already noticed.

  He gave a slight nod and moved forward cautiously, pushing aside the low branches along the path. The forest was too quiet. No insects. No wind.

  Only that smell.

  And then they saw it.

  The body lay on its back at the side of the trail. The armor had been torn open at the chest, split as if something had pierced through metal and flesh without effort.

  A royal guard.

  Selene felt her stomach tighten.

  Lucan approached first. He crouched. Observed without touching.

  The guard’s eyes were open. Frozen in an expression of surprise more than pain.

  But it wasn’t the wound that mattered.

  It was what had been carved into the armor.

  A seal.

  Dark.

  Etched directly into the metal as if it had been melted into place. Interwoven lines forming a circular figure that seemed to shift if stared at too long.

  Selene stepped closer.

  “That’s not a common symbol…”

  Lucan didn’t answer.

  He recognized the structure.

  Not exactly the same.

  But the pattern.

  The distribution of energy.

  “It feels strange…” Selene murmured. “It’s like… like yours.”

  Lucan looked up at her sharply.

  “No.”

  But he didn’t sound convinced.

  Selene leaned in slightly, studying it.

  The seal seemed to pulse faintly. Not with light—but with density.

  And beneath the symbol, carved with deliberate precision into the dented metal, were words.

  “We are here.”

  Selene swallowed.

  “What does that mean…?”

  Lucan extended his hand… then stopped inches from the seal.

  He could feel it.

  That energy wasn’t natural.

  It wasn’t from the kingdom.

  Selene, without thinking, reached toward it.

  Lucan reacted instantly.

  He grabbed her wrist firmly.

  “No.”

  She flinched.

  “I was just going to—”

  “You don’t know what it does.”

  His tone wasn’t harsh. It was direct. Sharp.

  Selene glanced at her hand still in his grip.

  “But if it’s similar to your energy…”

  “Exactly.”

  For a brief moment, the air seemed to grow heavier.

  Lucan released her wrist slowly.

  The seal vibrated faintly, as if reacting to their proximity.

  Selene stepped back.

  “Do you recognize it?”

  Lucan took a moment before answering.

  “I recognize the structure.”

  That was worse than a no.

  Selene looked back at the body.

  “So someone like you did this?”

  Lucan didn’t respond.

  Because the answer wasn’t simple.

  A distant sound broke the silence.

  A scream.

  They both lifted their heads at the same time.

  Another scream.

  Clearer.

  Closer.

  Selene felt the blood drain from her face.

  “That came from the town…”

  An orange flash lit the sky above the trees.

  This time it wasn’t subtle.

  It was an explosion.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  The ground trembled beneath their boots.

  Lucan stood immediately.

  The phrase carved into the armor seemed to stare at them.

  The message—

  It was for the kingdom.

  Selene looked at him.

  “This isn’t a random attack…”

  Lucan was already staring toward the horizon, where the sky was beginning to burn.

  “This was planned.”

  Another scream tore through the night.

  Closer.

  Much closer.

  Lucan stepped back from the corpse.

  “Let’s go.”

  Not toward the body.

  Not toward the seal.

  But toward the hill from which they could see what was happening.

  And when they began to run, the metallic scent stayed behind.

  But the feeling that something had begun long before they noticed…

  That did not.

  The horizon was burning.

  Columns of smoke rose between rooftops like black fingers pointing at the sky. The flames were not isolated; they were multiple. Coordinated. Here and there, as if someone had marked specific points on a map.

  The sound was the worst part.

  Not just explosions.

  Screams.

  Shouted orders.

  Metal clashing against metal.

  Wood splintering.

  From the hill, the kingdom looked like a board someone had decided to overturn.

  In the eastern district, a house collapsed in on itself engulfed in flames. Two figures tried to escape before the roof gave way. Only one made it out.

  Further north, something enormous advanced down the main street.

  It wasn’t human.

  Its body was made of stone assembled with glowing blue runic lines. Each step shook the ground. Guards attempted to surround it, launching coordinated strikes, but their blades barely left superficial marks on the carved surface.

  One of the constructs raised its arm.

  Impact.

  Three soldiers were hurled against a wall.

  One did not get back up.

  In another street, hooded figures moved swiftly through the confusion. They did not strike at random. They marked doors with dark symbols before setting them ablaze. They left signs on walls—angular, circular, ancient.

  As if claiming territory.

  As if this wasn’t destruction… but announcement.

  A group of civilians ran toward the central square. A mother dragged her small son while shouting his name again and again. The boy cried without understanding.

  A guard tried to position himself between them and a shadow descending from a rooftop.

  It wasn’t enough.

  The shadow landed with a short blade in hand.

  One clean motion.

  The guard collapsed with a deep cut to the throat, blood staining the stone.

  The mother screamed.

  The attacker did not pursue them. He withdrew into another street, as if already assigned to the next objective.

  That was what made it unsettling.

  This wasn’t uncontrolled fury.

  It was method.

  The emergency alarm sounded from the watchtower. A deep, repeating tone rarely heard in decades.

  “Regroup in the plaza!”

  “Protect the northern flank!”

  “Find Renar!”

  “Where is Eldric?!”

  “Call the remaining strong fighters!”

  Orders overlapped. No one had the full picture.

  In the commercial district, a second runic construct tore through a shop as if it were paper. Its eyes glowed with unnatural light as the symbols carved into its body intensified each time it was struck.

  A young soldier, barely a recruit, froze in front of it.

  The construct looked at him.

  There was no emotion in that stone gaze.

  Only execution.

  An arm descended.

  The impact left a crater in the street.

  The soldier’s body lay motionless in the dust.

  In the center of the kingdom, shadows seemed to multiply. Some climbed walls as if gravity did not apply to them. Others emerged from alleyways that had been empty moments before.

  And within the flames, in the reflection of firelight, something else moved.

  Watching.

  Not participating directly.

  Directing.

  From the hill, Selene felt the air become impossible to breathe.

  “This… this isn’t a raid…”

  Lucan didn’t answer.

  His eyes traced the points of attack.

  East.

  North.

  Center.

  The targeted zones weren’t random. They were key points: supply depots, signaling towers, districts where veteran guards’ families lived.

  Someone had studied the kingdom.

  Someone knew exactly where to strike.

  A third explosion lit the sky.

  The bells began to ring alongside the alarm.

  Firelight flickered in Selene’s eyes, dancing with the fear settling in her chest.

  Below, another group of guards tried to form a defensive line.

  It lasted less than a minute.

  The shadows broke formation, leaving several bodies behind before dispersing in different directions.

  They weren’t trying to occupy.

  They were marking.

  Weakening.

  Breaking.

  Whoever was behind this… was measuring every reaction.

  Smoke now covered much of the sky.

  Another scream tore across the distance.

  Selene could barely breathe. The smell of ash had reached the hill.

  “We have to go back…” she whispered, her voice breaking. “We have to warn them…”

  Lucan didn’t respond.

  He wasn’t looking at her.

  His eyes were fixed on the shadows moving through the flames.

  They weren’t simple silhouettes.

  They were tall. Unnatural. Moving without sound, as if the fire parted to let them pass.

  Then one of them lifted its head.

  And looked at them.

  Selene felt the chill before she understood why.

  “Lucan…”

  Too late.

  The figure vanished.

  The air split.

  An impact against the ground only meters away sent dirt and stones flying. Selene fell backward, stunned.

  When she looked up, the creature was there.

  Tall. Long-limbed. Its face hidden behind a cracked black mask. Beneath it, something shifted… as if the skin itself were breathing.

  Lucan was already on his feet. Absolute silence. Not a word.

  The creature attacked first.

  A swift horizontal strike aimed at his neck.

  Lucan barely tilted away. The blade tore fabric from his jacket.

  And then he changed.

  One clean step.

  A short pivot.

  A direct slash to the creature’s forearm.

  The blood wasn’t red.

  It was dark. Thick. Almost black.

  The creature shrieked.

  Lucan didn’t retreat.

  He exploited the imbalance and struck its knee brutally. Bone cracked.

  Selene stood frozen.

  There was no hesitation.

  Lucan twisted the blade and drove it directly beneath the mask.

  No pause.

  No doubt.

  No emotion.

  The weapon sank to the hilt.

  The creature went still.

  Lucan withdrew the blade in one sharp motion.

  Blood splattered across his face.

  He didn’t even blink.

  Another shadow descended from behind.

  Selene screamed.

  Lucan moved before the sound finished.

  He intercepted the strike mid-arc. The impact sent vibrations through the metal. The force was brutal. He stepped back half a pace… but only half.

  His eyes were empty.

  Cold.

  The second enemy was faster.

  Chained strikes.

  Vertical.

  Horizontal.

  Low.

  To the throat.

  Lucan blocked only what was necessary.

  Moved only as much as required.

  Absolute economy of motion.

  He did not fight like someone desperate.

  He fought like someone who had done this before.

  In a brief opening, the creature grazed his side. Fabric split. Skin followed.

  Lucan didn’t react.

  He twisted, caught the enemy’s arm, wrenched until bone snapped, and with his other hand drove the blade into its chest.

  Once.

  Twice.

  Three times.

  Until it stopped moving.

  Silence returned.

  Selene was breathing hard.

  Lucan stood still.

  Blood dripped from his weapon.

  From his hand.

  From his jaw.

  He wasn’t even winded.

  He looked… steady.

  Balanced.

  That was what frightened Selene most.

  She rose on shaking legs.

  Lucan continued watching the burning horizon.

  As if calculating.

  As if estimating how many more would come.

  “Lucan…” her voice sounded small.

  He didn’t answer.

  “Since when… do you fight like that?”

  Silence.

  “Since when do you kill like that?”

  That word.

  Kill.

  Lucan closed his eyes for a second.

  When he opened them, they were just as cold.

  “This isn’t training, Selene.”

  Something broke inside her.

  “That’s not what I’m asking…”

  She stepped closer.

  “You didn’t hesitate.”

  Lucan finally looked at her.

  No anger.

  No guilt.

  Only a hard truth.

  “If you hesitate, you die.”

  Selene swallowed.

  “But you… you didn’t even seem affected.”

  A wave of hot wind rose from the kingdom.

  Distant screams.

  Another explosion.

  Lucan looked back at the chaos below.

  “Right now we can’t afford to feel.”

  That was worse than any shout.

  Selene understood something then.

  She wasn’t looking at the Lucan she knew.

  She was looking at the Lucan the world was forcing into existence.

  And that frightened her more than the creatures.

  More movement in the shadows.

  Three.

  No.

  Four figures descending toward the hill.

  Lucan raised his weapon.

  Selene finally reacted.

  This time she couldn’t stay behind.

  The first enemy lunged.

  Lucan advanced.

  Selene activated her seal.

  Blue light surged along her arm.

  The hill erupted into combat.

  Metal against bone.

  Shouts.

  Impacts against stone.

  Lucan severed a leg.

  Selene unleashed a burst that split the ground.

  One creature tumbled down the slope.

  But there were too many.

  From the city, a larger figure emerged from the flames.

  Much larger.

  Selene saw it first.

  Her blood went cold.

  “Lucan…”

  He saw it too.

  For the first time that night…

  His expression shifted.

  Not fear.

  Recognition.

  The creature raised something like an arm.

  And all the surrounding shadows began moving toward them.

  The hill was no longer safe.

  It was the next target.

  Lucan stepped forward.

  Selene felt her pulse spike.

  The wind momentarily smothered the nearest flames.

  Silence.

  And then—

  The shadows charged.

  End of Chapter 15