BLOOD OF THE INHERITORS
The storm had not passed it had merely taken a breath
Kael stepped into the heart of the ruined demon outpost its blackened stones still slick with the blood of the fallen Behind him trailed the echoes of the massacre he had carved through the demon legions a trail of limbs and ruptured torsos His robes once a noble black were now drenched crimson The blood did not bother him it never had
But something was changing
He could feel it in the air an ancient pulse an invisible breath moving through the cracks in the cursed earth As his boots ground bone to dust beneath him he approached the shattered altar at the heart of the ruin
A whisper greeted him
You wear our hate like a second skin Reborn One
Kael spun already hurling a chain of obsidian flame toward the voice The fire split the air with a shriek but stopped inches before the one who had spoken
She stood untouched not even flinching
She was tall cloaked in deep silvergray silk that swirled without wind Her face was half hidden beneath a hood but her mouth curled with something between amusement and fury Her eyes glowed not with magic but with ancient knowledge
Who are you Kael growled
A remnant A shadow An Inheritor of the Ruined Line
She stepped forward and extended her hand On her palm a glowing sigil pulsed a shattered rune Kael had only seen once before etched into the dying kings chest in his first life
My name is Nysera And I am your sister
The world stopped moving
BACKSTORY UNVEILED
Nysera explained without emotion her voice steady and quiet like a guillotines drop
You were the first of the twelve The first soul torn from flesh and reborn through agony Our father the WarlockKing of Obsidian Deep harvested our bloodlines to forge weapons out of his own children
Kaels fists trembled
I remember fire Screams Then the void
And so do I Nysera said But I broke free earlier Ive watched you slaughter your way through their ranks thinking yourself alone
She turned her head to the north
But the true enemy is waking now The Dominion of Black Mirrors They fed Father his madness They are older than demons Older than gods
INTRODUCING A TWIST THE DOMINION OF BLACK MIRRORS
The Dominion was a secret order of entities born from fractured realities living spells sentient curses that wore flesh like masks
Theyre the reason the world is rotting Nysera said And now that youve consumed so much death theyll come for you
Kael felt it A low pull in his bones Not magic Not hunger A summoning
Then Ill kill them too he said
Nysera smirked
Youll try But not alone
NEW ENEMIES REVEALED
The wind snapped violently The sky fractured like glass and from that black rip crawled something inhuman
Its body was made of polished obsidian shards floating in the shape of a humanoid each fragment spinning like a blade No eyes No face No sound It pulsed with impossible geometry
The Warden of Untruth A servant of the Dominion
Kael didnt wait
He lunged forward with his blade of burning soulsteel but it passed through the Warden In return the creature exhaled a pulse of antireality Nysera screamed as her left arm dissolved into static Kael staggered part of his leg glitching in and out of existence
You cannot kill what is not real the Warden whispered inside his skull
Kael grinned
Then Ill tear reality apart
A NEW POWER AWAKENS
In the seconds between thought and death Kael remembered something A spell carved into the core of his soul during his second resurrection One hed never dared use
Soul Split
He chanted the ancient lines and his shadow tore away from him becoming solid snarling identical in form and fury The Warden turned toward the shadow confused and thats when Kael struck the creatures core with his real blade
BOOM
The Warden exploded into shards of inverted space
Nysera collapsed panting Her arm was gone But she looked up with something close to awe
Youre not like the others
No Kael whispered Im worse
SETTING THE NEXT PHASE
Together the siblings turned toward the dark horizon where new towers of black glass were rising mirrors that reflected broken versions of the world Inside each a version of Kael waited A corrupted clone A test
The Dominions making copies of you Nysera said Twisted loyal versions Well have to kill them before they replace you
Then well go to war