The ghost of the black falcon was waiting in the silence of the trees. The dead forest lived up to its name while the skeletal branches reached upward like the fingers of a buried giant.
"You look like a man who has crawled through the very gut of the underworld," the stranger said while his black feathered cloak rustled in the wind.
Kaelen tried to stand but his legs felt like lead and his vision was swimming with purple spots. He looked at the stranger and noticed that the man had no reflection in the dark puddles of the forest floor.
"I have crawled through worse places to get my revenge," Kaelen answered while leaning against a rotted oak tree.
The stranger pulled back his hood to reveal a face covered in silver scars that glowed with a faint and rhythmic light. He looked at Kaelen with eyes that seemed to see through the physical body and into the swirling shadow soul within.
"Your shadow dragon is powerful but it is also a parasite that will eventually eat your heart," the scarred man warned.
Kaelen felt the shadow dragon within him growl in a low and defensive vibration that shook his ribs. He knew the stranger was right because the coldness in his chest was spreading faster with every passing hour.
"Tell me who you are or get out of my way before my shadow decides you are a snack," Kaelen threatened with a raspy voice.
The man let out a soft and dry laugh that sounded like dead leaves skittering across a stone floor. He raised his hand and the glowing runes on his skin began to pulse with a deep and ancient blue energy.
"My name is Elian and I was the strategist for the original Black Falcons before you were even born," the man revealed.
Kaelen froze while his mind raced through the stories of the legendary mercenaries who had founded their unit centuries ago. He had always believed that the first generation had been wiped out during the war of the gods.
"The history books say that everyone from your era was executed for practicing the dark arts," Kaelen said with a frown.
Elian stepped closer and the grass beneath his boots turned into silver dust that sparkled in the moonlight. He looked at the horizon where the smoke of the capital was still rising in a thick and ugly column.
"The books were written by the same empire that is currently hunting you with iron giants," Elian spat with sudden bitterness.
Kaelen felt a surge of hope for the first time since the banquet because he realized he was not alone in this fight. He looked at his blackened hand and saw that the smoke was starting to settle under the influence of Elian's presence.
"Can you teach me how to control this curse without losing my mind?" Kaelen asked with a rare moment of vulnerability.
Elian looked at the dark sword hanging at Kaelen's side and shook his head with a solemn and heavy expression. He knew the price of the forbidden power better than anyone else who was still breathing in this realm.
"I cannot stop the curse but I can show you how to forge it into a weapon that even the gods will fear," Elian promised.
The sound of metal clashing and horses galloping began to echo from the direction of the southern path. Kaelen saw a group of knights in white armor riding through the trees with torches that burned with a magical blue flame.
"They have found the tunnel exit and they are tracking the scent of your shadow," Elian whispered while pulling his hood back up.
Kaelen felt the shadow dragon waking up again and the urge to kill was becoming a screaming hunger in his mind. He looked at the knights and saw that they were carrying a large and heavy iron cage.
"What is inside that box that requires ten holy knights to guard it?" Kaelen asked while narrowing his eyes.
Elian looked at the cage and his silver scars began to glow with a violent and blinding intensity. He grabbed Kaelen's shoulder and pulled him deeper into the thick and suffocating fog of the dead forest.
"They are not guarding it to keep it safe but to keep it from waking up before they reach the cathedral," Elian explained.
Kaelen watched as the cage door rattled and a pale hand with long black claws reached through the iron bars. He heard a voice coming from inside the box that sounded exactly like the commander he had just fought.
"Help me or kill me but do not let them take me to the altar of the sun," the prisoner begged with a voice full of agony.
Kaelen realized that the empire was using its own fallen heroes to create something much worse than a mechanical giant. He looked at Elian and saw that the strategist was already drawing a circle in the dirt.
"If we do not stop that cage, a grave for the fallen will be all that remains of this world," Elian declared.
A grave for the fallen will be all that remains of this world.