The two vampires took another step back.
Pure instinct.
Survival screaming inside them.
But there was nowhere to run.
The ground was frozen.
The walls were destroyed.
And, at the center of it all… Kael.
Standing.
Immobile.
As if all that devastation was nothing more than a detail.
The ice crunched beneath his feet as he took another step forward.
"Who's behind this?" he repeated, his voice low, but laden with a pressure that seemed to compress the air.
One of the vampires spat blood onto the ground.
The dark liquid froze almost immediately.
He laughed.
Weakly.
Hoarsely.
But still… defiant.
"You think… this is so simple?" he said, raising his gaze with difficulty. His red eyes were unsteady, the light flickering. "Do you think it's just a name?"
Kael didn't answer.
He just watched.
Waiting.
The other vampire, younger, trembled.
Not just from the cold.
But from fear.
A fear that wasn't of death.
It was… of something worse.
