Chapter XIX – The Mark and the Horn
The world was silent after the ursa's death.
Frost hung in the air like ash. The river no longer ran. Even the wind seemed afraid to move. At the center of the ruin stood Asad Al, wrapped in light that was no longer holy.
Gold burned through his armor, but now veins of cold blue flickered beneath it; the stolen echo of Ursa's dying soul.
He turned slowly, surveying what was left.
The soldiers who had survived crawled through the sludge, eyes hollow, hands trembling. None dared speak. None dared move. The divine heat radiating from him melted their courage before it reached their throats.
Auron lay a few paces away, one hand still gripping Vowkeeper. The blade had cracked down the center, the wolf spirit flickering faintly along its edge. His breath came ragged, his eyes glazed but unbroken.
Lucian was on his knees beside him.
Blood streaked his face. His hands were shaking, not from fear, but exhaustion so deep it hollowed the soul. He lifted his head when Asad's shadow fell over them.
The god-champion's voice was almost kind. "You fought well."
Lucian spat blood into the mud. "You killed a a being of godly descent."
Asad tilted his head. "A lesser one. The old kind. They clung to instinct and called it divinity." His gaze shifted toward Ursa's remains; now little more than frost and drifting light. "But divinity belongs to those who can wield it."
Lucian forced a bitter smile. "You mean to those who can steal it."
Asad didn't answer. His eyes lingered on Lucian, then on the faint runes still glowing under the boy's skin. "You have something in you," he said quietly. "A pulse I have felt before. The remnant of a forge not meant for men."
Lucian tried to rise, but his legs gave out. "Stay away."
Auron stirred beside him, dragging himself upright. His voice was low, a rasp from a throat filled with blood. "Touch him, and I'll—"
Asad flicked a finger.
The gesture was almost lazy, but the force that followed threw Auron ten paces across the field. He struck a broken cart, splintering wood with his body. The sound was final. Lucian screamed, but no sound came out.
Asad stopped in front of him. "You misunderstand me," he said softly. "I have no need to kill you. Not yet. i wanted divine essence and i got it, the hunt's goal has been fulfilled"
He raised a hand. Golden fire coiled around his fingers, sharp as a blade's edge. He pressed it against Lucian's chest.
Pain erupted like lightning.
Lucian convulsed, his back arching, breath tearing from his lungs. The light burned through his armor, carving a sigil into his flesh.
Not a wound an inscription. The mark of something claimed. He gasped as the fire receded, falling forward into the mud, smoke rising from his skin.
Asad whispered, "You will find me when the moon bleeds again. You will kneel, and the blood of your fathers will finish what they began."
He stepped away.
Auron crawled from the wreckage, dragging himself toward Lucian. His arm was broken, face streaked with ash, but he didn't stop. "Get away from him," he hissed.
Asad looked down at him, amused. "Still alive. You should not be. The spirit inside you is stubborn."
He knelt, fingers brushing Auron's forehead. The warrior tried to swing his sword, but his arm wouldn't move. The divine touch seared through his skin, leaving a faint, burning mark shaped like a sun broken in half.
"The mark of defiance," Asad said softly. "Wear it proudly, little wolf. It will remind you who spared you."
He rose.
Around them, the survivors began to wail. Not because of pain, but because Asad's shadow stretched longer than any human's should. His presence pressed down like the weight of heaven itself, forcing even the wind to kneel.
Lucian stirred weakly, his voice cracked. "Why… leave us alive?"
Asad turned to him. His expression was almost tender. "Because I have already won., and you two are fruits that have not fully riped"
He looked to the sky. The crimson moon had not yet risen, but its glow bled faintly through the clouds. "Tomorrow, the old and the new will meet. The bloodline will open the gate. And all of this will have been mercy."
auron could not understand what asad al meant. The light around him dimmed.
And then, faintly, a sound pierced the silence.
A horn.
Far away, deep in the fog-shrouded woods, a low, thunderous call rolled across the battlefield. Once. Twice. Then again. Each note carried strength, defiance, and the promise of vengeance.
Asad's head turned slightly. His expression hardened.
Lucian blinked through the pain. "Rodrik," he whispered.
The horn sounded again, closer now. And with it came the clatter of steel, the grind of wheels, the shouts of men. The eastern ridge glowed faintly with torchlight. A thousand new soldiers, banners torn but still standing.
Asad exhaled once, slow and measured. "It seems the scavengers have come."
He looked back at Lucian and Auron, broken and marked in the mud. "You have earned a reprieve. Keep your lives. When the time comes, you will understand why I let you live."
The light around him pulsed once, then folded inward. Gold and blue imploded into nothing. The sound that followed was like air rushing to fill a void.
When it was gone, only silence remained.
The battlefield stank of death and burnt frost. Ursa's body had vanished, leaving behind a crater filled with gray light that pulsed like a dying heart.
Lucian pushed himself up, trembling, his chest still smoking where the mark burned beneath his skin. "Auron," he croaked.
The warrior groaned, barely conscious. "Still breathing."
Lucian looked toward the ridge. Through the fog came the glint of armor, the shape of men running down the slope.
Rodrik's voice carried through the haze, rough and desperate. "Hold fast! Find them! Move!"
Lucian slumped back to the ground, exhaustion pulling him under. Above him, the clouds shifted, revealing the faint red glimmer of the coming moon.
The battle was over but the war had just begun.
End of Chapter XIX – The Mark and the Horn
author's note: hey guys, the first arc of volume 1 has officially ended and the story will be going crazy in the next arc, hope you guys like it.