The crimson light tore through the forest like a living thing. Trees shattered. Wolves howled. Valtheris was thrown backward, his coat flaring like black wings before he crashed through three oaks.
Keth stood at the center of the destruction, breathing hard. The Mark on their chest had spread, twisting up their neck in glowing veins.
The voice wasn't just in their head anymore.
It was singing.
A shadow moved to their left. Rhis, half her face burned, was crawling toward a fallen spear. Keth turned. Their hand moved without thought, fingers curling. Rhis gasped as an invisible force lifted her off the ground.
"Stop."
The word wasn't Keth's. It came from their mouth, but the voice was deeper, older.
Rhis choked. "What... are you?"
Keth's lips moved again. "The answer to a very old prayer."
A blur of motion. Valtheris slammed into Keth, driving them both into the earth. His fangs were bared, silver eyes wild. "Enough."
The impact should have shattered bones. But Keth simply laughed. With one hand, they shoved Valtheris off. The vampire lord skidded across the torn ground, his coat smoking where Keth had touched him.
"You knew," Keth said, standing. The voice layered under theirs made the trees tremble. "You knew what the Mark truly was."
Valtheris wiped blood from his mouth. "I knew it was a mistake."
The wolves were circling now, dozens of glowing eyes in the dark. The alpha stepped forward, his tattoos writhing like snakes. "This is no longer your game, blood-drinker."
Keth turned to face them all. The Mark's light pulsed, painting the broken forest in shades of hell.
"Games require players," they said. The ancient voice filled every word. "I am the board."
Then the ground opened beneath them.
Keth fell into darkness.
The last thing they saw was Valtheris lunging after them, his outstretched fingers brushing empty air.