The battlefield stank of iron and smoke. Corpses—friend and foe alike—littered the torn earth, and in the center of it all stood the Sovereign's war commander.
He was a mountain of iron, wrapped in blackened plate scarred from a hundred campaigns. His chained warhammer dragged across the ground with a sound like grinding stone, each link clattering heavy enough to make the earth itself shudder.
Kael faced him, blade in hand, black lightning crawling hungrily along its edge. His companions fanned out behind him—Lyra with her twin daggers ready, Darian's greatshield gleaming in the firelight, and Selene whispering a chant that bent the air.
The commander's voice rolled like thunder across the field.
"Rivenhart's whelp. They sent you to break my line? Then let me show you why armies bend at my name."
Without warning, the warhammer shot forward. The chain uncoiled like a serpent, whistling through the air, and smashed into the earth where Kael had been standing a heartbeat before. The ground split apart, shockwaves blasting outward, knocking several of Kael's soldiers from their feet.
Kael slid across the rubble, eyes narrowing. His grip tightened on his blade.
"Companions—don't break formation. This one is mine."
But the commander was relentless. The warhammer snapped back with brutal speed, sweeping sideways this time. Kael raised his blade, black lightning screaming as he met the strike. The clash sent sparks into the night, a wave of force rippling out, rattling bones and bending steel.
Lyra hissed between her teeth. "Gods… he's not human."
Darian grimaced, bracing his shield as debris rained down. "Stay sharp. If Kael falters, he'll flatten us all."
Kael's crimson eyes glowed in the dark, locking onto the commander.
The air between them seemed to hum—two storms circling, moments before collision.
The commander lifted his warhammer high, chains rattling like a death knell.
Kael raised his blade, lightning surging into his arm until his aura scorched the ground black.
When the next strike came, it wasn't just steel against steel. It was the Sovereign's war made flesh against the crimson wrath of a fallen house.
And the battlefield trembled as the true duel began.