Ash drifted down in slow, lazy spirals, each flake cool and papery against Kai's skin before it crumbled into nothingness. The air was saturated with the heavy, cloying stench of burned flesh sweet-charred pork mixed with the sharper, metallic bite of blood baked into earth. Smoke hung low, a greasy gray veil that stung his eyes and coated the back of his throat with every breath, making swallowing feel like dragging sandpaper over raw tissue. Beneath it all lingered the unnatural ozone tang of lingering shadow essence, sharp and electric, like the moment before lightning strikes.
The eternal eclipse loomed overhead, its blood-red corona pulsing faintly, as though the sky itself had a diseased heartbeat. Light that reached the ground was wrong thin and cold, turning skin tones corpse-pale and making fresh blood glisten almost black. Shadows stretched long and thick, pooling in doorways and beneath collapsed roofs like spilled ink that occasionally rippled when no wind stirred.
Kai's bare chest prickled violently in the unnatural chill radiating from the closed rifts. The eclipse tattoos etched across his skin glowed with a cool, inner luminescence, each intricate silver line tingling as though tiny threads of frost were being pulled slowly through his veins. The sensation was oddly soothing, a counterpoint to the deeper, gnawing ache beginning behind his sternum the first true bite of corruption, cold fingers scraping gently at the inside of his ribs, whispering for more.
His boots sank ankle-deep into churned mud that squelched wetly with every step, the consistency thick and warm in places where blood had not yet cooled. The iron sword in his grip dripped viscous black ichor; droplets hit the ground with soft plops, steaming faintly before they hissed into nothingness, releasing a brief, acrid puff that smelled of burnt copper and deep winter graves.
[Free Stat Points: 20 remaining]
[Shadow Corruption: 12% – Persistent hollow ache beneath sternum]
The blue interface materialized crisp and glowing, letters sharp against the crimson haze.
Current Stats (Level 8):
STR: 26
DEX: 20
VIT: 12
INT: 11
WIL: 8
LUK: 5
He allocated with a thought, and power surged like molten metal poured directly into bone.
+10 STR → 36
+7 DEX → 27
+3 VIT → 15
The transformation rippled outward. Veins rose briefly along his forearms and neck as muscle swelled and hardened beneath skin that now felt stretched taut over living steel. His spine elongated with a series of soft, wet pops that echoed strangely in the quiet. Breath deepened, lungs expanding against ribs that suddenly felt unbreakable. The sword's weight evaporated; it floated in his grip as though eager to be swung.
The corruption's hunger sharpened in response—a cold, hollow clawing that made his mouth water with need he could not yet name.
From the east came the caravan.
First the vibrations through the ground subtle at first, then unmistakable: the rhythmic thud of hooves, the deeper groan of wooden axles straining, the faint jingle of harness chains. Then the smells rolled in on the breeze: sour, lathered horse sweat thick enough to taste on the back of the tongue; old leather warmed by bodies and sunless days; the faint sweetness of spilled oats from a torn feed sack; the sharp ammonia sting of animal fear; and woven through it all, the unmistakable salt-copper reek of human blood poorly bandaged.
The caravan appeared over the rise like a battered procession from a nightmare.
Six wagons, canvas covers shredded and hanging in soot-blackened tatters that flapped lazily in the cold wind. Wheels caked with frozen mud groaned with every turn, spokes flecked with ice that glinted dull red. Guards trudged alongside, armor clanking dully, breath exploding in white clouds that hung briefly before dissolving. Refugees huddled in the wagon beds some curled fetal beneath threadbare wool, teeth chattering audibly; others sat staring blankly, soot-streaked faces lit corpse-pale by the eclipse; children clutched to parents, small whimpers escaping despite efforts to hush them.
Leading them rode the woman whose very presence struck Kai like a physical force against his chest.
Silver hair spilled in a thick braid that caught the eclipse's bloody light and threw it back as liquid moonlight, strands escaping to cling damply to her neck and temples. Her face was porcelain carved by hardship high cheekbones sharp beneath faint bruising, full lips pressed bloodless with tension and cold, a thin cut along her jaw already scabbing dark and pulling when she moved. Her eyes were glacial blue ringed with frost that seemed to emanate from within, lashes crusted lightly with road dust. Dust and ash streaked her deep green cloak, yet could not hide the noble cut of the fine leather armor beneath scarred, blood-spattered, but molded perfectly to a lithe, athletic frame that spoke of both training halls and hard roads.
The scent that reached him as the wind shifted was a startling contrast: crisp, high-mountain air; faint rose oil still clinging stubbornly to her hair; the subtle metallic bite of adrenaline barely leashed; and beneath it all, the warm, living smell of woman skin and faint sweat and something uniquely hers.
She raised a gloved hand. The caravan halted with a chorus of creaking wood, stamping hooves, and the collective, ragged exhale of fifty held breaths.
She dismounted with fluid grace despite obvious exhaustion boots crunching into frost-rimed gravel that cracked like thin ice. Her cloak swirled, revealing the longsword across her back: frost runes etched deep into the fuller, glowing soft blue and exhaling visible mist that smelled sharply of pine needles crushed under winter snow.
Up close, her presence was overwhelming. Kai felt 'Divine Allure' thrum like a second pulse; saw her pupils flare wide, watched her throat work in a subtle swallow as her gaze traced the glowing tattoos fully exposed by his shredded shirt, lingered on the impossible symmetry of muscle and bone, on silver eyes that held the eclipse itself captive. A visible shiver ran through her not entirely from cold. Breath came quicker, pluming white between parted lips. The flush that rose beneath ash and dust on her cheeks was unmistakable rose.
Her voice, when it came, was clear and melodic, refined northern cadence roughened by smoke and sleepless nights.
"You stand alone in a graveyard of shadows." Her glacial gaze swept the ruins slowly, lingering on the fresh grave beneath the oak, on the carved promise still wet with sap. Something raw and aching flickered across her features grief mirrored, recognition of shared loss before iron resolve slammed the mask back into place. "Are any others alive?"
Kai's voice emerged low, gravel-rough from inhaled ash and unshed grief. "Only me. Kai Voss. I was the blacksmith here."
She nodded once, braid swaying. "Elara Veyne." Her chin lifted toward the wagons, voice softening fractionally. "These people are under my protection. We ride for Ironhold Citadel three days north, if the rifts and the cold allow it." Her eyes returned to him, searching. "A man who walks away from this slaughter untouched by claw or despair… the road ahead is darker than this ruin. We could use such strength."
The words hung between them, fragile as frost.
Then the temperature plunged without warning.
Frost exploded outward from the treeline in brittle, crackling veins that spread across grass and gravel alike, the sound sharp as breaking glass. Breath froze instantly in clouds that hung suspended. The stench of ancient, frozen graves rolled over them wet stone, rot long preserved, the breath of things that should have stayed buried.
Three shadow hounds materialized from the darkness between blackened trunks.
Their forms rippled like liquid night poured into predatory shape sleek, elongated, ribs visible as deeper voids within voids. Crimson eyes burned with ravenous, mindless hunger. Each silent footfall left perfect circles of rime that spread outward, grass blackening and curling as though kissed by liquid frost. The air around them tasted of deep winter death.
Panic detonated.
Children's screams pierced high and thin. Mothers clutched them close, muffling cries against wool that smelled of smoke and fear-sweat. Guards bellowed hoarse orders, metal rasping as spears lowered with shaking hands. Horses reared, eyes rolling white, the sharp ammonia reek of their terror cutting through everything.
Elara drew her longsword in one seamless, practiced arc.
Frost runes blazed sudden bright blue; the blade exhaled a thick plume of icy mist that swirled visibly around her, smelling sharply of crushed pine and glacier wind. She stepped forward deliberately, boots crunching frost, placing her body between the nearest wagon and the approaching pack cloak billowing, silver braid whipping.
But Kai moved first.
'Eclipse Dash' erupted.
The world smeared into streaks of crimson and black. Wind roared past his ears like a storm, cold enough to burn skin. Hair lashed across his face in silk whips. He reappeared between hounds and caravan in the space of a single heartbeat, boots skidding on sudden sheet ice, the impact jarring up calves and thighs.
The alpha hound lunged jaws unhinging impossibly wide, revealing endless rows of shadow-teeth dripping void saliva that hissed and smoked where it struck frozen earth, releasing a chemical stench sharp enough to sting eyes.
Kai twisted aside. The hound's hot, rotting breath washed over his cheek and neck wet grave soil and old blood as he brought the iron sword up in a vicious diagonal slash. Steel met shadow-flesh with a sound like thick ice shattering. Black ichor erupted in a freezing spray across his chest and arms, shockingly cold, like being flayed by liquid nitrogen. It steamed violently against his skin, raising instant red welts that throbbed before fading under accelerated healing.
'Shadow Devour' surged unbidden eager, almost joyful.
Black tendrils exploded from his free hand, writhing like living smoke, wrapping the dissolving corpse with wet, sucking sounds that echoed strangely in the hush. Essence flooded him: cold, thick, intoxicating as dark honey poured straight into his veins. It pooled hot behind his sternum for one glorious moment before spreading outward in delicious, shivering waves that made his breath catch.
[Shadow Hound (Alpha) defeated. +120 EXP]
[Level Up! Level 8 → Level 9]
[Shadow Devour gains: +2 STR → 38 | +1 DEX → 28]
[New Passive: Predator's Instinct (Lv.1) – Enhanced threat detection]
The second hound vaulted high, claws extended toward Elara's exposed flank its void-breath already washing over her in a freezing cloud.
Kai intercepted mid-air.
He seized its throat with bare fingers that sank into shadow-flesh like gripping frozen smoke. The hound's weight was nothing against STR 38. Its crimson eyes bulged inches from his own as cold, rotting exhalation bathed his face. He slammed it down; frozen earth cracked beneath the impact, shards of ice stinging his shins like needles.
One brutal downward thrust ended it steel grating against shadow-bone.
The third hound turned to flee, claws scrabbling on ice.
Kai's lips curled.
He hurled the iron sword end-over-end. It spun with a low, singing whistle before burying itself to the hilt in the hound's flank. The beast shrieked a sound like tearing sheet metal mixed with breaking glass and collapsed pinned against a charred tree trunk, black ichor pumping in thick pulses.
Three long strides across crunching frost. One final, greedy 'Devour'.
The last essence poured into him sweet, heady, addictive making the hunger behind his ribs momentarily bloom into something almost euphoric.
[Shadow Hound x2 defeated. +180 EXP]
[Shadow Corruption: 12% → 15% – Hunger now a sharp, persistent clawing]
Silence crashed down, heavy and absolute.
Only the soft hiss of melting frost, the distant crackle of dying fires, and the ragged breathing of fifty souls remained.
Kai straightened slowly. Black ichor steamed off his skin in curling wisps that smelled of ozone and deep winter. The hunger gnawed deeper, a cold claw scraping insistently inside his chest demanding more essence, more power, more everything.
Every face in the caravan stared awestruck, terrified, reverent.
Elara stood motionless, sword lowered, frost runes fading to dull blue. Her glacial eyes traced every inch of him the glowing tattoos pulsing softly with his breath, the blood-flecked perfection of muscle and bone, the silver gaze that held the eclipse captive. Her breath came in quick, visible clouds between parted lips. The flush on her pale cheeks had deepened to vivid rose, spreading down her throat beneath the collar of her cloak.
She sheathed her blade with deliberate care the soft, metallic click unnaturally loud in the hush.
"Welcome to the caravan, Kai Voss," she said, voice quieter now, husky with something new wonder, wariness, and a warmth trying desperately to break through centuries of ice.
As the wagons lurched forward once more wheels groaning over frozen ruts, breath misting in synchronized clouds Kai walked beside her horse. The private notification bloomed golden in his vision.
[Hidden Quest: Eclipse Oath – Activated]
Protect her. Earn her trust. Bind her if the ice allows.
He glanced up.
Elara met his gaze for a long, charged moment silver on glacial blue before looking away first, braid swaying, cheeks still burning beneath the ash.
The hunger inside him shifted, deepened.
Not solely for shadow essence anymore.
The caravan rolled onward into deepening crimson twilight, frost creeping at the edges of the road like living crystal.
Greater darkness waited ahead.
And Kai's newly awakened senses tasted it coming rich, cold, and endless.
Author's Note:Bonds begin to form in blood and shadow. The corruption creeps higher, what will Kai's hunger demand? Guess. Thank you for reading. Power stones, comments, and collections keep the darkness alive.