Far from the center of Horozon, buried beneath the barren mountains like a dark tomb, lay Haxar Prison silent, dormant. It consisted of eight interconnected sections, each a domain of a different curse, a different punishment.
134Please respect copyright.PENANAKIP5FAT05R
But that morning... the stone walls began to breathe.
134Please respect copyright.PENANAHVViJ7hyOx
The first tremor rose from the deepest level. In the section of the Sealed, a creature with iron-forged runes down its spine suddenly opened its eyes. Not with sight but with bone.
134Please respect copyright.PENANA1XkE5L4SVf
In the Arslar ward, a prisoner added a new scratch to the marks etched into the wall. "Have they arrived?" he muttered.
134Please respect copyright.PENANAqxgntmBNEu
In the Seers' section, a blind woman who had long sat in endless silence suddenly raised her head. She heard the pulse of Xhu not through veins, but through the stone. Her lips parted:
134Please respect copyright.PENANAsYBmEG1gxg
"The shriek of corpses, like a lullaby."
134Please respect copyright.PENANA9a6NZMEFYo
The guards weren’t surprised by the noise rippling through the prison. Some struck the walls, others checked the seals.
134Please respect copyright.PENANAgRUnXH2cyS
Head Warden Marcho stood alone in the high watchtower. He pressed his fingers to an ancient seal carved into the wall. His eyes were shut. Then he inhaled sharply a deep, hoarse, stunned breath.
134Please respect copyright.PENANACEFLukbPk4
"This... this is not an army."
134Please respect copyright.PENANAYNhjHLsg6E
He didn’t hear what was happening outside. But he felt the echo as if the world were folding inward.
134Please respect copyright.PENANAGusTEkpxrM
Rouma still lay unmoving beneath the seals. But his eyes were open.
134Please respect copyright.PENANA293zxc9z16
For he recognized Pegwalsge’s Xhu.
134Please respect copyright.PENANAHtZfngoTRS
And now, he sensed another… a different flicker… icy, but constant… nearly immortal.
134Please respect copyright.PENANAgC8UozlJua
The seals trembled faintly.
134Please respect copyright.PENANArDD9BaAfqn
The spark burning within Rouma flared for a moment. His repressed Xhu flowed not outward, but inward. So deeply that others in their cells felt it too.
134Please respect copyright.PENANAubSVXyw6TG
Prisoners began to scream.
134Please respect copyright.PENANA1E0z84cboe
But not from fear.
134Please respect copyright.PENANAT3mY1lo1De
From memory.
134Please respect copyright.PENANALXJOt8t5yx
And what they remembered came with pain. Each of them realized that war was real, that Xhu had been called again, and above all, that Haxar was not just a prison it was a grave of the forgotten.
134Please respect copyright.PENANABbKGhH3XeR
Marcho turned from the wall. The seals flared to life one after another. Some glowed softly, others began to melt the stone.
134Please respect copyright.PENANAhqZ78Il788
"This war will pull Haxar into it," Marcho said. "And I am ready."
134Please respect copyright.PENANA0GtOtp7Ply
The earth had already called him.
134Please respect copyright.PENANA7JYEsIYWGX
And Xhu... had now reached an unimaginable scale.
134Please respect copyright.PENANAEq0sniesoX
To the east of Horozon, the first echoes of war had crossed the mountains. When the nearest kingdom, Mellthur, saw the red signal lights tearing across the night sky, it awoke from its sleep with a nightmare.
134Please respect copyright.PENANAuDlLgNfRB2
One of the watchtowers spotted the burning crimson flare and immediately sent word to the palace. The color, shape, and pulse of the light could mean only one thing:
134Please respect copyright.PENANAfYZ73DCPpx
"Emergency distress call. The threat has breached the borders."
134Please respect copyright.PENANAEdcQMlT2Ce
The windows of the great hall in the heart of the kingdom were draped in darkness, yet inside, motion stirred. The war bells had not sounded, but the scent of the earth had changed. The wave of Xhu had reached the walls of Mellthur.
134Please respect copyright.PENANAkMFHhHjegt
King Aswang sat silently upon his throne, wrapped in white furs. When the scout whispered the news, Aswang only narrowed his eyes. A dark thought veiled his brow.
134Please respect copyright.PENANApiVcMSMXWx
"If Horozon has lit the signal... this is no ordinary threat," he said. "Could it be Glatsyan...?"
134Please respect copyright.PENANAvXzebth975
His voice was low and cold, as if he didn’t want the gods themselves to hear.
134Please respect copyright.PENANAN5ek4MHtnB
Aswang slowly rose. The guards and advisors in the room instinctively stepped back. Kings seldom rise. In that moment, silence gave way to tense anticipation.
134Please respect copyright.PENANAFRZrYBA2HZ
"Summon Commander Creasya."
134Please respect copyright.PENANAvy8595dPwl
The steel clad doors opened slowly. The figure who entered was silent as shadow, yet the Xhu that surrounded her created a pressure in the room. Commander Creasya, head of Mellthur’s Northern Garrison, wore dull gray armor cracked and scarred from old wars. His eyes were black, holding within them a threat as still as frozen water.
134Please respect copyright.PENANAZEPvgo5qrR
Aswang gave him a nod. Without explanation, he issued his command:
134Please respect copyright.PENANAg7KpZBQUSf
"Horozon has lit the signal. A battle is raging there. But this is no ordinary enemy. The vibration of Xhu has reached even here. I doubt you cannot feel it. This level of Xhu... perhaps one or more of the Glatsyan. Handle this swiftly."
134Please respect copyright.PENANAU0SaXfij77
Creasya bowed his head. "I feel it, Your Majesty. This is not an invasion. This is the resurfacing of something long forgotten."
134Please respect copyright.PENANAwLAskDHFK5
"Take your elite forces," said Aswang. "This is not merely a rescue mission. This is a witnessing. Be careful."
134Please respect copyright.PENANA2yFrLKLayY
"How many soldiers do you command me to bring?"
134Please respect copyright.PENANAtrLpCx9ViH
"Bring those whose endurance you trust. The outcome will be decided not by numbers, but by strength of spirit."
134Please respect copyright.PENANANHOaa5h28d
Creasya knelt. "At your command, Your Majesty."
134Please respect copyright.PENANA4pmJllKwbs
Aswang walked to the window. The sky was still crimson. Something burned on the horizon.
134Please respect copyright.PENANAZSj3Z6HDHD
"This Xhu... how can it be? I know this Xhu but it should be impossible..." the king whispered, unable to hide his shock.
134Please respect copyright.PENANAjP3GMmafwb
And Creasya, wasting no time, had already set off.
ns216.73.216.151da2