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.
155Please respect copyright.PENANAkOIYAHd52n
But that morning... the stone walls began to breathe.
155Please respect copyright.PENANAkTe2UikG7p
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.
155Please respect copyright.PENANA76yXZzMkX0
In the Arslar ward, a prisoner added a new scratch to the marks etched into the wall. "Have they arrived?" he muttered.
155Please respect copyright.PENANA6EwSwoisf7
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:
155Please respect copyright.PENANAsENfIbUg25
"The shriek of corpses, like a lullaby."
155Please respect copyright.PENANAZcmsgpPCMA
The guards weren’t surprised by the noise rippling through the prison. Some struck the walls, others checked the seals.
155Please respect copyright.PENANAZrZp0671re
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.
155Please respect copyright.PENANA6UrNkw4TxD
"This... this is not an army."
155Please respect copyright.PENANAEMzdw9NO5Y
He didn’t hear what was happening outside. But he felt the echo as if the world were folding inward.
155Please respect copyright.PENANA5FnSEwufIT
Rouma still lay unmoving beneath the seals. But his eyes were open.
155Please respect copyright.PENANAvxQDOvXPqJ
For he recognized Pegwalsge’s Xhu.
155Please respect copyright.PENANArjailUQ7tM
And now, he sensed another… a different flicker… icy, but constant… nearly immortal.
155Please respect copyright.PENANAJoFrYScA9a
The seals trembled faintly.
155Please respect copyright.PENANAMpjScr59an
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.
155Please respect copyright.PENANA6znAt3zuOA
Prisoners began to scream.
155Please respect copyright.PENANA5P5B3KHdn7
But not from fear.
155Please respect copyright.PENANAPO9mpm4Dsc
From memory.
155Please respect copyright.PENANAQPwRGPzxcM
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.
155Please respect copyright.PENANA0CRVhwawJC
Marcho turned from the wall. The seals flared to life one after another. Some glowed softly, others began to melt the stone.
155Please respect copyright.PENANAZPyOdACj0p
"This war will pull Haxar into it," Marcho said. "And I am ready."
155Please respect copyright.PENANATgmmAYmMdY
The earth had already called him.
155Please respect copyright.PENANAfSp5E7E9rC
And Xhu... had now reached an unimaginable scale.
155Please respect copyright.PENANATlUHK0tH4v
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.
155Please respect copyright.PENANAeJyf7szqVl
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:
155Please respect copyright.PENANAZmcaLSCQWc
"Emergency distress call. The threat has breached the borders."
155Please respect copyright.PENANAFc7ivL87wM
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.
155Please respect copyright.PENANAfLdBoXkC2y
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.
155Please respect copyright.PENANAofejWHQ6RG
"If Horozon has lit the signal... this is no ordinary threat," he said. "Could it be Glatsyan...?"
155Please respect copyright.PENANAGp8OZVsXng
His voice was low and cold, as if he didn’t want the gods themselves to hear.
155Please respect copyright.PENANAskCVxV24e2
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.
155Please respect copyright.PENANApxtPoW24jS
"Summon Commander Creasya."
155Please respect copyright.PENANAt775bSjKBF
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.
155Please respect copyright.PENANALOGgpXbHaj
Aswang gave him a nod. Without explanation, he issued his command:
155Please respect copyright.PENANAylcWyEckvX
"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."
155Please respect copyright.PENANA4duITmjT6r
Creasya bowed his head. "I feel it, Your Majesty. This is not an invasion. This is the resurfacing of something long forgotten."
155Please respect copyright.PENANAk2VFxk95qk
"Take your elite forces," said Aswang. "This is not merely a rescue mission. This is a witnessing. Be careful."
155Please respect copyright.PENANAEM8bYvO44V
"How many soldiers do you command me to bring?"
155Please respect copyright.PENANAveYiLhacRW
"Bring those whose endurance you trust. The outcome will be decided not by numbers, but by strength of spirit."
155Please respect copyright.PENANAZJzk6BfeHW
Creasya knelt. "At your command, Your Majesty."
155Please respect copyright.PENANAai47jQeZuZ
Aswang walked to the window. The sky was still crimson. Something burned on the horizon.
155Please respect copyright.PENANA2b3a03gq5L
"This Xhu... how can it be? I know this Xhu but it should be impossible..." the king whispered, unable to hide his shock.
155Please respect copyright.PENANAc1MRAmB7ra
And Creasya, wasting no time, had already set off.
ns216.73.216.32da2