The trail of smoke led Kael to a ruined watchtower overlooking the valley. Its stones were scorched black, the air still warm from a fire that had burned too quickly to be natural. He stepped over charred bodies — soldiers, from their armor. Their faces were twisted in terror.
Not killed. Drained.
The curse inside him stirred with recognition.
"Another bearer was here," the voice whispered. "Strong. Unrestrained. She feeds without mercy."
Kael's grip tightened on his sword.
"There are others like me," he murmured.
"No," the voice corrected softly. "Not like you. More… perfected."
Before Kael could respond, a faint sound echoed through the tower — a footstep, light as falling ash.
She descended the broken stairs with the calm poise of someone accustomed to death.
A woman — tall, cloaked in deep indigo, her hair silver as moonlight. But it was her eyes that froze Kael in place:
pale silver, glowing faintly, as if reflecting a world no one else could see.
She stopped a few paces from him, studying him with a curiosity that felt almost intimate.
"So it's true," she said. Her voice was low and steady. "Another host. I could feel you from miles away."
Kael kept his blade lowered but ready. "You killed them."
"I did." She didn't flinch. "They tried to bind me. Foolish men."
Her gaze drifted down to the bodies. "They never understood what we are."
Kael's jaw tightened. "And what exactly is that?"
A slow smile curved her lips — not warm, but razor-sharp.
"Chosen."
The curse inside Kael pulsed violently, reacting to her presence like rival beasts meeting in the wild.
"Kill her."
"Take her power."
But Kael silenced the voice, even if only for a heartbeat.
"What's your name?" he asked.
She tilted her head, as though amused he wanted something human.
"Liora," she said. "Liora Vale."
Her eyes flicked to the sword at his side.
"And you carry Oblivion. That makes you dangerous… or useful."
Kael's expression didn't change. "What do you want?"
"Only to see if the rumors were true." She stepped closer — too close — and Kael's curses writhed beneath his skin. "A new bearer. One the entity hasn't fully consumed."
Her fingers hovered near his chest, above the mark beneath his shirt.
"If you live long enough, that will change."
Kael stepped back. "Stay away."
Liora laughed softly, the sound echoing against the ruined stone.
"Good. You still resist. That means you haven't surrendered to it yet."
Her smile faded. Her tone hardened.
"Listen carefully, Kael Draven. The curse is awakening across the continent. Shrines breaking. Hosts returning. Something old is stirring… and when it rises, we will be the first swallowed."
Kael felt a chill coil down his spine.
"And what do you propose?"
"Survival," she said simply.
"Yours. Mine. Whatever we become."
She turned, stepping onto the tower's edge, wind ripping at her cloak.
"But make no mistake — if you stand in my way, I will unmake you."
The air flickered around her — a distortion of silver light — and with a sound like a breath being taken by the world itself, she vanished, leaving nothing but faint ash drifting in the air.
Kael stood alone in the ruins, staring at the place she had stood.
A new threat.
A new ally.
Or something far more dangerous than either.
The voice whispered in the darkness of his mind:
"She carries a different chain. And when chains meet, someone breaks."
Kael sheathed his sword and began walking.
He didn't know whether Liora Vale would be his salvation or his doom —
but he knew this:
Their paths would cross again.