The army pressed deeper into the provinces, banners heavy with ash. Villages no longer watched in silence they spat curses, hurled stones, and vanished into the forests before soldiers could catch them. The Empire was no longer feared. It was hated.
Kael rode at the column's edge, Tharos's talons crunching the dirt road. Ember light flickered in the beast's wings, a warning to those who dared approach. Yet Kael felt no triumph. Every shuttered window, every child's frightened eyes carved guilt into him.
"They see us as conquerors," Kael murmured.
Garrick, riding nearby, gave a weary nod. "And perhaps they are right. The Emperor demands obedience, but obedience bought with blood breeds rebellion."
Rowan moved through the camp like a shadow, whispering venom. He told recruits Kael was reckless, that Tharos was a monster waiting to turn on them.
One evening, Kael returned to his tent to find his rations slashed open, grain scattered in the dirt. A crude symbol of rebellion had been carved into the canvas a jagged sunburst.
Tharos growled, feathers bristling. As if telling Kael that Rowan wants him broken.
Kael clenched his fists. "Then I'll endure." he said.
But the whispers spread. Soldiers eyed him warily, some stepping back when Tharos passed. These shows that Rowan's poison was taking root.
Later, Garrick summoned Kael to the command fire. Maps lay spread across the table, ink marking rebel strongholds.
"You carry more than steel," Garrick said. "You carry doubt. Rowan feeds it, and the men listen. If you want loyalty, you must earn it."
Kael frowned. "How?"
"By deeds. By standing where others fall. Let them see you bleed and rise again. That is how legends are born."
Kael's jaw tightened. He thought of the Ember Fields, of the corpses left behind. He thought of Rowan's smirk. "Then I'll bleed if I must."
Two nights later, scouts vanished. Kael volunteered to lead the search, Garrick reluctantly agreeing.
The forest was silent, too silent. Moonlight filtered through twisted branches, shadows stretching like claws. Tharos's wings flickered faintly, casting ember light across the undergrowth.
Then the swarm struck. Mantis riders dropped from the trees, beetles charged through the brush, their armored shells glinting. Rebel war cries split the night.
Kael fought with fury, sword flashing, Tharos's talons raking through chitin. But this was no raid. It was a trap.
From the shadows, Rowan's voice rang out. "The peasant falls tonight!"
Surrounded, Kael felt the weight of steel and betrayal closing in. His arm bled from a spear's graze, his breath ragged.
"Tharos," he whispered.
The beast's wings erupted in flame, a shockwave tearing through the forest. Rebels screamed, trees splintered, mantis riders tumbled from the sky. Rowan stumbled back, his smirk gone, eyes wide with fear.
Kael stood in the inferno's glow, sword raised, eyes blazing.
He was no longer just a recruit.
He was becoming the Legionbreaker