Bound by the king of destruction

On the night when Aderfel bled, a single soul was torn apart, born twice in two distant cradles, under one merciless sky.

"RUN! HURRY TO THE CAVES!"

The voice ripped through the smoke, desperate and raw.

---

At the edge of Elaria City, Thalor Ashenhive stood frozen, his blade trembling in his grip. His gaze swept over the horizon, flames clawing at the dark, smoldering ruins drenched in blood, shadows creeping like serpents between broken walls.

Behind him, his mother, Myrrin, and his wife, Nyra, waited for his command. But before they could move, their breaths caught.

A figure emerged from the mist.

A guardian of sealed knowledge... Sēndra.

It was a towering silhouette cloaked in smoke, its skin blacker than void, absorbing every glimmer of light. Its eyes glowed like pale moons, hollow and piercing. The shroud around it pulsed with a soundless hum, as if the world itself held its breath.

"Nyra, don't look at it!" A voice, female and frantic, echoed from somewhere unseen. "You'll lose your memories!"

But Nyra didn't turn. Her gaze was trapped in Sēndra's hollow stare.

"Nyra!" Thalor's voice cracked like breaking steel. "SNAP OUT OF IT!"

She murmured faintly, her tone distant, "What am I doing here? Where is my husband?"

Then a sudden scream broke from her lips as another wave of labor pain ripped her trance apart.

---

"Thalor!" Myrrin gripped Nyra's shoulders, her face pale and frantic. "She's been in labor for three hours, we have to leave now!"

Thalor's sword sang free. He lunged at Sēndra, but the blade only sliced mist. Claws formed from the shadows, swiping for Nyra...

Then came fire.

A roar of heat split the air, followed by the wet thud of something massive hitting the ground. Sēndra's head... dark and jagged, slammed against the earth. A figure landed on its neck, cloaked in fire and rage.

"Thalor, MOVE! Do you want your wife to die here?"

The voice was rough, commanding.

It was Varek Blackthorn, Thalor's sworn brother. The shard mark on his neck burned like molten steel, glowing with violent heat.

Varek's glare snapped to the panicked hunters nearby.

"To the caves! Move! Kael, where are the others—"

A spear whistled through the air, piercing Kael's skull. He dropped lifeless, his blood pooling on cracked stone.

"Damn it!" Varek cursed, his voice rising with fury.

"Thalor, get them out of here! I'll hold the line!"

Thalor's jaw tightened. He scooped Nyra into his arms. "I owe you, Varek," he muttered, but Varek was already engulfed in flame, charging the enemy.

---

The city burned behind them. Fire devoured shattered buildings; glowing runes flickered on broken walls as monstrous shadows prowled. Blood soaked the stones, mixing with ash.

Thalor dashed into the forest, Myrrin close behind.

"There's a cave up ahead!" she called, her voice sharp with strain.

"I'll cover the rear," Thalor said. "Go!"

But as he turned, a hot splash struck his back. Nyra collapsed with a cry.

He spun, eyes wide.

A towering beast loomed part crocodile, part lion, its jagged hide pulsing with green veins that glowed like venom. Twisted horns crowned its skull. It roared, a deep bellow that shook the trees.

---

Thalor's shard mark flickered to life, burning against his skin.

He charged. In a blinding strike, his blade tore the monster apart, the carcass falling in a heap. But more shadows slithered forward, multiplying, surrounding.

"Go!" he roared, but Nyra could barely stand. Pain wracked her body, her strength shattered. Her world was nothing but agony.

Before he could lift her, dark tendrils coiled around his ankles, anchoring him. A shadow trap.

A woman emerged from the trees, swift and fierce. She was Elunara. She seized Nyra and dragged her into the cave. Inside, the cries of labor echoed against the stone.

---

"Push!" the woman barked, her voice cracking like a whip.

Nyra shook her head, sobbing. "I... I can't... "

"DO YOU WANT TO KILL YOUR CHILD?" The words tore through the cave.

Nyra screamed, not from pain, but from the refusal to give up. She pushed. Again. And again.

---

Outside, Thalor fought like a man possessed. His blade tore through shadow after shadow, but they only grew in number. The sky itself darkened, as if bleeding.

Then, something shifted.

Every creature froze. Their movements halted, their claws trembling midair. One by one, they backed away into shadows, into earth, vanishing as if swallowed by fear.

Something was coming.

---

Inside, Nyra gave one last, shattering scream.

And then, silence.

A boy was born.

His hair glimmered white-blue, like frost under moonlight. His eyes were as clear as the sky. He didn't cry. He lay still, breathing but silent.

For a terrible moment, the cave froze in dread. Was he alive?

Then, faintly, his back began to glow.

A mark.

Not like any shard mark.

This one pulsed through colors blue, red, gold, black, white. Each hue brighter than the last, searing like a living seal.

Elunara stiffened.

"This isn't a shard mark… It's something else."

Her eyes widened, horror dawning.

"The Nine Pillars Binding Seal…"

Outside, the world stilled. The monsters were gone. Even the chaos in the city seemed to recoil.

---

And far across the city, in a crumbling hospital swallowed by ruin, another child came into the world.

The building's walls were cracked, half-collapsed, the roof gone. Amid the rubble, a nurse knelt beside a woman screaming in labor, her voice rising against the distant clash of hunters and beasts.

The nurse urged her to push. The woman obeyed, trembling with pain, tears streaking her face. Explosions thundered in the distance as steel clashed against shadow.

Then at last the child came.

A boy, his hair soft and pale green. A faint, smoke-like shard mark glowed green on his neck. And when he opened his mouth, he cried.

But his cry was no ordinary sound.

It ripped through the air, a sound so powerful it shattered what little glass remained in the windows. Dust shook loose from the beams, the ground quivered beneath them. The nurse staggered back, ears ringing, eyes wide with terror.

Even the monsters outside faltered, retreating at the resonance of his cry. The sound was ancient, raw, like something buried in the bones of the world had awakened.

---

One child was born in silence.

The other, in sound.

And so, on that night, Fiel Ashenhive and his other half, Elyen Blackthorn, entered the world.

Neither knowing the bond or the storm that awaited them.