Exiled Mage of the Outlands

The entrance to the Red Grove was hidden beneath a corpse-tree—its gnarled roots yawning like a mouth left open mid-scream. The air stank of iron, wet moss, and magic long forbidden.

Kael descended first, the torch in his hand flickering green with Lifebinder flame. Riven followed close, blades strapped tight and eyes scanning every corner.

They had come here not for safety, but for answers.And power.

The cavern opened beneath them like a wound.Walls etched in old glyphs pulsed faintly with red light.Blood dripped along channels in the floor, flowing in spell-formed rivers.

A woman awaited them in the center of the stone hall. She wore bone-threaded robes, her skin etched in spiraling crimson tattoos. Her eyes were a dead white—but they fixed on Kael with unsettling precision.

"I felt you coming before your shadow crossed the threshold," she said. "The blood remembers."

Kael's voice echoed quietly. "You're Seratha?"

"I am the Grove's last Warden. And you—" she stepped closer, nostrils flaring as if tasting the air, "—are not merely Kael. You carry something older. Something that burned down thrones."

"I carry it," Kael said evenly. "But I'm not him."

Her expression remained unreadable. "You say that now. We'll see what your blood says."

She led them deeper into the Grove—to a round chamber known as the Heart Room, where a basin of dark fluid rippled without touch. Veins of bone lined the walls like spiderwebs turned to ivory. Beneath their feet, ancient beast remains pulsed softly in the earth—sleeping, waiting.

"Lifebinding without sacrifice," Seratha said, "is mere theft. You pull life from death, but give nothing in return. That's why your summons break."

Kael frowned. "You know about the reanimations?"

"I know what you've tried to forget. You reached for creatures buried in rage and brought them back screaming."

He said nothing.

She pointed to the basin. "Cut your palm. Let it show what lies beneath."

Kael slit his hand and let the blood fall.

Green light shimmered across the basin.Images rose:

A skeletal beast of antlers and flame collapsing mid-charge.

A half-formed phoenix whose bones exploded upon resurrection.

Fields full of forgotten grave-beasts buried centuries ago—still tied to him through Kal'Veyr's lost magic.

"You can summon them," Seratha said. "You already do. But every call costs you. Memory. Strength. Self."

Kael clenched his jaw. "I'll pay it."

She arched a brow. "And when the price is too high?"

"I'll still pay it."

Riven touched his arm. "Not if it breaks you."

Kael looked at her—and nodded.

"I'll find another way. I always do."

Before Seratha could respond, the earth trembled.

Then flame exploded from the hallway they'd come through.

A figure strode into the room, wreathed in shadowfire. Armor black as pitch. A burning glyph etched into his mask.

"Obsidian Blade," Riven hissed. "Circle assassin."

Kael didn't wait.

He grabbed Riven's hand, yanked her behind a bone wall just as fire lanced toward them.

Seratha didn't move.

The assassin turned, blades drawn, and launched into the room with supernatural speed.

Kael snarled, glyphs flaring to life on his forearms.

"I need more than hands and fire," he whispered.

Then slammed both palms to the ground.

"Rith-Kaelum... awaken the buried."

The ground beneath him shuddered.

Bone burst from the earth in a ripple—half-formed beasts of fang and horn, ribcages snapping into shape as if stitched by unseen hands.

They roared—a chorus of the dead.

Two charged forward, skeletal sabers clashing with the assassin's blades, giving Kael and Riven the chance to flank.

"Go!" Kael shouted.

Riven moved like lightning—blades whistling through the dark, sparks flying where steel met spell.

Kael followed her strike with a Lifebound surge—his hand slicing open mid-air glyphs that seared the assassin's shoulder.

The Obsidian Blade snarled—and killed both beasts with one gesture.

Kael grunted—staggering. Blood leaked from his nose.One summon cost him.Two drained him.

But he clenched his fists. One more.

"Sith'rali... rise with wrath."

Another beast broke the floor—this one massive, a skeletal bear with glowing green eyes. It pinned the assassin long enough for Riven to stab deep—twice, then a third time.

The assassin collapsed beneath the crushing weight of bone and blade.

Silence.

Kael dropped to one knee, panting, his veins aching with spent power.

Riven knelt beside him, pressing a hand to his back. "You summoned too much."

He coughed. "They were already dead. I just… borrowed."

Seratha approached and looked down at him.

"You bind them like a god. But feel pain like a man. That is the difference between you… and him."

Kael looked up, sweat dripping from his brow.

"I'm trying to stay that way."