Lord of the realm

The forest had grown quiet in the deep hours of the night. The silver moon hung on the horizon, shimmering its soft light through the branches, casting long shadows on the forest floor. The only sound was the gentle rustling of leaves in the breeze, creating an eerie yet peaceful atmosphere.

Most of the witches had settled into their rest, and even the four of them had finally managed to find some peace despite their strange circumstances.

Rena and Jaenor slept separately after their argument earlier. Rena seemed to be oblivious towards Jaenor's feelings. She was so focused on Morgana and the other witches.

The three camps were lit by dying fires, and only a few sentries remained awake to watch for danger.

Jaenor was just beginning to drift off to sleep when a sound made his eyes snap open—a sound like breaking branches, but wrong somehow, as if the very trees were screaming in pain.

It was the same feeling he'd had back in the village when the fiends came—an instinctive dread he couldn't explain but trusted without question.

Darian opened his eyes. His knight's instincts screamed in warning, tearing him from sleep.

The night air suddenly changed with a strange noise in the air.

The temperature around them suddenly dropped, and frost began to form on the grass despite the fact that they were far from the snowy mountains.

A smell filled the air, like rotting meat mixed with burning sulfur.

Darian stood up, and he saw Morgana standing up too. She looked at him and confirmed that she was also feeling the same.

She shouted, telling everybody to wake up, as she could sense something was coming towards them.

Elizabeth and Raelana were already awake, and they alerted their members. They were also aware of unnatural disturbance. With confused glances, they moved towards the place where Morgana was standing.

Taeryn and Baren stood together; they were afraid, feeling restless with growing tension in the air.

The strange noise of someone wailing and the whistle of the wind added more to the eerie atmosphere.

Rena stood closer to Jaenor, holding his hand tighter as she watched the darkness around them. Even the moon's light wasn't enough.

Now, all of them gathered at a point, watching into the darkness.

From the darkness between the trees stepped a creature unlike anything they had seen before.

It looked familiar yet different to them. It looked like a fiend, but it had a different energy around it.

"Blackfiend?" Darian thought.

The black fiends that had attacked their village had been shapeless things of darkness and hunger. But this one was different—terrifyingly different.

Morgana and Darian exchanged glances, wondering what it was. Because they have not seen something like this before. Even the other witches were the same. And they were completely clueless as to what's happening there.

They stood at the ready, prepared to attack if the creature came at them.

It stood upright like a man, with legs and arms and a body that was clearly human in shape. But quite large in build.

Its skin was black as midnight, not the soft darkness of night but the harsh black of burnt wood. Its face had human features—eyes, nose, and mouth—but they were twisted into something cruel and alien.

Two curved horns grew from the back of its head, bending forward like the horns of a bull, and its eyes glowed with red fire that hurt to look at directly.

"What is that thing?" Elizabeth said as she grew confused seeing the creature. It was no human, but the shape and limbs looked the same.

When it moved, it did so with the agility of a predator, and when it spoke, its voice was like the sound of grinding stone.

"Mortals," it said, its burning gaze sweeping over them.

"Come forth and rejoice, for I have awakened from the Great Slumber." Its voice tore through the silence—a harsh, jarring sound that made the skin crawl.

And everybody was surprised by hearing the voice, and then the creature raised its hands, stretching them on either side.

As if signaled, more shapes began to emerge from the forest.

These were the familiar black fiends they had seen before—shapeless masses of darkness with claws and teeth. But there were so many of them, dozens upon dozens, flowing between the trees like a black tide.

"Blackfiends? What in the goddess are they doing here?" Raelana said, watching the numbers gathered behind the human-like fiend.

That creature looked at them and giggled, which sounded like nails scratching on rusted iron.

Then it looked directly at Jaenor, looking into his eyes, its grin widening.

Jaenor suddenly felt a cold shiver run all over his body.

Then the fiend raised his hand, and those creatures made a screeching noise and jumped at them.

Morgana quickly ordered Darian to take Jaenor and others out of here.

She sprang into action, and so did the others too.

Darian drew his sword. The blade gleamed silver in the firelight, and he moved towards the four of them and told them to stay together.

The witches moved into positions, their hands already glowing with Origin power.

Elizabeth's fingers crackled with bright red traces of Origin power, while Katerina's breath misted with deadly cold. Raelana's hands bloomed with thorny vines, and her eyes blazed with green fire.

Morgana moved swiftly; quickly the battle ensued, and all of them were now in fierce combat with those black creatures.

But the black fiend seemed unconcerned by their preparations.

It walked calmly through the chaos as battle erupted around it, black creatures clashing with fire and blade. Its red eyes were fixed on something specific—the small group of four huddled together near their dying campfire.

Rena screamed as a black fiend lunged at her, but Baren was there with a burning branch from the fire, driving the creature back with the flames. All around them, the forest had erupted into a nightmare of battle.

The black fiend moved through the fighting like it was walking through a gentle rain. Those creatures and attacks seemed to part around it, unable to touch its dark form.