The journey to the Red Teeth began beneath a blood-colored sky.
Mountains jagged like wolves' fangs loomed ahead, their tips lost in swirling crimson fog. The earth here bore no grass—only dry, cracked stone stained with old blood.
Kael rode ahead, his eyes scanning the path. The cursed mark on his arm burned hotter with each mile.
Behind him, Elira rode in silence, her face partially hidden beneath a hood. The shattered mirror fragments she wore as a necklace pulsed faintly, catching echoes of memory that hadn't yet returned.
Selene brought up the rear, ever watchful, her sword across her lap, her gaze sharp.
They passed ruins swallowed by bramble and bone. Statues of kings lay toppled, their faces eroded into blank scorn.
Kael spoke without turning. "This land remembers death too well."
Selene nodded. "And it hasn't forgotten betrayal either."
As the sun dipped into red twilight, they made camp beside a fallen watchtower, half-consumed by rot.
Elira sat beside the fire, whispering to the flame.
"I saw him in a dream," she said softly. "The next Marked."
Kael glanced at her. "What did you see?"
"Chains. Teeth. Water. He wore the crown of a drowned king… and he fed it his enemies."
Selene narrowed her eyes. "Doesn't sound like the kind who'll talk."
Kael's voice was cold. "Then we stop him before the throne binds him tighter."
Before they could speak more, a sudden scream tore through the night—high and shrill.
A shape staggered into the firelight.
A boy. Barefoot. Bloodied. Eyes wide with terror.
"Please—help me—they're coming—"
Behind him, the fog stirred.
Dozens of glowing eyes blinked open. Long, twisted shapes—bone wolves, half-flesh, half-magic—poured from the dark.
Selene leapt to her feet. "Form up!"
Kael drew the cursed dagger. Its whisper rose like a chant.
"The Red Teeth have sent their hounds."
And the night howled with fury.
---
End of Chapter 19
The cursed land awakens. The hounds of the Red Teeth strike first, testing the strength of the Marked. But who hunts them… and who watches from behind the crimson fog?