The sun hovered low over Veridia, casting long, blood-red shadows across the marble palace courtyard. Soldiers, nobles, and commoners alike gathered, drawn by the thick tension hanging in the air like a storm waiting to break. The city seemed to hold its breath.
Adam stood tall in the center of the courtyard, his cloak billowing behind him in the warm breeze. His eyes locked onto the golden throne where King Malik sat, draped in silks, arrogance radiating from his every movement. The same man who once begged Adam to save the kingdom now stood as his greatest betrayer.
Adam's voice cut through the air like a blade. "King Malik," he growled, his tone seething with rage. "You knew… You knew Alexandra was my son. And yet… you sent me to kill him."
Gasps echoed from every corner. The weight of his words struck like thunder. Even the birds scattered from the palace rooftop in fright. The truth had fallen, shattering the silence with brutal force.
King Malik's face paled, then hardened into a mask of fury. "What proof do you have for such wild accusations?" he hissed.
From the crowd stepped a frail woman, trembling but with undeniable determination in her eyes. She was the Queen's former maid. "I was there," she said, her voice fragile but firm. "I saw their love. I helped the Queen hide her pregnancy. Alexandra was Adam's son… and your jealousy banished her, not justice."
The silence turned suffocating, as if the very air was thick with grief and fury.
Adam's jaw clenched, his voice a low growl. "You made me spill my own blood. You murdered the woman who loved me. And then… you used their child like a pawn."
King Malik rose, his voice dripping with venom. "I would do it again! For power. For my throne! You were a tool, Adam. A sword I could sharpen and cast aside. Nothing more!"
Adam stepped forward, eyes burning with the intensity of his grief. "Then you'll see what happens to those who break a father's heart."
The wind went still. The weight of the moment hung heavy in the air.
"I challenge you to a duel," Adam declared. "No guards. No army. Just you and me."
Malik scoffed, a mocking laugh escaping his lips. "You dare challenge a king?"
Adam's voice was iron. "I dare challenge a coward."
A roar erupted from Malik, his fury igniting the very ground beneath him. "So be it!" he snarled.
He removed his crown, thrusting it into the hands of his trembling advisor. "None shall interfere. Let this be my trial!"
The crowd backed away, forming a tight circle around them, their eyes wide with anticipation.
Two legends stood, a mere blade's length apart. One fueled by grief, the other by pride.
The duel began.
Their swords clashed with the deafening sound of thunder. Sparks flew with every strike, the steel ringing out in a symphony of violence. Malik was fierce, a man driven by rage and desperation, while Adam was controlled, a man driven by purpose. Steel met steel, honor met betrayal. For what felt like hours, they fought—blow after blow, neither yielding, neither giving an inch.
As the sun sank below the horizon, Adam twisted, his blade cutting through the air like a serpent. With one masterful strike, Malik's sword was knocked from his hand. The king fell to his knees, blood seeping through his armor.
"You should've killed me when you had the chance," Malik gasped, his breath ragged.
"I'm not like you," Adam said quietly, his voice a rasp of finality. "But I can't let you keep ruling."
With a swift, fluid motion, Adam ended it. Malik's body collapsed, lifeless, his reign over.
A hush fell over Veridia.
---
The King's Paranoia
That very night, before Malik's body had even cooled, fear gripped Zayd, the second son of King Malik, born of another queen. He watched his father's lifeless face and muttered to himself, "This… this was your doing."
But unknown to Adam or Zayd, King Malik had already anticipated his downfall.
Before the duel, Malik had sensed his fate drawing nearer. So, he made one final, desperate move. Under the cover of night, accompanied by the captain of his royal guard, Malik ventured into the outlawed lands beyond Veridia. There, in a crumbling fortress hidden beneath layers of shadow, they met the leader of the Black Fang Assassins.
As Malik stepped forward, the assassin leader grinned, revealing yellowed teeth. "What brings a king to such a dangerous place… without protection?"
Malik's eyes glinted with cold resolve. "I have a proposition," he said, motioning to the guard who dropped a heavy sack. Gold spilled out, gleaming in the dim light.
The assassin leader's grin widened. "Now I'm listening."
"I want you to kill Adam," Malik ordered. "Ambush him when he leaves Veridia. No witnesses."
The assassin bowed mockingly. "As you wish… your majesty."
By the time Malik returned to the palace, his son Zayd was waiting for him in the shadows, his eyes sharp with suspicion.
"What have you done, Father?"
Malik's eyes were wild with mania. "What had to be done. I made that monster kill his own bastard son."
"But do you know," Zayd whispered, his voice trembling with rage, "that Alexandra killed the Queen? The woman you loved? You started all this… for what?"
Malik slapped him hard. "You forget who you speak to."
Zayd spat, wiping the blood from his lip. "I forget nothing. You lost your soul."
Malik's roar echoed throughout the halls. "Confine him! Lock him in his room. Let no one free him without my word!"
And that was the king's final command.
---
The Moonlit Ambush
Adam rode beneath a starless sky, his heart heavy with grief, Maximus carrying him steadily along the quiet path outside Veridia's walls. The air was cool, but his soul burned with unresolved anger.
Suddenly—two figures dropped from the trees, their cloaks swaying like shadows in the night. Daggers flew toward him with deadly precision.
Adam deflected one with a quick motion, blocked another with his arm. The fight had begun.
"Run!" he whispered to Maximus, who neighed and disappeared into the forest.
Steel met steel in a flurry of movement—each strike, each block, each dodge a battle for survival. Adam fought with the desperation of a man who had lost everything. His attackers were skilled, their blades flashing like lightning in the dark. The hours stretched on, blood staining the ground beneath him, but Adam was relentless.
Then, with a sudden twist, he disarmed one of the attackers. The assassin's mask flew off, revealing the face beneath.
A gasp escaped Adam's lips.
It was a young woman, her face streaked with tears, her eyes wide with recognition.
The second assassin halted, staring at Adam in shock. "Jasmine?" he said, his voice shaking.
Adam froze, his blade still raised. The moonlight reflected in his eyes, confusion and disbelief swirling inside him.
The girl dropped her weapon, trembling. Then, without warning, she threw her arms around him.
"Father…" she whispered, her voice a broken sob. "It's me. It's Jasmine."
Adam staggered back, his mind reeling. "Jasmine…?"
The second assassin—Ryan—dropped to his knees, his head bowed in submission.
"Ryan…" Adam's voice was barely a whisper. "My… my children."
The battlefield seemed to dissolve around them, leaving only the two faces that haunted his past—the children he once saved in Inwaar's territory.
"How…?" he whispered, barely able to comprehend the impossible truth.
---
Their Story
Under the pale moonlight, Jasmine held Adam's hand, her fingers trembling. "After we left you, a man came to our village. He offered us peace and took us in. We didn't know he was the leader of the Black Fangs."
Ryan's voice was heavy with regret. "He trained us, molded us into weapons. Told us that the world would always hurt us unless we struck first. When our new home was attacked, and our adoptive parents were killed… we stayed with him."
Jasmine added, "We didn't know it was the king who sent spies to watch us. But we saw them."
Ryan's voice sharpened, growing darker. "I chased one. Killed him. The other escaped… and that's how the king knew we were close to you. That's how he ordered the hit."
Adam's face darkened. "He feared I would rise again."
"He was right," Ryan said, his voice laced with bitterness.
And so, as the night deepened, Adam found himself surrounded by the children he thought lost forever—betrayed by fate, yet reunited by the moon's gentle light.