The scroll was old now—frayed at the edges, soaked once in rain, once in blood. But the names never faded. Kael redrew them every night with a sharpened knife across his palm, the ink always his own.
He stared at the next one:
Sir Orlen Graves – Captain of the King's Shadow Guard. A man who turned his soldiers into monsters for coin. The one who stood by and watched as Kael's daughter screamed for help. The one who ordered the fire to be lit.
A name that deserved to die.
---
Two Days Later — A Border Fortress
Kael arrived at dusk, dressed as a common traveler, unarmed—at least to the eye. His face hidden behind a scarf. His eyes, hollow.
The fortress loomed like a beast carved from black stone, its banners fluttering in the wind like dying birds. Kael didn't flinch. He had no reason to fear the gates of hell—he'd already walked through them.
Inside, Orlen drank in the mess hall, surrounded by loyal men. His voice was a trumpet of arrogance, booming over the firelit room. He bragged of victories and slaughter. Of how easy it was to crush weak families when the coin was right.
Kael listened. Quiet. Cold. Calculating.
---
Midnight
The guards changed. The corridors emptied.
And then—silence died.
Kael moved like a shadow reborn. A dagger in his boot. A needle beneath his collar. A vial of powder for the dogs.
He reached Orlen's quarters in thirteen precise steps.
Inside, the captain slept beneath a fur cloak, a woman curled beside him. Kael saw her. Innocent. Unaware. He paused.
Then struck.
A blade across the throat. Swift. Silent.
Orlen gasped, woke—too late.
Kael pinned him down, eyes like obsidian fire. "Remember the girl you heard screaming?" he whispered.
The life drained from Orlen's face.
Kael twisted the blade.
"Now you do."
---
Later That Night
Back in the woods, Kael lit a small flame and pulled out the scroll again. Orlen's name—crossed off.
One more down.
Twenty-three to go.
But in the shadows beyond the tree line… someone watched him.
A slender figure. Cloaked in silver. Eyes that glinted with recognition.
And then, they vanished.
Kael didn't know it yet.
But the past was not done with him.
To be continue...