The Thorne of Destiny

The training grounds were still humming with Adrian's words when the war horns blared again. Deep, guttural—different from alarm bells. A call to arms.

Elder Laen appeared at Adrian's side, talisman scrolls swirling around him like restless birds. "Scouts report a Dust Order warband moving along the Ashen Road. Fifty strong. They burn as they march."

Murmurs rippled through the disciples. Fifty was no small force. For a sect still rebuilding, it could mean annihilation.

Adrian's hand closed around the Bound Star sigil at his chest. The pulse of it echoed in his veins—rage, clarity, power. "Then we don't wait for them to reach another village."

He turned to Bella. "Ready the Ironwing Riders. Form a vanguard."

Bella's grin was wolfish. "Finally."

On the Ashen Road – Dusk

The Dust Order moved like a plague: black-robed figures, each trailing smoke like a funeral pyre. Their leader, a gaunt man with ash-white hair, rode at the head, bearing a staff crowned with a hollow skull.

He raised the staff, and a wave of black flame swept the roadside forest. The screams of burning animals echoed like broken flutes.

Then—mist rolled in. Silent. Smothering.

A disciple's voice whispered from the fog: "Mistshroud rides."

The Ambush

From the ridges above, the Ironwing Riders descended—five great winged beasts bearing armored cultivators. Bella led the charge, her halberd sparking red as she cleaved through the first line of Dust soldiers.

The forest floor erupted as Mistshroud disciples emerged from concealment, blades flashing, talismans igniting.

Adrian himself landed in the center of the warband like a falling star. The Bound Star flared, his aura scattering black fire before it touched the ground.

The gaunt leader snarled, thrusting his skull-staff forward. Shadows coiled, forming a serpent of flame that lunged at Adrian.

Adrian met it head-on, palm outstretched. Mist and starlight fused, unraveling the serpent mid-strike. His voice was cold:

"You burned children."

The leader sneered. "We erased weakness."

Adrian struck. The Bound Star's light crashed through the man's chest, shattering bone and staff alike. The shockwave rolled through the battlefield—Mistshroud disciples surged, cutting down disoriented foes.

Turning Point

But the Dust Order did not falter easily. The survivors gathered into formation, chanting. Their blood spilled onto the ground, glowing with cursed sigils.

The air turned sour. From the pooled blood rose a creature—towering, skeletal, wreathed in smoke. A revenant forged from fifty lifetimes of spite.

The disciples faltered. Some stumbled back.

Adrian stood firm. The revenant's empty sockets locked onto him.

Then Storm—the great beast—descended beside him, wings spreading wide, fangs bared. Lightning crackled along his fur.

Adrian placed a hand on Storm's shoulder. The Bound Star pulsed. Man and beast shared breath, aura fusing.

He leapt. Together, they struck the revenant in a storm of claws, light, and fury. The explosion lit the Ashen Road like a second sun.

Aftermath

When the dust settled, the revenant was gone. The surviving Dust soldiers fled into the night, their chants broken, their fear plain.

The Mistshroud disciples stood bloodied but alive, staring at Adrian as if seeing him for the first time.

Bella wiped her halberd clean. "So," she said. "We don't just endure."

Adrian's gaze swept the horizon, where the Empire's banners might one day march, where the Dust Order still festered like rot.

"No," he answered, voice steady. "We hunt."

The night after the Ashen Road burned, Adrian could not sleep.

Mistshroud disciples celebrated their victory, voices echoing across the mountains. Yet Adrian's heart was still heavy. Each flicker of firelight in the camp reminded him of Hidden Edge Village's ashes.

Storm lay nearby, wings folded, eyes glowing faintly as if keeping watch. Bella and Elder Laen argued quietly over maps of the northern passes, debating whether to strike deeper into Dust Order lands or fortify what they had reclaimed.

Mistshroud disciples celebrated their victory, voices echoing across the mountains. Yet Adrian's heart was still heavy. Each flicker of firelight in the camp reminded him of Hidden Edge Village's ashes.

Storm lay nearby, wings folded, eyes glowing faintly as if keeping watch. Bella and Elder Laen argued quietly over maps of the northern passes, debating whether to strike deeper into Dust Order lands or fortify what they had reclaimed.

Adrian rose and walked into the mist. Alone.

And found he was not alone.

The Arrival of the Shadow

The mist thickened unnaturally, swallowing sound. Even Storm stirred uneasily.

From the silence, a voice slid like oil:"You burn my hounds, and call it victory?"

Adrian turned. A man stood beneath the trees, his form indistinct, as if the mist bent around him. His robes were black as void, stitched with veins of silver that writhed like living serpents. In his hand, a blade of pure shadow whispered and breathed.

Lord Thorne.

Adrian felt it instantly—the Sigil within the man pulsing like a heart of night. Power deeper, older, more suffocating than anything the Ashen Road warband had wielded.

The First Exchange

Adrian summoned the Bound Star. Its light flared, mist scattering in waves.

Thorne's lips curled. "A fallen disciple clinging to scraps dares carry that Sigil?"

Adrian raised his hand. "You ordered the slaughter of innocents. You'll answer for it."

Thorne stepped forward. The mist warped, swallowing Adrian's words. "Children? Villages? They are ashes. What matters is what remains. You waste strength on weakness."

The shadow blade hissed forward, faster than sight. Adrian barely caught it with his star-forged gauntlet. The impact shook the trees, collapsing branches in a rain of splinters.

Thorne pressed, his voice calm amid the storm of strikes."The Bound Star is a beacon. Every time you use it, the Empire feels the pulse. They will come for you."

Adrian forced the blade back, sparks of starlight clashing against shadow. "Let them."

The Depth of Shadow

Thorne's smile widened. Then his body unraveled—splitting into five silhouettes, each bearing the same blade, each whispering in unison:

"Then come and be devoured."

Adrian's breath caught. His senses screamed—every shadow was real, every strike lethal.

The first blade slid past his guard, nicking his arm. Black flame hissed from the wound, crawling up his flesh.

The second shadow drove its sword downward, forcing Adrian to roll aside. He countered with a burst of starlight, scattering two illusions—but three remained, relentless.

For the first time since returning, Adrian felt the weight of death pressing against his throat.

Bound Star Awakens

Storm roared, lightning splitting the mist. The beast barreled into one shadow, tearing it apart. Yet the others closed in, forming a cage of blades.

Adrian clenched his bleeding arm. The Bound Star pulsed wildly, light threatening to tear free of his body. He felt it whisper—not words, but memories. Images of the Mistshroud's founder weaving runes of light, standing alone against a tide of darkness.

Adrian exhaled."Then lend me your strength."

The Bound Star's light flared—not outward, but inward. Instead of scattering shadows, it bound them, threads of silver latching onto each illusion, revealing the truth.

Three were false. Only one shadow was real.

Adrian struck.

His fist of starlight smashed through Thorne's guard, forcing the man back. Blood streaked the shadow lord's lip for the first time.

Words in the Dark

Thorne's eyes gleamed, not with anger, but intrigue. "So, the Bound Star still remembers its craft. Interesting."

He stepped back, dissolving into mist. The oppressive aura began to fade, though his voice lingered.

"You will not stop the Dust Order. Not because you lack strength—but because the Empire needs us more than it needs you. When the rot spreads, even they will embrace shadow."

The mist unraveled, leaving Adrian standing alone, heart pounding, arm burning with black fire that refused to fade.

Aftermath

Storm padded to his side, growling low. Adrian clenched his arm, starlight flickering weakly as he forced the corruption to stay contained.

Bella and Elder Laen rushed into the clearing moments later, weapons ready, but they froze at the sight of Adrian's wound.

Bella's face hardened. "That wasn't just another warband, was it?"

Adrian shook his head. His voice was low, grim."No. That was one of their lords. And next time…"

He looked at the distant horizon, where the Empire's banners might already be stirring.

"…he won't come alone."

"You will not stop the Dust Order. Not because you lack strength—but because the Empire needs us more than it needs you. When the rot spreads, even they will embrace shadow."

The mist unraveled, leaving Adrian standing alone, heart pounding, arm burning with black fire that refused to fade.

Aftermath

Storm padded to his side, growling low. Adrian clenched his arm, starlight flickering weakly as he forced the corruption to stay contained.

Bella and Elder Laen rushed into the clearing moments later, weapons ready, but they froze at the sight of Adrian's wound.

Bella's face hardened. "That wasn't just another warband, was it?"

Adrian shook his head. His voice was low, grim."No. That was one of their lords. And next time…"

He looked at the distant horizon, where the Empire's banners might already be stirring.

"…he won't come alone."