The cold breath of dawn crept over the palace of Erethia, but there was no warmth in the rising sun.
The council bell clanged sharply, summoning the king's warlords and nobles to the grand hall. The palace corridors buzzed with hurried footsteps, whispers thick with fear. Word had spread: the Oriz assassins had returned, haunting the dark forest once more.
King Horri sat upon his throne, his face no longer painted with the pleasures of wine and women. His bare chest rose with tense, shallow breaths, his hands gripping the hilt of his golden sword. Gone was the man of the night's indulgences—what remained was a ruler hardened by battle and shadowed by the weight of old wars.
Chief Koroc stood firmly beside him, his jaw clenched, his gaze sharp.
"My lord," Koroc began, "our worst fear is true. The Oriz assassins are in the dark forest. The sons of Thoric—Ajax and Perseus—have been captured."
Horri's knuckles whitened around his sword. "So, they dare return after seven years of silence?"
"Yes, my king," Koroc confirmed grimly. "But this is no ordinary raid. They move with precision. They have taken slaves. They are preparing for something."
King Horri's voice thundered, the weight of his past roaring through his words. "The Oriz… they seek vengeance. They have not forgotten that I killed their king's brother in the last war."
Koroc's face darkened. "We already lost good men. The patrol we sent into the dark forest last night was ambushed. Thoric… he did not make it out alive."
The memory of it burned in Koroc's mind.
Thoric had knelt in the rain outside the palace gates, denied entry by the guards who saw him as just a common man. His cries for his sons had pierced the cold night air until Koroc himself had arrived and heard his plea.
Koroc had ordered four palace guards to escort Thoric into the dark forest, their torches flickering against the oppressive blackness. They called out for Ajax and Perseus, their voices echoing into the shadows.
But the Oriz were waiting.
The first arrow struck Thoric in the head, his body collapsing instantly in the mud, his eyes wide, his mouth frozen in his last desperate cry for his sons.
The guards scrambled to form a defensive line, but the Oriz assassins attacked with ruthless precision. One by one, the guards fell—silent kills in the dark.
Only a single soldier survived, soaked in blood and barely clinging to life. He had fought off Homib spies while escaping the forest, suffering multiple wounds. He had collapsed at the palace gates, dragged himself through the rain, and with his dying breath, delivered the message that shook the kingdom:
"My lord… the dark forest… Oriz… assassins… Thoric… is dead."
His body had gone cold before Koroc could even ask another question.
Now, standing before the gathered warlords, Koroc carried the full weight of that night.
King Horri's eyes burned with rage and sorrow. "Thoric… that stubborn, loyal fool. He loved those boys fiercely."
"He died trying to save them," Koroc said, his voice low. "But his death will not be in vain."
Horri slammed his fist on the marble table, the sound like thunder in the silent hall. "Summon the hunters. Prepare the hounds. I want the Oriz trail followed to the ends of the earth. We will not wait to be hunted. We will hunt them!"
The warlords nodded, their faces pale but resolute.
"We will find their camp. We will tear it down to the roots."
Koroc stepped forward. "At first light, my king, I will lead the scouts myself."
Horri's voice trembled, not with fear—but with the weight of history returning to haunt him. "They remember the blood I spilled seven years ago. They remember their dead. They come now… for what? To start the cycle again?"
Koroc's reply was ice. "It has already begun."
The king's chest rose and fell, his heart beating not just for revenge—but for the sons of Thoric, now lost to the darkness.
Far beyond the palace walls, in Oriz and Homib camps, Ajax and Perseus lay shackled—separated, broken, and unaware that their journey toward becoming warriors, slaves, assassins, and perhaps even lovers of fate, had already been set into motion.
A destiny none of them could escape.
The storm of the seven-year fate was rising.
And this time, there would be no mercy.