Years ago, all kinds of rumours were being whispered in the Empire's streets and alleys about the Ravengard Household. Every year brought more.
"Did you hear? The Duke of Ravengard's newborn child is cursed..."
"...Really?"
"Yes. The child has black hair, which isn't seen anywhere in the Empire, and his skin is darker than most."
"Well… the whole family seemed cursed to begin with. They all had red eyes and pale skin—like vampires."
"That's true. But what did the Church say?"
"The Church didn't meddle in it because the Ravengards are close with the Church of Death. And they said there was nothing wrong."
"I'm sure the Church of Death is hiding something…"
"Well, if it wasn't for the Church of Death, the other churches and nobles might've already declared the child a demon and demanded they burn him."
"Haha... That's true."
...
"Did you hear? The Duke of Ravengard died during a monster subjugation. They said it was a stampede..."
"The Empire's in an uproar right now."
"I heard his wife, the Duchess Elizabeth, is taking over..."
"She wasn't a noble, right?"
"Yeah, rumours say she was a mercenary. The Duke met her during a journey and fell in love."
"Who knows, maybe she's the reason the Duke is dead. Hahaha..."
...
"Hey… did you hear? The Duchess of Ravengard is coming to the Capital for a meeting..."
"I heard their eldest son is coming too..."
"You mean the cursed child?"
"How old is he now?"
"Nine, I think."
...
"Hey, the Duchess of Ravengard is dead! It was an ambush!"
"The Duchess is dead?"
"Yes… and her son is missing!"
"Was he kidnapped?"
"No one knows. They only found the wrecked carriage, dead knights, and her body..."
...
In a forest surrounded by towering trees, a young boy ran desperately. His bronze-like skin was streaked with blood. His short jet-black hair clung to his forehead with sweat, and his crimson eyes were filled with pain and fear. It was young Kaisel. He wore a dark blue tunic with silver-threaded hems, high-collared and tailored, but now it was torn and bloodied. His left hand clutched his side, where a deep stab wound bled freely.
Why... Why did this happen…? Kaisel thought, his heart pounding.
---
It was nearly noon. The golden sun glinted off the carriage windows. Inside, Kaisel sat across from his mother, Elizabeth. Her long blonde hair shimmered like sunlight, and her emerald eyes were warm. She wore a flowing blue dress with silver embroidery across the sleeves and bodice, delicate yet bold.
"When will we get home?" Kaisel asked, his voice soft.
"By evening," Elizabeth smiled gently.
Suddenly,a knight scream tore through the air—"AMBUSH!!"
The carriage jolted. Outside, chaos exploded—shouts, panicked hooves, the deafening clash of steel.
Elizabeth's smile vanished. Her instincts sharpened. She yanked Kaisel close, pressing his head into her chest. Outside, the world erupted into chaos.
Metal clanged against metal. Horses shrieked. Arrows tore through the wind.
The shouts of soldiers rang out, followed by brutal, wet thuds of blades meeting flesh. The clash of swords was relentless—
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A knight screamed in agony.
Someone slammed against the carriage wall with a heavy thud.
Then—
Silence.
A heavy, suffocating silence that rang louder than the chaos before it.
Elizabeth's breath quickened. Her heartbeat thundered in Kaisel's ears.
Suddenly, the carriage door was flung open—
The hinges groaned as booted feet stepped into view.
Outside stood a group of figures, clad in dark clothing from head to toe. Their faces were completely obscured by black cloth, eyes hidden in shadow, weapons gleaming at their sides. They didn't speak. They didn't need to.
Elizabeth's breath caught in her throat. She tightened her arms around Kaisel.
"Who are you?!" she demanded, voice rising—not just with fear, but fury.
The figures remained silent.
One reached inside.
Rough hands grabbed her. Another yanked Kaisel by the collar.
"No! Mother!!" Kaisel cried out in terror, his small hands trying to grip hers.
Elizabeth's instincts flared.
With a desperate cry, she raised her hand—
A violent gust of wind exploded outward, tearing through the front line of attackers. One of them was launched backwards, smashing against a tree with a crunch.
But before she could react further—
Slash!
A cold blade carved across her back.
"Ahhh—!" Elizabeth screamed, her blood splattering onto Kaisel's cheek as she staggered.
She spun around, still shielding Kaisel in her arms, and thrust her palm forward—
A razor-sharp gale burst forth, slicing through the air like a scythe.
But the masked attacker didn't flinch.
With a flash of movement, he slashed through the wind. His sword shimmered faintly—glowing with a controlled, pulsing energy.
Corepulse… Elizabeth's eyes widened. He cut through magic…
They weren't just assassins—they were trained, enhanced.
She barely had time to react before—
Shhk!
Another blade pierced her from behind, plunging deep into her spine and bursting out the front. Her body jolted.
Kaisel screamed—only for his breath to catch.
The blade had gone through her… and into him.
The searing pain was immediate—hot, suffocating. Blood poured from both of them as Elizabeth collapsed to her knees.
Then—
CRACK!
A savage boot slammed into her ribs, launching them both from the attacker's grip.
They hit the ground hard. Kaisel rolled free, gasping, pain clouding his mind.
"Hehehe…"
A low, sinister laugh echoed through the clearing.
From the shadows stepped another man—tall, composed, and wrapped in black from head to toe. Only his eyes gleamed faintly beneath the mask, glinting with cruelty.
"The Duchess of the great Ravengard…" he sneered.
"Today, you die."
He chuckled again—slow, deliberate, mocking. "Hehehe…"
Elizabeth lay trembling, struggling to push herself off the blood-soaked earth. Her arms buckled beneath her. Her breathing was ragged.
Kaisel lay only a few feet away, his body trembling from pain and fear. Tears streamed down his face as he watched the man approach.
Step by step, the attacker closed in—calm,
deliberate, savoring the moment.
Then—
Shhk!
The blade plunged into Elizabeth's side again.
Her body convulsed. Blood spilled from her lips.
Kaisel's scream caught in his throat.
His mind went blank.
His heart… shattered.
The man stood over her, blade dripping, breath steady.
"After I'm finished with you…" he hissed, voice low and venomous,
"I'll make your son scream. I'll tear him apart slowly—limb by limb."
His killing intent surged like a wave, pressing down on the very air.
Elizabeth's eyes widened—not from fear for herself, but for Kaisel.
Her hand trembled as she pressed it into the ground. Her voice barely audible, she whispered,
"Lend me your strength…"
The wind stirred. Then roared.
A violent gust surged outward, hurling the man backward like a rag doll. He skidded across the dirt, boots digging into the soil.
But Elizabeth wasn't done.
Dozens of wind blades shot forth—sharp, fast, unrelenting.
The man's sword moved with terrifying precision, slashing them down mid-air. One after another—
Clang! Swish! Clang!
But he missed one.
Shhk!
The last blade sliced across his mask, cutting diagonally from his forehead to his jaw. The cloth tore.
His left cheek was revealed—pale skin, cold blue eyes, and just beneath them… a distinct birthmark like a crescent, dark against his skin.
Kaisel, barely conscious, saw it. Burned it into memory.
Elizabeth dragged her broken body through the blood-soaked grass, inching toward her son.
Her fingers trembled. Blood dripped from her mouth.
She reached Kaisel and cupped his cheek with a shaking hand.
"Kaisel…" she rasped, her voice barely more than breath, "listen to me…"
He blinked, dazed and in pain.
"M-Mother…?"
"You have to run…"
Her hand pressed gently against his chest.
"W-What…?"
"Run… survive… no matter what."
Tears welled in her eyes—more than pain, more than fear. It was love. Desperate, unconditional love.
A whisper left her lips—
"Wind… carry him far."
WHOOOOSH!
The ground trembled as a powerful vortex erupted, swirling violently around Kaisel. The air howled as if the forest itself had been awakened.
In an instant—
Kaisel vanished, swept away into the distance by the storm.
The masked man staggered back, shielding his eyes.
When he saw Kaisel was gone, his fury boiled over.
"That bitch!!" he roared, marching toward Elizabeth and slamming his boot into her ribs.
She didn't scream this time.
"Find the boy!" he snarled to the others, his voice seething with rage.
"Search every corner of this forest! Bring me his head!"
.....
Tears streamed down Kaisel's bloodied cheeks as he stumbled through the forest, the trees spinning around him.
His vision blurred. Each step grew heavier than the last.
The stab wound on his side throbbed like fire, and the taste of blood lingered in his mouth. His breath came in short, ragged gasps. His legs—barely obeying him—buckled.
His foot caught a root.
"Ah—!"
He tripped, tumbling forward.
The world tilted—his body rolled violently down a steep, uneven slope. Branches scraped his skin, rocks tore at his clothes. His head slammed into a tree trunk with a sickening crack.
But the fall didn't stop.
His limp body was flung over the edge—into a massive, ravine-like cave—a jagged wound in the earth that seemed to swallow light itself.
He hit the jagged rock walls on the way down, his bones rattling with every impact.
Then—
Darkness.
He fell unconscious .
...
Kaisel stirred.
His eyelids fluttered open, barely.
A dull, suffocating pain throbbed through every limb. His body felt cold… heavy… broken.
He tried to move—
But his leg refused. Twisted. Useless. A sharp groan escaped his throat.
The cave around him was pitch dark. Damp. Silent. The only sound was the shallow rasp of his own breath.
He barely crawled—dragging himself across the damp stone, gasping, bleeding.
The air was thick. Cold. Dead.
Then—
he heard it.
Voices. Low and raspy. Whispers.
"It's still alive..."
"Barely moving..."
"Smells like blood..."
"Too bad we can't eat it..."
Kaisel whispered hoarsely, his voice trembling with cold and fear.
"H-Hel... Hello...? I-is... anyone... t-there...?"
His breath hitched as the silence stretched on. Then it cracked—
"P-please... help me..." he cried, voice breaking into a whimper.
The air turned heavy. From the darkness, they came.
Seven silhouettes emerged—not walking, but gliding, twisting through the black like smoke given form. Their outlines were wrong, inhuman, as if reality strained to define them.
A sickening giggle echoed through the void.
"Hehe... hehe..."
It didn't sound human. It didn't feel human.
Kaisel froze. His heart pounded like a war drum in his chest.
"You can hear us..."
One of the silhouettes spoke, its voice a whisper that slithered directly into his mind.
To be continued.