Opening – The Gathering of War
In the heart of a colossal Isu war complex, the walls hum with ancient energy, runes glowing in deep crimson pulses. This is the Throned Bastion, Zarxes' mobile command fortress, hovering like a black storm cloud above the fractured lands below. Inside, beneath vaulted ceilings etched with memories of conquest, Zarxes sits on his obsidian throne, a being of terrifying calm.
Before him kneel three of his most loyal commanders—the Triarchs of the Hounds. Each one bears the scars of centuries, molded by Zarxes into living weapons.
Zarxes (voice smooth as blade on stone):"The Awakened have struck. They burn what we built, expose secrets meant to stay buried. And for that, they will bleed."
He rises slowly, his presence suffocating. His robes shimmer like oil over steel, and his mask—half-Isu, half-hound—glows faintly with rage barely restrained.
"Begin the culling."
The Triarchs bow and vanish.
The Hounds Unleashed
Across the continent, ancient vaults crack open as Zarxes' Hounds, cybernetically enhanced assassins, deploy. Silent ships emerge from beneath ice shelves, from sunken fortresses, from the clouds themselves. Black banners unfurl, and the Hunt begins.
One strike force targets a known Awakened relay—an underground shelter housing wounded and civilians. The Hounds move like ghosts, their eyes red with targeting glyphs. Resistance is minimal. By the time Rhoan's scouts hear of it, the outpost is gone—nothing but ash and bones.
Elsewhere, Skyblades, Isu aerial combat constructs, descend upon mountainous routes the Awakened use for travel. The skies scream with ion fire. None survive.
Zarxes doesn't merely want victory. He wants devastation. He sends decoy signals, false distress calls, turning the Awakened's strengths—empathy, loyalty, hope—into weaknesses.
Inside the Mind of Zarxes
Back at the Throned Bastion, Zarxes watches it all unfold, arms folded behind his back. A quiet observer to a carefully orchestrated massacre.
His second-in-command, the Praetor Nyxith, approaches. Tall, slender, more machine than flesh, she bows but does not speak until spoken to.
Zarxes (calmly):"What do you see, Nyxith?"
Nyxith:"The Awakened fracture under pressure. They're scrambling. Their unity wavers."
He does not smile—Zarxes never smiles—but there is something in his tone now that twists like a knife in the dark.
"Good. Fear is the mother of obedience."
Then, more to himself:
"They still don't understand. This isn't about war. It's about remembering who ruled this world before they ever dared to dream of rebellion."
He turns to the glowing projection of Kaelen—pulled from old surveillance fragments, extrapolated.
"And you… the boy with two shadows. You will break. Just like Vael'Ruun did."
A Disturbance – The Unknown Factor
But not all goes to plan.
Zarxes receives word from the Obsidian Caste, a network of deep-infiltration agents. A data node salvaged from the destroyed facility has revealed something… unexpected.
A memory splice. One that Kaelen accessed—one that should have been sealed even from Zarxes himself.
For the first time in centuries, Zarxes' composure cracks. His voice dips lower, not in volume, but in coldness.
"He's seen it."
Nyxith dares a question.
"What should we do?"
Zarxes steps back toward his throne, resting a hand on its edge.
"Change the plan. We no longer break the Awakened. We annihilate them. Wipe them from existence. There must be no trace left for others to find."
Closing – The Tempest Draws Near
The final pages of the chapter describe, in rising tempo, the scale of Zarxes' assault spreading like wildfire across the land. The Awakened's sanctuaries are falling. Their numbers dwindle. Panic begins to erode morale.
But as the darkness rises, so too does the certainty that something inside Kaelen has shifted. Zarxes senses it now—a deeper force stirring within his enemy.
"Vael'Ruun's soul still burns," he whispers."Let us see if the fire consumes... or obeys."
The storm has truly begun.