Chapter 2618: Story 2619: The Shadow in the Sky

The enormous shadow descended through the black clouds.

Red lightning cracked across the sky as something vast moved above the mountains. Its silhouette stretched from one peak to another, blocking the moonlight.

The Last March stood frozen.

Then the creature screamed.

The sound shook the valley so violently that several soldiers dropped their weapons.

“Hold your positions!” Isabella shouted.

Another roar answered.

The dead began advancing.

Thousands of zombies moved through the valley, climbing over rocks and broken trees. Their glowing eyes reflected the red lightning.

Kael raised his shield.

“Elias!”

His brother turned.

“What?”

“You said Lena can survive. Tell me how.”

Elias looked at the approaching army.

“Take her to the First Kingdom.”

“Why?”

“Because that’s where the bloodline began.”

A zombie suddenly lunged toward Elias.

Without looking, Elias raised his hand.

The creature stopped inches from him.

Its body trembled.

Then Elias crushed its skull with a single movement of his fingers.

Kael stared.

“You’ve become stronger.”

Elias looked at his own hand.

“I became what Veyr wanted.”

“And what did he make you?”

Elias’s eyes darkened.

“The bridge.”

Before Kael could ask another question, a massive object crashed into the valley.

The impact threw soldiers across the ground.

Dust covered everything.

Kael rose slowly.

A creature stood inside the crater.

It was not a zombie.

Its body was covered in black armor, with enormous wings folded against its back. Red veins glowed beneath its skin, and two curved horns rose from its skull.

Mara raised her crossbow.

“What the hell is that?”

Adrian stared at it.

“A Royal Guard.”

Isabella looked at him.

“Royal Guard?”

Adrian nodded.

“The ancient records mention creatures created to protect the First Kingdom.”

The creature opened its wings.

The soldiers stepped backward.

Then it spoke.

“WHERE IS THE HEIR?”

Lena suddenly opened her eyes.

Her body began glowing red.

Kael moved in front of her.

“You won’t touch her.”

The creature looked at him.

“YOU ARE NOT THE HEIR.”

Kael tightened his grip.

“Then leave.”

The creature tilted its head.

“You carry the King’s blood.”

Kael’s sword began glowing.

“But she carries the King’s command.”

Lena rose slowly behind him.

Her eyes had turned completely black.

“Kael...”

Her voice sounded distant.

“Let me go.”

“No.”

“It’s coming.”

“What is?”

Lena pointed toward the sky.

The clouds suddenly split apart.

A gigantic eye appeared between them.

The Royal Guard immediately dropped to one knee.

Every zombie in the valley followed.

Elias looked upward.

His face went pale.

“The First Origin.”

Kael stared at the enormous eye.

“That thing is the First Origin?”

Elias shook his head.

“No.”

A terrifying voice rolled across the mountains.

“I AM WHAT CAME BEFORE.”

The earth cracked.

Red light erupted from beneath the valley.

Adrian screamed,

“The entire mountain is waking up!”

Isabella turned to Kael.

“We have to retreat!”

Kael looked at Lena.

Then Elias.

Then the army of living survivors behind him.

He finally understood.

The First Kingdom wasn’t a destination.

It was the only place where they could learn how to stop what was coming.

Kael raised his sword.

“Everyone moves east!”

Isabella shouted the order.

The Last March began retreating.

Elias followed.

But before Kael could leave, the enormous eye in the sky focused directly on him.

A voice whispered inside his mind.

“SON OF THE KING... RETURN TO ME.”

Kael froze.

The red glow in his sword suddenly turned black.

And somewhere deep beneath the mountains, something answered his blood.