Chapter 6 - THE RED SIEGE
Panicking screams tore through the Grand Hall as nobles scrambled for the exits.
Lord Malakor, the King’s banished brother, had struck. Exiled a decade ago for dabbling in forbidden dark sorcery, he had waited until the kingdom's dragon was dying to launch his siege. He did not know Synindrath was healed.
"Vane," Valdrich roared, drawing his massive broadsword in a single, terrifying motion. "Protect the inner sanctum!"
"With my life, Sire," Vane bowed, a sinister, subtle smile touching his lips as he retreated into the shadows of the corridor.
Valdrich grabbed Vera’s hand, pulling her behind him as his elite guards formed a iron shield wall around them. "Stay close to me," he commanded, his voice dark and focused. "Malakor’s shadow-beasts feed on blood. If they touch you—"
"They won't," Vera said, pulling a silver dagger from his belt. "I survived your dragon's poison, My King. I can survive your brother's mutts."
Valdrich looked at her, a rare, wicked smile breaking through his stern features. "Good."
The high wooden doors of the castle were blasted inward in a cloud of splinters and black fire.
Massive, dog-like creatures made of pure, shifting shadow and red flame poured into the hall, their iron-like fangs snapping at the guards. Valdrich moved like a storm, his broadsword carving through shadow and flesh, his alpha power radiating off him in oppressive, suffocating waves.
But above the chaos, Vera saw Vane slipping away toward the subterranean staircases—toward the cavern where Synindrath was still chained.
"Valdrich!" Vera yelled, pointing across the blood-stained hall. "Vane is going for the dragon! He was the one who poisoned him!"
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Valdrich’s eyes flashed with lethal fury. "Go! I will clear the path!"
With a mighty swing, Valdrich cleaving two shadow-beasts in half, creating a temporary opening in the battle line. Vera sprinted past the clashing steel, her crimson gown trailing behind her as she dived into the dark stairwell leading down into the belly of the mountain.
