Chapter 11 - The Shadows of the Outer Provinces
Though the capital was celebrating the overthrow of King Valen, deep in the frozen northern borderlands, dark forces were stirring. General Malakor, Valen’s most ruthless military commander, had spent years subjugating frontier tribes. When word reached his camp that the king had fallen and a boy with a glowing shoulder mark had taken control of the cursed beast, Malakor did not cower—he smiled.
"A child playing at being king," Malakor muttered, sharpening his broadsword by the firelight. "He thinks taming a beast makes him a ruler. He knows nothing of real war."
The general commanded a loyalist legion of ten thousand hardened veterans who had not yet surrendered. Rallying his inner circle, Malakor charted a course straight for the capital. His goal was simple: crush the new regime, execute the queen and her long-lost son, and seize the throne for himself.
