The Hollow had given Kael answers.
But answers, like fire, always left scars.
And as the truth of his birth spread, so did fear.
Because now… the Moonborn knew:
> Their last protector was part monster.
---
The Fall of Hollow Snow
It started with silence.
The mountain stronghold of Hollow Snow stopped responding to flame-messages and scouting wolves.
Kael sent a wing of sky-riders.
Only one returned.
With frostbitten eyes and a voice that shook like thunder.
> "The Revenants didn't take Hollow Snow."
> "They opened it.
From within."
Kael's jaw tightened.
"The bloodline corruption is spreading."
Lina stood beside him, pale. "There are more Revenant hosts among us than we thought."
Drayk swore under his breath. "Then this isn't a war."
Kael turned to them, eyes aglow with silver and shadow.
> "It's a purge."
---
Enemies Among Us
At dusk, the first Moonborn village turned.
Kael's soldiers moved in to aid survivors.
They were ambushed.
Children with hollow eyes.
Mothers who bled shadow when they wept.
An entire bloodline infected — and singing the Revenant anthem.
Kael arrived too late.
But what he saw that night never left him:
A young boy — no older than ten — standing atop a pile of silver-armored corpses, holding a broken Moonborn blade, whispering:
> "Ashfang will burn.
Father said so."
Kael struck him down.
And didn't stop shaking for hours.
---
Ashfang Declares War
He called the High Council.
Only six of the thirteen Alphas remained.
He told them everything.
> His origin.
His time in the Hollow.
The truth of the Revenant soul inside him.
Some begged him to step down.
Others prepared to assassinate him.
He silenced them with flame.
> "This is not the time for thrones."
> "This is the time for fire."
> "You can follow me or burn in the ashes of your fear."
One by one, they bowed.
---
Forging the Last Alliance
Sylah united the Skyfang riders.
Drayk gathered the Ironblood berserkers.
Lina summoned the Oracle's Circle — Moonborn seers who had long been in exile.
And Kael rode to the border of the Cracked Sea, where the Ash Hounds made their final stand.
They welcomed him not with cheers…
But with silence.
Until their Alpha stepped forward and said:
> "We heard the stories."
> "We know your blood isn't pure."
> "But the last time we saw you… the sky bled light."
He kneeled.
> "Ashfang… we follow."
---
The Revenant Advance
The Revenant armies now marched from every direction.
They rode beasts with ribs like blades.
Wielded spells carved from memory.
And behind them, a figure cloaked in mist:
The Revenant Prince.
> The true heir of the Hollow King.
> Kael's half-brother.
---
The Final March
Kael stood before his army.
Behind him, every remaining tribe.
Before him, fire on the horizon.
He raised the Fang of Varok — now glowing silver and black — and bellowed:
> "They called me a curse."
> "A weapon."
> "A lie."
> "But I am none of those things."
> "I am Ashfang."
> "And this is the fire they cannot kill."
His army howled with him.
The earth trembled.
And the War of Broken Blood began.