The first arrow wasn't made of wood.
It was silverbone — forged from the spines of vampire traitors.
It struck the east tower with a whistling hiss and burst into ghostfire. A moment later, the air exploded with screams and alarms.
Sorrowhold…
was under siege.
---
The First Breach
Jayden stood on the wall beside Serith and Veyna, watching the Hollow's war machines roll across the crimson ash. Siege wyrms — massive armored beasts with silver-plated skulls — dragged towers of flame toward the city's heart.
He'd trained for this.
He'd bled for this.
But nothing could have prepared him for the look in the eyes of the enemy soldiers.
Blank. Hollow.
Branded.
"They're puppets," Veyna said coldly. "Marked to obey without question."
Jayden clenched his fists. "Then we break the strings."
The Outsiders rallied quickly. Glyph cannons hummed to life. Skyburners — riders mounted on bonehawks — launched into the sky, trailing flares of red lightning.
And from the Tower of Whispers, a sound rose:
A deep chant.
The Old Tongue. The Blood Song.
---
Jayden Joins the Fight
Jayden leapt from the wall, his blade drawn. As he landed amid the chaos, his body responded like it had been waiting for this moment.
He moved faster than before.
He felt his enemies before they struck — the blood in their veins glowing like stars in the dark.
He didn't just dodge. He predicted.
He didn't just attack. He unleashed.
A Hollow Hunter charged at him, sword raised. Jayden met the blade with his bare hand — and the steel melted at his touch.
The soldier froze.
Jayden whispered, "Tell Kaelric… I'm awake."
Then he struck. A pulse of red-black energy erupted, throwing three soldiers across the courtyard.
---
Veyna Unleashed
Elsewhere, Veyna carved through the invaders like a living storm. Her dual daggers sang, moving in precise, brutal arcs. She danced through fire and blood, her face unreadable, her purpose clear.
A Hunter tried to brand her mid-fight — silver seal in hand.
Veyna caught the arm, twisted, and drove a blade through his throat.
"I already chose who I am," she spat.
From the rooftop above, Serith threw a vial down — it shattered in a flash of green light, releasing a cloud of shadowbane gas. Dozens of Hollow warriors collapsed, choking.
"They still fear what they can't control," Serith shouted.
"And they should," Jayden replied, panting beside her.
---
The Tower Responds
As the battle intensified, the ground beneath the Tower of Whispers cracked. Bone dust poured from the seams. And slowly, the tower itself began to change.
A low hum vibrated through the stone. The skulls that formed its walls started to glow, mouths wide as if screaming.
The dead were speaking.
The past was waking.
A voice echoed through the minds of everyone in Sorrowhold:
> Blood remembers. Blood repays.
The tower pulsed.
A surge of old magic burst outward — a wave of ancestral wrath.
Suddenly, all Outsiders nearby felt faster. Stronger. As if their ancestors fought with them.
Even Jayden felt it.
Like his veins had been rewritten.
---
Kaelric's Arrival
As the sun began to rise — a hollow, blood-colored dawn — a figure stepped through the ash mist beyond the battlefield.
Kaelric.
No helmet. No armor.
Just a long cloak of silverthread and a staff made from the rib of a forgotten god.
"Bring me the boy," he commanded.
Dozens of Hollow soldiers turned toward Jayden.
But before they could move, Jayden stepped forward.
"You came for me?" he called out. "Then stop sending cowards."
Kaelric's smile was cold.
"I didn't come to kill you. I came to finish your awakening."
With a flick of his hand, the ground cracked — and a giant branded creature erupted from below: twisted, screaming, bound in silver chains.
Veyna gasped. "That's a Morghoul… they were wiped out centuries ago!"
"No," Jayden said softly. "They were hidden."
---
The Choice
Jayden raised the broken fang insignia — the Outsiders' symbol — and looked between Veyna and Serith.
They were waiting.
So was Kaelric.
"You said I had to choose," Jayden whispered to himself.
> But what if I don't?
What if… I become something they've never seen?
He crushed the insignia in his hand.
A flash of shadow. A burst of flame.
And when the smoke cleared, Jayden's eyes glowed not red — but white.
The mark of true balance.
The rarest bloodline.
Ashkarin.
---
To Be Continued…