Kael tracked the scent of smoke long before he saw the firelight. It wasn't wild—there was rhythm to it. Controlled burns, dry wood crackling under iron pots. Civilization. Or something pretending to be.
He crouched low among the roots of a gnarled ash tree, Void Fang resting across his back, silent but alert. Its presence had grown heavier since the first kill. It hummed when danger was near, not in words but impulses. Now, it whispered.
"Power."
Below him, nestled between ridgelines, was a camp of six figures. Crimson Fang, no question. Their armor was unmistakable: blood-red lacquer with black trim, wolf sigils etched into shoulder guards. They weren't scouts. Too organized. One carried a jade transmission disk—rare, expensive.
They were tracking someone.
Probably him.
Kael studied the terrain: two tents, one open fire, a lean-to stable with no horses, a half-assembled spirit ward. Sloppy.
He descended silently. When within thirty paces, he knelt and whispered to the blade.
"I give you six."
Void Fang pulsed.
Kael moved.
First target: the man by the fire. Silent sprint. Blade flash. A wet snap as Void Fang severed spine and throat in one strike. No scream. Just blood.
Second and third heard the fall but not the danger. Kael vaulted over the fire, slicing one across the throat and burying his blade in the other's stomach.
Three down.
Screams now.
The fourth mercenary tried to summon flame qi, hands glowing amber. Kael surged forward, Void Fang humming, and cleaved through the man's core before he could channel a spark.
The fifth tried to run.
Kael threw his short blade. It spun, end over end, and struck true—through the base of the neck.
The sixth stood at the edge of the camp, frozen.
He dropped his weapon.
Kael walked toward him slowly, Void Fang now singing in his hand.
"W-wait. I have information," the man stammered. "On the one who ordered the village burned."
Kael paused.
"Name."
"Captain Varn. Higher than the others. He's heading to Hollowpeak. Said he found something. Something old."
Kael nodded.
Then he drove the blade through the man's chest.
Void Fang roared with pleasure.
Kael stood among the bodies, panting. He wasn't tired. He was alive.
In the blood and fire, something shifted. A flicker of flame danced from one of the corpses, swirling in the air like a spark refusing to die. It drifted toward Kael and sank into his chest.
He staggered.
Then he laughed.
Not joy.
Power.
Fire qi. Essence stolen. Adapted. Now his.
Void Fang whispered, satisfied.
"Burn the world. One soul at a time."
Kael turned toward the mountains.
Hollowpeak awaited.
So did Captain Varn.
And Kael was ready to kill again.