Kane grabbed the captured fighter's collar so fast the man's head snapped back.
"Say that again," Kane said. "Slow."
The man's eyes were wide with fear, blood crusted along his jaw. "Mordath. That's the name I heard, twice, from two different people who serve him directly."
"Mordath's dead," Talyn said, stepping closer. "Kane killed him. We watched the stronghold collapse."
"I don't know what you watched," the man said, voice shaking. "I only know what I was told. That the pendant broke, not him. That something of him survived, weaker, hidden, rebuilding slowly ever since."
Kane released his collar slowly, dread building cold and heavy in his chest. "How."
"I don't know how," the man said. "Only that he's been guiding pieces of what's left of the Concord since it collapsed, using the
