The crimson skies over Shadowveil bled into dawn as Thorne’s army crested the northern ridges. Liora stood on the fortified battlements beside Riven, her silver-blonde hair whipping in the cold wind. The Eclipse Shadow Curse thrummed beneath her skin like a second heartbeat, amplified by the lingering eclipse. Power coursed through her — shadows ready to strike, black flames eager to consume.
“They’ve committed everything,” Beta Draven reported grimly from her other side. “Thousands of warriors. Thorne leads them personally, though he looks like a corpse riding a horse.”
Riven’s hand rested possessively on Liora’s lower back. “Let them come. We hold the high ground and the runes.”
Liora’s violet eyes narrowed as she spotted the distant figures. Even from afar, she felt the faint, poison
