Ashen Throne

n war. Not yet. But in the quiet, in the spaces between battles, where the old ways w

m trembled. The West, once strong, once proud, stood divided. Their rulers whispered of pe

their own world. Their halls, once filled with song, now held only echoes. Many had already departed across

he Ea

d already f

of soil that had long since forgotten the tas

ace, of a name long thought buried returning to the tongues of the forsaken. A name carrie

at belong

and his sold

ke a whisper, the leaves shifting with unease. The creatures of the woods had a

t, the air

ould be. She had sensed them long before they came into view, their movements p

he saw

ir skin, scarred, burnt, twisted by the sun they could no longer endure, mar

e head of

gh his armor was worn, his presence was unshaken. The others fo

red. A relic of the Firstborn, but no longer one of them. A

till moved wi

domain, their hands resting on weapons, eyes flicker

so d

them st

d. The others barely slowed, for wounds were nothing new to them. They had m

lwen di

eed, with her own hands. This forest was hers, not by conquest, but by creation. She had

ye

fore the wou

for too long. His kind were not meant to be cared for. They were discarded,

ever burning beneath his skin. A low growl rum

d now. The air thicke

meant to be nothing more than weapons, tools in a

rmured, letting her power

ain ebbing from his face. His fingers dug into the earth, as if

was not fully healed, but

l touched

c drained away, replaced b

id no

ifted her gaz

cross his face, the fire of his soldiers' torches casting jagged light over his scar

long moment, neither of them spoke. The forest

t just a pa

heading

ve carefully, she wou