Story 743: The Shroud of the Widow

A veil of necrotic mist hung over the Rotting Cathedral.

Selene Nocturna stood at its heart, her fingers lifting the edges of her hood, adjusting the shroud that draped over her form like a second skin. Whispers of the dead slithered through the air, their voices coiling around her like unseen serpents.

Across the ruined sanctuary, the Paladin of Aetheris stood firm, his warhammer still crackling with divine energy. The holy fire that had surged moments before was already fading, swallowed by the corruption that pulsed within the cathedral’s walls.

"So bold, stepping into my domain," Selene murmured, her voice laced with something both seductive and venomous. She tilted her head, her glowing eyes locking onto the paladin’s. "Do you truly believe your light can outlast the abyss?"

The paladin raised his warhammer. "I don’t need to outlast you, Widow. I only need to end you."

Selene’s lips curled into a crimson-stained smirk.

"Then try."