Chapter 20—We're Going North

Chael came to a stop at the base of one of the watchtowers, its wooden frame half-broken, its stone foundation cracked but still standing.

"We'll get a better look from up there," He said and tilted his chin toward the tower.

Echinda glanced up at it, "Good idea."

They started up the narrow stone steps.

The staircase wound tightly around the tower's outer wall, the frost-covered railing crumbling beneath his fingers as he ascended. Echidna followed behind, cursing under her breath every time the structure groaned beneath their weight.

When they finally reached the top, they were met with a breath-taking, yet haunting sight.

The Yue Clan's domain stretched as far as they could see.

Ancient pavilions and tiered mansions, their rooftops layered like the temples of forgotten gods, stood against the eerie glow of the twin moons. Bridges arched over what must have once been flowing rivers, now frozen solid. Some structures had collapsed, their walls crumbled, leaving behind only empty husks of what they used to be.

And at the heart of it all there was a mansion.

Larger than anything else in the city.

It sat at the centre of the Yue Clan's ruins like a throne, its gates broken open and its towering pillars covered in intricate carvings of moons and flowing rivers.

Chael stared at it, his grip tightening on the spear.

"That must've belonged to their leader," Echidna muttered. "Or whoever was in charge of this place."

Chael nodded slightly. That was their destination.

But as he turned his head slightly and shifted the spearhead toward the north, his expression hardened.

The colonnade was still there but it remained completely concealed in fog.

Even from this height, they could barely see past a few dozen pillars before the mist swallowed everything whole.

As he continued staring into the mist, he was bought to reality with a start as a thunderous crash resounded across the clan.

The ground trembled violently, sending splintering cracks racing through the ice below.

Echidna almost stumbled, cursing as she gripped the wooden railing for balance.

Chael's head snapped toward the mansion.

And there, at its entrance - 

The white dragon.

The same monstrous beast from before.

It had crashed down in front of the massive gates, its enormous claws sinking into the frozen stone and its massive wings unfurled as it lifted its serpentine head toward the sky.

Even from this distance, its presence was suffocating.

Chael's lips curled into a bitter smile.

Of course.

Of course it was here.

Echidna grabbed his sleeve and yanked him down, pulling him lower into the shadows of the tower.

"Are you insane?" she hissed. "It'll see us!"

Chael allowed himself to be pulled back, his body lowering behind the railing as he kept his head tilted toward the reflection in his spear.

The dragon remained still, its piercing crimson eyes scanning the ruins as if searching for something.

Echidna exhaled sharply, gripping her dagger tighter before turning to him with an expression full of irritation and something close to exasperation.

"I told you we should've gone north," she muttered, glaring at him.

Chael smirked slightly, "You did. You should've fought harder to-"

Suddenly a shriek came. It was so piercing and raw it felt like the sky itself was being torn apart. The sound slammed into them like a physical force, shaking the very foundation of the tower. Chael's vision blurred as a violent ringing filled his skull, his hands flying to his ears in a desperate attempt to muffle the unbearable noise.

The tower trembled beneath them. The city itself seemed to quiver, as if recoiling from the sheer force of the sound. Then, just as suddenly as it had come, there was silence.

Echidna, still recovering from the auditory assault, was the first to move. She peered through the wooden railing, her breath hitching in her throat. Her entire posture stiffened, her fingers gripping the ledge with white-knuckled tension.

Chael forced himself upright despite the lingering ache in his skull. "What-"

His words died in his throat.

The dragon was dead.

Split in half.

The same beast that had terrorized them before, the same monstrous entity that had descended upon the mansion like an apex predator, now lay as nothing more than a ruined corpse. Its massive body had been cleaved clean down the middle, as if it had been butchered in a single strike.

Blood was everywhere.

It filled the entire courtyard, pooling in the cracks of the ancient stone and even steamed faintly in the frigid air.

And standing in the middle of it all was a knight.

A knight would be an understatement. It was a monstrosity in armour.

Towering at at least eight feet tall, its entire form was encased in thick, jagged plates of frozen steel, its surface covered in cracks and frost, as if its very body had endured centuries of ice and ruin. The helmet it wore was shaped like a demon's with two massive, curved horns protruding from either side, and behind its visor, two red slits burned with an unnatural, smouldering glow.

Chael couldn't breathe nor could Echidna.

The two of them were frozen in place, utterly paralyzed as they watched in stunned horror as the knight stood among the dragon's remains.

It held no sword or any other weapon. And yet, the dragon had been cleaved in half.

Chael's grip on his broken spear tightened as realization dawned on him.

Two words rang in his mind.

'Eclipsed Realm.'

The Veiled Realm was where Harbingers were born. The Ascended Realm was where the strongest of them reigned. But above even that… was the Eclipsed Realm - the kind of power that ruled entire nations and could turn armies into dust.

And this thing had killed that monstrosity of a dragon without so much as drawing a blade.

No wonder this city was empty.

Not a single beast would dare to step foot here. Either they had fled, or they had been slaughtered.

The knight stood motionless. It didn't glance around. It didn't react to the carnage it had caused. It simply loomed there like an ancient executioner. Its sheer presence was more terrifying than the dragon had ever been.

Then, slowly, it turned.

Chael and Echidna ducked instantly and pressed themselves flat against the tower floor. They held their breath and their bodies tensed as they dared not daring to move.

Below, the knight paused. The eerie glow of its eyes burned through the mist, and for a brief moment, it felt as if it was listening.

Then, without a word, it turned back toward the mansion.

Each of its steps was slow, deliberate, the blood of the dragon sloshing under its boots as it disappeared beyond the ruined gates.

For what felt like an eternity, neither of them spoke.

The only sound was the dripping of dragon blood pooling onto the frozen stone.

Chael exhaled, sucking in a slow breath of cold air. His voice came out quieter than he intended.

"…We're going north."