Apurv_4942

In a world ruled by warring factions, power is everything. Born powerless, Riven was destined to be forgotten—until his sister, a legendary warrior, was assassinated before his eyes. Rage and grief awakened something ancient within him: Shadowbound Powers, allowing him to raise and command the fallen.

Believed dead, he hides in a low-ranking faction, secretly growing his army of shadows. But when his true strength is revealed, whispers spread, and The Organization—the same force that watched his sister die—calls him in. They’ve been watching all along, waiting for him to break.

But he has his own plans. The war between factions is only the beginning. He won’t just survive. He will rise.

Shadowbound: Rise of the Forgotten

Riven's pulse thunders in his ears. Keep them from escaping? His stomach tightens as the meaning sinks in.

His power doesn't just absorb the fallen. It traps them.

All this time, he thought he was summoning echoes, fragments of the dead. But if what they're saying is true… they were never just echoes.

The thought slams into him like a physical blow. His breath turns shallow. Every battle, every fallen enemy he claimed—he didn't just take their strength. He took them. Their souls, their minds, their very existence, bound to him like an unbreakable chain.

How many voices had he silenced? How many warriors had screamed within his power, unheard, unable to resist as he pulled them back into the world as weapons? His greatest strength… was built on chains.

A deep, unnatural chill settles over the battlefield. Riven barely registers the wind, the whispers of shadows curling around him, stirring with something he's never quite understood before. Was it resentment? Fear? A desperate plea for freedom?

He takes a step back. His mind reels, drowning in questions, drowning in the crushing weight of something far greater than himself. If this power was meant to bind the dead… then who created it?

The leader of the rogue faction watches him with unreadable eyes, their presence a stark contrast to the chaos unraveling in his mind. "You feel it now, don't you?" Their voice is steady, carrying none of the uncertainty that now grips him. "The weight of those you command."

Riven forces himself to meet their gaze. "Then why do they obey me?"

The rogue faction member tilts their head, a slow, deliberate motion. "Because they have no choice."

Silence. A suffocating silence, heavier than any battlefield he has ever stood upon.

Riven's fists clench. No. He refuses to believe it. This power is mine. He earned it. He fought for it. It's not a curse. It can't be.

But the more he thinks back—the whispers, the strange hesitation of some shadows, the way the strongest ones resisted before finally falling in line—it all makes sense.

He thought they were growing stronger.

They were just fighting harder to break free.

His breath sharpens, turning into something ragged, something dangerously close to fear. Then what am I? If the Shadowbound are nothing more than keepers of the dead, forced to control something they never understood—

Then what happens if I let them go?

The masked figure takes a slow step forward, their shadow pulsing like a heartbeat against the ground. "So, Riven Graves. Now that you know the truth—"

Power thrums in the air. The darkness shifts unnaturally, as if waiting for his answer.

Chains of the Forgotten