The Knight's Oath

The village burned behind him, and Kael Stormwind knew he'd arrived too late. Again.

Among the ashes, he found a single survivor—a child with hollow eyes and hands stained with blood that wasn't her own.

"They came at dawn," she said, her voice empty. "The knights with the sun on their shields. They said we were harboring heretics."

The Holy Order. His former brothers.

"Did you fight back?" Kael asked gently.

The girl nodded. "I killed two of them. The shadows helped me."

Kael looked at her hands again. The blood was already darkening, and beneath it, he could see the faint tracery of magical symbols.

A witch. The Order had come for a witch.

They'd butchered an entire village to kill one child with powers she didn't understand.

Kael knelt before the girl, his armor creaking. "What's your name?"

"Sera."

"Well, Sera." He drew his sword and placed it at her feet. "How would you like to learn to control those shadows?"