The wind turned colder as the caravan made its way into the foothills. Frostvale Mountains loomed in the distance — jagged, white, and silent. The kind of place where secrets went to die.
Kai walked a few steps ahead, eyes scanning the path. Even now, after three lifetimes through this route, he could feel the shift in the air. Something was wrong.
Too quiet.
Too still.
Behind him, Lira spoke softly to one of the guards. Though her voice was calm, she kept glancing at Kai. She was curious. Suspicious.
Good.
He didn't need her trust yet — just her survival.
"Kai," Lira said as she caught up to him. "You move like someone trained by the royal shadows. Yet no record of you exists in the archives. You know about the monsters, and now you say we're walking into danger."
Kai didn't answer immediately.
He knelt by the dirt trail and placed two fingers on a faint indent in the snow. Large, clawed, fresh.
"I don't need records," he muttered. "Only proof."
He stood and turned to her. "Tell your men to ready their weapons. Something's tracking us."
Lira raised a brow, but didn't argue. She motioned to the guards. Within seconds, bows were drawn, blades unsheathed, shields raised.
Then the ground shook.
Just once. Like a breath. Then again—louder. Heavier.
From the ridge above, snow began to crumble. A hulking figure emerged — at least fifteen feet tall, hunched, coated in black fur and armored bone. Its face was hidden behind a cracked war mask, and both its arms ended in jagged, stone-like blades.
A Shadowborn Titan.
Kai cursed under his breath. He'd only seen one once — in his second loop, when it ripped through three squads in minutes.
"Scatter!" he shouted. "Do not face it head-on!"
The Titan roared, the sound cracking trees and making the horses rear back. One guard ran forward too fast, swinging his spear — and was crushed under the beast's blade in an instant.
Blood sprayed across the snow.
"Cover fire!" Lira shouted. "Keep it distracted!"
Arrows flew, but they barely scratched the Titan's armored hide.
Kai's eyes locked onto a glowing rune beneath its ribs — a weakness. Exposed only when it moved to strike.
He dashed forward, channeling heat into his blade. Eternal Flame blazed red-hot, steam rising as it cut the freezing air. He ducked beneath a sweeping strike, leapt onto a boulder, then lunged for the exposed mark.
His blade sank deep — not enough to kill, but enough to stagger.
The Titan shrieked in pain and flung him across the snow. He slammed into a tree, breath knocked out of him.
Lira was suddenly beside him, sword drawn.
"You weren't lying," she muttered.
Kai coughed, a trickle of blood at his lip. "You're... welcome."
Together, they rose.
The Titan charged.
Lira distracted it with precise slashes, moving like a dancer—fast, fierce, focused. Kai circled behind. The rune was flickering now. Weakening.
This time, he went for the kill.
He leapt high, both hands on the hilt, flame spiraling up the blade. He drove it into the Titan's back with a roar.
CRACK.
The beast let out one final bellow before crumbling into ice and smoke.
Silence fell again.
The caravan was in pieces. Three men dead. But the rest were alive. Breathing.
Lira looked at Kai, eyes wide. "What... are you?"
He sheathed his blade, shoulders heavy. "Just someone who's seen this all before."
As the wind picked up again, carrying snowflakes through bloodied air, Kai looked toward the mountains.
They still had days to go.
And the true enemy had yet to show its face.
But the path was clear now.
And he would follow it to the end — or die trying.