Horrific Shorts: Zombie Edition

The smiling crimson eye at the heart of Nox’Rath silenced the battlefield.

For a brief moment, even the winds around Blackstone Ridge refused to move.

Kaelor stood within the blazing Circle of First Light, his obsidian armor crumbling away as rivers of golden radiance flowed through his ancient body. The endless hunger that had consumed him for ages had vanished, replaced by the noble strength of the First Guardian.

Yet Nox’Rath did not retreat.

Instead...

It laughed.

The sound spread through every living mind like a cold whisper beneath the skin.

"At last..."

"...the Circle is complete."

Victoria Kane tightened her grip on the fragment of light still resting in her hand.

"What do you mean?"

The countless crimson eyes covering the Endless Shadow slowly turned toward the Seven Guardians.

"Everything has happened exactly as I desired."

A chill swept across the summit.

Arkanis’s silver eyes widened.

"No..."

"You planned this?"

The darkness rippled like an endless ocean.

"For countless ages I whispered only one truth..."

"...that hope always gathers together."

The Guardians looked at one another.

The realization struck them all at once.

Nox’Rath had never feared their reunion.

It had been waiting for it.

Dr. Evelyn Brooks hurriedly opened Elias Crow’s glowing journal.

Fresh words appeared faster than she could read.

Her face turned pale.

"There was another prophecy..."

She read aloud.

"Beware the Eighth Shadow, for it cannot enter the Circle while the Guardians remain divided. Only when the Seven stand united shall the prison open from within."

The ground beneath the Circle of First Light erupted with violent force.

Ancient silver symbols hidden beneath Blackstone Ridge awakened.

The light binding the Seven suddenly reversed.

Golden streams no longer flowed outward.

They were being pulled downward.

Commander Selene Voss steadied herself.

"The Circle is draining them!"

Seraphel looked toward Arkanis.

"Our own power..."

"...is opening the prison."

The ancient Guardian lowered his head.

"We misunderstood the seal."

Above them, Nox’Rath stretched its endless form across the sky.

"You believed unity would imprison me."

"Instead..."

"...it has unlocked the final gate."

Far beneath the mountain, the Heart Forge trembled violently.

The Eternal Flame dimmed.

The Last Sentinel slammed his mighty hammer against the crystal floor.

Golden fire burst upward through the mountain.

"I will not allow it!"

The Forge answered with a pillar of blazing light that reinforced the Circle.

For a heartbeat, the draining slowed.

But cracks spread across the Sentinel’s glowing armor.

Father Gabriel watched in horror.

"He’s giving his own life to sustain the Forge."

"I was created for this purpose," the Sentinel replied calmly.

"If hope survives..."

"...my duty is fulfilled."

Victoria looked upward.

The Crown of the Black Star pulsed rapidly.

Then, for the first time since she had claimed it, thirteen unfamiliar voices echoed inside her mind.

Not the Marshals.

Not the Guardians.

Something older.

Together they whispered,

"The Crown was never the final key."

"The bearer is."

A blinding vision flooded Victoria’s thoughts.

She saw herself standing before a doorway made entirely of living light.

Beyond it stretched countless worlds connected by rivers of stars.

At the center stood a single empty throne.

Upon its ancient stone was carved one forgotten title.

The Keeper of the First Dawn.

The vision vanished.

Victoria gasped as the Crown shone brighter than ever before.

Arkanis looked at her with astonishment.

"The throne..."

"You’ve seen it."

She nodded slowly.

"I don’t think the Last Marshal was ever meant to end this war."

The Endless Shadow smiled through a thousand crimson eyes.

"No..."

"...you were meant to begin the next age."

As the Circle of First Light continued drawing power into the depths below, the stone beneath Blackstone Ridge split apart.

From the endless abyss, an enormous gate of pure white light began rising to meet the ancient black gate.

Two opposing destinies now stood face to face.

One promised creation.

The other promised oblivion.

And Victoria Kane realized that the fate of every world would soon depend on which gate she chose to open first.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!