The inner sanctum of the Blackfang Palace was no longer a sanctuary; it was a killing floor. The Void-Hounds, creatures of jagged steel and sentient shadow, poured through the shattered windows like a tide of oil and blades. Their presence brought a cold so absolute it extinguished the hearth fires, leaving only the sickly violet glow of their eyes to illuminate the carnage.
Gwen stood at the center of the chaos, her hands trembling as she held back the surge of her own power. The Solar Necromancy was a living thing inside her, a starving beast that sensed the arrival of the Hounds and began to howl for a feast.
"Stay back!" Lucien roared, his greatsword carving a path through the first wave of monsters. Each strike of his blade sent sparks flying as he hit the possessed steel of their bodies, but for every Hound he cleaved, two more seemed to rise from the violet sludge on the floor.
