The old maps called it Thornreach, but to the Elders, it was known as the Mouth of Death.
They rode through the southern marshes under a sky that bled red light—an unnatural eclipse hanging above them. Alaric led the way, silent and grim, while Virella rode just behind, the ancient blade humming softly at her back. Callum brought up the rear, scenting the wind for signs of danger.
"It feels like we're being watched," Callum muttered.
"We are," Alaric replied without looking back. "This land hasn't been crossed in centuries. Something here remembers."
---
According to Selene's words, the "first army" had been sealed beneath the Black Sun—a phrase that hadn't appeared in vampire texts in over a thousand years.
But Alaric knew where it was. His grandfather had once told him of a sealed vault beneath Thornreach—created by Selene and her inner circle during the first rebellion. No one had ever found the gate. Many died trying.
"The gate isn't just hidden," Alaric said, stopping at a wide ring of scorched earth, overgrown with weeds. "It's sleeping."
Virella dismounted. "Then let's wake it."
She drew the ancestral blade and stepped into the ring.
The moment her foot touched the center, the ground trembled. Roots tore from the earth, revealing a circle of stones etched with ancient glyphs. The sky darkened further as the eclipse deepened. Light warped.
The Black Sun had risen.
And the gate was waking.
---
Meanwhile… far away in the ashes of Ashvale…
Kazen followed Varen into the ruins of the old theater. The place smelled of rot and smoke, but it was wide, abandoned—and perfect for what they needed.
"You said we'd raise an army," Kazen said, crouching beside the broken stage. "But we have two bodies and a grudge. Where's the rest?"
Varen pulled a canvas from the wall, revealing a faded map burned into the brick.
"These are the sites where the venom was tested. Where the failures lived—and some survived."
Kazen raised a brow. "You kept track?"
"Of course," Varen said. "Because one day, I'd need them."
He stepped onto the stage and shouted:
> "To all who were left behind. To all who survived. I call to your blood. Come."
The shadows answered.
Dozens of figures emerged from the corners of the theater—disfigured hybrids, scarred vampires, twisted werewolves. All survivors of experiments no one acknowledged.
Varen looked out over them, eyes burning with vengeance.
"You were discarded," he said. "I was too. But that ends now. We are not broken. We are evolved."
Kazen smirked. "Let's start a war."
---
Back at the gate, the stones cracked open like a blooming flower, revealing a spiral staircase descending into blackness.
The temperature dropped. The blade at Virella's side pulsed with warning.
"Are we sure about this?" Callum asked, peering into the dark.
"No," Virella said. "But we don't have a choice."
They descended.
The air grew heavier with every step. The walls were covered in murals—depicting Selene, the Eternal Council, and legions of beings with fangs and claws kneeling at her feet.
"It's real," Alaric murmured. "She wasn't bluffing."
Then, they reached the vault door: a massive obsidian slab with a sun split in half carved into its face.
Virella placed her palm against it.
Pain shot through her arm, burning like fire—but the door responded. The blade she carried surged with light.
Then… the vault opened.
---
Inside were rows upon rows of stone sarcophagi.
Thousands.
Each bore the sigil of the old rebellion. Each sealed with blood magic.
"This… this is the first army," Virella whispered.
Callum swallowed hard. "And you could wake them?"
"I think that's what Selene meant," Alaric said, stepping cautiously between the tombs. "But the question is—should we?"
Before they could answer, a presence surged through the chamber.
A voice echoed—not Selene's, but something older.
> "One drop of blood. One command. The dead will walk again."
Virella turned to the others. "This isn't just a vault. It's a weapon."
"Or a trap," Callum warned.
"Either way," Alaric said, "Varen will find out. And if he reaches this place first…"
"Then we'll have a war like the world hasn't seen in a thousand years," Virella finished.
They looked at each other.
And then… made their choice.
---
Back in Ashvale, Varen stood before his growing army. Dozens had turned into hundreds—survivors drawn by his venom, his vision, and their shared hatred.
He raised a vial in the air.
"This is the key," he shouted. "The venom they feared. The power they sealed away. We will use it not to survive—but to rule."
They roared in agreement.
Kazen leaned toward him. "They'll follow you. But they'll expect results."
"They'll get them," Varen said. "We're heading east. To Thornreach."
Kazen grinned. "So we're going to dig up the First Rebellion?"
"No," Varen said. "We're going to finish it."
---
That night, Virella wrote in her journal, staring at the moon.
> If I call this army, the world changes forever. I don't know who I'll become. But if I don't… Varen will burn everything. And I'll have no choice but to stop him.
Even if it kills me.
The wind howled through the mountains as thunder rolled in the distance.
The Black Sun had risen.
And war was coming.
---