Chaotic Intro

Lyle is back and under new management.

The rain hammered Storm harbor like a war drum as the red glow intensified across the windowpanes of the glassblower’s shop. Maren moved swiftly, drawing the heavy curtains shut, muttering a ward under her breath. Rockford pressed himself between Darius and the door, hackles raised, growling low.

Elara stood beside the table, hand on her sword. “What is that sound?”

Darius moved to the window and peeled back the curtain just a fraction.

A figure stood across the street, face obscured by a deep hood, hands raised. At their feet, the cobblestones shimmered like the surface of a lake disturbed by something rising from beneath.

“It’s him,” Maren whispered.

Elara unsheathed her blade in one smooth motion. “Then let’s end this.”

But before anyone could act, the front door creaked open on its own. Wind and rain gusted in, and with it, the scent of iron and rot. Lyle stepped inside as though invited, and for a moment, he was the man Darius remembered: confident, wiry, clever-eyed.

Then he smiled, and that smile wasn’t his.

“Brother Vale,” Lyle said, voice carrying the echo of something other. “You’ve found the crystal. Good. Now give it to me.”

“No,” Darius said, stepping between him and the table. “You lost the right to ask me for anything.”

Lyle’s smile widened. “I never lost anything. I was given new purpose. A new master. The bloodline must fulfill its promise. You were never meant to carry it alone.”

He raised his hand.

And the air bent.

The crystal in Darius’s satchel began to glow, pulsing like a heartbeat. Darius staggered back as it flared hot against his side.

“Put it down!” Maren shouted, eyes wide, stepping toward him. “It’s reacting to him!”

“I can’t,” Darius hissed, pain flashing across his face. “It’s bound to me.”