The Wrath of the Fallen

1) Prologue 2) Oblivion Stirs Beneath His Skin 3) The First Monster Claims Her

A dead god speaks first. Unir, father of Samkiel, narrates from beyond the grave — he felt his son die, felt Dianna threaten to tear worlds apart, and slipped past Death's gates with a mission no one asked for. Then the story proper begins in a lakeside town where Umemri, King of the Otherworld, arrives with an insectoid army searching for his murdered mate. A terrified townsman confesses that Samkiel killed the creature. Umemri unearths the grave, cradles the delicate head of his beloved, and executes the man who told him everything. As king and army sink back through the earth, a bird made of midnight feathers — Death itself — lands where the body fell and takes the shape of a man wreathed in darkness. Every thread of this story begins here, with grief and the lengths it drives the powerful toward.

A nightmare nearly levels their home while Dianna sleeps beside him

Samkiel wakes mid-nightmare screaming, Oblivion pouring from his hands in tendrils of world-eating darkness. The dream was Nismera holding Dianna, turning her to ash. The ceiling cracks, walls rip away, and a hurricane spawns outside. Dianna shakes him awake and kisses him until the storm retreats — she is the only grounding force his power responds to. In the weeks that follow, Samkiel and Dianna build a sanctuary city along the mountains near their palace, offering refuge to those Nismera abandoned. They visit every remaining lord and lady across seven realms, begging for alliance. Every single one refuses. Lord Iver of Shorerock mocks Dianna publicly and pledges loyalty to Nismera. They return home to a growing city but zero political allies, isolation settling across Samkiel's shoulders like a second weight.

An ancient spirit steals Dianna's body while Samkiel is away

Gathrriel, the first Ig'Morruthen who ever lived, has been haunting Dianna's dreams for weeks. When Samkiel leaves her sleeping to prepare a birthday surprise, Gathrriel strikes. He floods her soulless body, warping it into his own massive armored form, then stalks toward their city to feed. Reggie — the fate who serves as Dianna's closest confidant — stands between the possessed beast and the sleeping town. He cannot fight Gathrriel, so he provokes him into setting the forest ablaze, creating a beacon fire for Samkiel. When Samkiel arrives at full speed, Gathrriel flees from the approaching power, his grip on Dianna dissolving. She collapses into Samkiel's arms, frost-bitten and shaking. One thing becomes terrifyingly clear: Dianna's missing soul left a vacancy that ancient spirits can fill.