Chapter

The army marches south toward war. Cael's squad bonds further during the grueling march. Mira reveals her tragic backstory: bandits destroyed her village two years ago and she spent six months hunting them down. The squad reaches the border and sees smoke from Thornhaven, a village burned by...

Cael's squad adapts to military life as training intensifies. They witness Mage-Captain Sevrin perform a blood magic ritual sacrificing a bull to enhance the army. The soldiers receive a blessing that grants unnatural warmth and strength. The squad struggles with the moral implications of using...

Cael, a sailor conscripted into Valorheim's Army of the Northern March, endures brutal first-day training. He meets his squadmates: Mira (survivor), Aldric (hunter), Petyr (terrified baker's son), Elara (seamstress), and Roth (branded deserter). They form tentative bonds over shared misery and...

Cardinal-General Corven presents a controversial proposal to the Council of Nine to use demon summoning against Valorheim's blood mages. The vote passes 5-4, with dissenters ordered eliminated. That night, Corven performs the first summoning ritual, making contact with a demonic entity that...

Father Niccolo Paladina is hunted through the basement of Saint Joseph's Cathedral by Tim Spencer, a possessed man. Cornered beneath the staircase, Niccolo confronts his terror and attempts an exorcism, but his prayers fail to stop the demon. The possessed man mocks his faith, burns himself with...