Chapter 81: From Blood and Ash.

The wind whispered through the streets of Byzeth, carrying with it the scent of death.

Above the towering castle gates, Aszer's head hung high on a pike, swaying slowly with each passing gust.

His face, now a grotesque mask of horror, stared down at his once-kingdom, the vacant eyes locked in an eternal gaze over the city he had tried and failed to lift.

Beside him, the bodies of his family and loyal nobles swayed in the breeze, their lifeless forms leaving shadows across the cobbled streets below. They hung like broken marionettes, their clothes stained dark with blood, their bodies twisted and limp in death's final embrace.

Below, the people distant and outside the castle watched in grim silence, their faces pale, some shocked, others cold.

The rebellion had been crushed. The foolish dream of freedom from Valeria had been snuffed out. And now, they stood witnesses to the price paid for treason.