Royal of Darkness

Previously

…Taking a deep breath, I turned and ran, not towards the safety of an escape route, but towards the shadowed archway where the first scream had echoed. If this power was a part of me, then I needed to understand it, to control it. And if Valerius was truly my protector, my king, then perhaps I could find that understanding here, at the heart of the storm, rather than fleeing from it. The sounds of battle faded behind me as I plunged into the dimly lit corridors, my heart pounding a frantic rhythm, not just with fear, but with a dawning, potent sense of purpose. The serpent had struck, and in its venom, it had awakened something within me.