Kael's vision was completely tinted red. The dark, twisted trees of the Deep Woods, the freezing night wind, the heavy exhaustion deep in his muscles none of it mattered. The only thing that existed in his world right now was the massive, scarred Blood Council Executioner standing in the center of the clearing.
"Where is she?" Kael roared, his voice tearing raw against his throat.
He did not wait for an answer. He did not assess the giant's stance or look for an opening. Kael gripped the hilt of his heavy broadsword with both hands and charged with pure, blind rage.
The Executioner let out a wet, ugly laugh that sounded like rocks grinding together at the bottom of a well. He did not raise a shield. He did not draw a sword. Instead, he gripped the thick iron chain wrapped around his heavily muscled forearm and whipped his right arm forward.
At the end of that chain was a heavy, rusted hooked blade.
