Until he met her.

One evening, as he stood upon the blackened stone balcony of his fortress, watching the mist coil through the valley, he sensed something. A presence unlike any other—not of man, not of beast.

From the fog emerged a woman, cloaked in black silk, her silver hair cascading over her shoulders. Her eyes burned a deep crimson, filled with knowledge and something darker—a force even Aradon did not understand.

"You have built an empire of fear," she said, her voice smooth as shadow. "Yet you stand here alone."

Aradon studied her. Few would have dared to approach him unbidden. But this woman feared nothing.

"Who are you?" he asked.

She stepped closer, her gaze unblinking. "I am Selene Noctara. And I am here because we are the same."

Aradon, the man who had never known fear, felt a chill—not of terror, but of recognition. She was like him.