The Last Rite

When the king's ancient blessing ceremony is poisoned by a hidden hand, his Shaman collapses mid-chant — black veins crawling, the ritual unfinished. His Warrior carries him out through a collapsing palace as a dark lion tears through the hall behind them. An undead warden steps from the shadows and holds the beast long enough for one final run. At a moonlit stone circle beyond the castle walls, the dying Shaman raises the relic one last time. The Warrior — who has heard the words a hundred times — says them alongside him. The light rises. Then goes quiet.