Horrific Shorts: Zombie Edition

Chapter 2413: Story 2414: The Shadow Behind the Throne

The Devourer had risen.

Completely.

Its colossal body stretched across the horizon like a living mountain range. Black scales covered its endless form. Crimson fire leaked from cracks between its armor. Its wings blotted out the sun itself.

Day became night.

Silence spread across the battlefield.

Even the armies stopped moving.

Even the wind seemed afraid.

The Devourer’s gaze swept across the world.

Across the silver army.

Across the Crimson Queen.

Across the endless dead.

Finally, it looked upon Noah.

The Crown of Light instantly blazed.

Silver energy erupted around him.

The creature recognized him.

And Noah recognized something far worse.

The Devourer was smiling.

Aiden felt a chill crawl down his spine.

"How can something that big smile?"

Father Gideon didn’t answer.

His eyes remained fixed on the monster.

His face had gone completely pale.

The Devourer’s voice echoed across the planet.

Not through sound.

Through thought.

Through fear.

Through every living mind.

"At last."

Cities thousands of miles away heard it.

Survivors hiding in underground shelters heard it.

Every human still alive heard the same words.

"The final heir stands before me."

Noah gripped the Silver Crown.

The monster knew him.

Knew exactly who he was.

And that terrified him.

The Crimson Queen suddenly stepped forward.

Her crimson army followed.

Thousands upon thousands of warriors raising ancient weapons.

For the first time, she stood beside the Throne King.

Not as an ally.

But as a necessity.

"The war comes first," she said coldly.

The skeletal ruler nodded once.

No argument.

No hatred.

Not now.

Both ancient rulers understood the truth.

If the Devourer won, nothing else would matter.

The giant skeletal guardian roared and charged.

Purple flames exploded across its body.

The silver army advanced.

Millions of warriors surged forward like a shining tide.

The Crimson Army followed.

Three ancient kingdoms united against one enemy.

The final battle began.

The Devourer moved.

One claw swept across the battlefield.

The impact shattered mountains.

Entire divisions of silver warriors vanished instantly.

Thousands of zombies were erased.

Crimson soldiers disappeared in waves of fire.

The destruction was unimaginable.

Noah stared in horror.

One attack.

One casual attack.

And entire armies ceased to exist.

King Arcturus gripped his sword.

"We cannot win through numbers."

Noah already knew.

The Crown was showing him visions.

Possibilities.

Futures.

In every future the armies failed.

The Devourer was simply too powerful.

Unless—

A sudden flash of memory struck him.

A hidden memory.

One that had remained sealed until now.

Noah gasped.

"I know."

The Throne King turned toward him.

The Crimson Queen did the same.

Even the Devourer seemed to pause.

Noah looked at the ancient rulers.

At the siblings who once stood together.

"There were never three guardians."

The battlefield fell silent.

The Crown burned brighter.

"There were four."

Shock crossed the Crimson Queen’s face.

The Throne King’s staff slipped slightly in his grip.

Neither denied it.

Which meant it was true.

The hidden memory expanded.

A fourth throne.

A fourth sibling.

A fourth ruler erased from history.

Not dead.

Not imprisoned.

Missing.

The shadow Noah had glimpsed before.

The hidden figure behind every betrayal.

Behind every secret.

Behind the prison’s weakening.

The Devourer’s smile widened.

A terrible smile.

A knowing smile.

Then the monster spoke a name.

A name that made the ancient rulers freeze.

A name spoken with triumph.

"Malthor."

The sky cracked.

The earth trembled.

And somewhere beyond the battlefield, beyond the ruined cities and broken world, something ancient opened its eyes.

Something that should have remained forgotten.

The true architect of the apocalypse had finally awakened.