A Sons Return

Kael Vandel was born beneath the shadowed banners of Vandel Keep, the sole heir to the powerful Margrave of Vandel, a family whose name carried weight across the fractured kingdoms. His early years were a promise of greatness—educated in courtly arts, swordplay, and leadership. But at the age of twelve, everything changed. While riding through the dense forests that bordered the Vandel territories, Kael and his small retinue were ambushed by raiders—not mere bandits, but mercenaries sent by rivals of his house. His guards were slaughtered, and the boy was taken, vanishing into the green abyss. Vandel mourned him as lost, a candle extinguished before it could become a flame. But Kael did not die. Sold into slavery, Kael passed through blood-soaked camps and dark markets until he broke free during a prison revolt in the borderlands. He was only fifteen when he made his first kill—swift, silent, and without hesitation. By sixteen, he was already following war. Not for loyalty, nor gold, but survival. Now he has returned back to the Kingdom of Eltaria, to return to his seat as rightful heir of the Margrave of Vandel.