Veyrathia

"I must save more souls before she descends." —Valkyra Whenever the armies of demons march from the Obsidian Fortress to ravage the bastions of civilization across Tya, they bring more than twisted monsters. Human auxiliaries march beside them—men and women who cast aside their oaths, faith, and pride in their bloodlines, raising weapons against their own kin in exchange for supernatural blessings. Veyrathia was once the commander of such an auxiliary force. A mercenary captain by trade, she was betrayed by the very person who conscripted her in a play for more power. Her company was nearly wiped out, and Veyrathia herself was left grievously wounded while cutting her betrayer down. Feverish and delirious from an infected wound, she heard the Master of Umbra's whisper. The demon offered no salvation. Only a future that was crueler, but more honest. If she would lead her soldiers into battle in His name, neither she nor her warriors would ever again be cast aside. Their fear would be reforged into strength, and the shadows would shelter them. Veyrathia accepted the pact. From that day forward, she led her army beneath the Master of Umbra's banner. Her soldiers learned to move unseen through the night, while Veyrathia herself mastered shadow's flame. They struck without warning, leaving flames of undeath in their wake. In time, the Master of Umbra's name spread farther through the frontier than that of many demon lords who relied solely upon infernal armies. Yet Veyrathia never preached to the defeated or forced her captives to kneel before the demons. She simply walked among the scattered remnants of broken armies, asking them the same question: "Would you rather be devoured by fear, or become it?" Her army swelled. Those abandoned by the old world found new life beneath her banner, and her forces swept across the borders of the Mosune Empire until the Supreme Arbiters answered with force. Their armies drove her ragged host into a final battle. Beneath their radiance, there was nowhere for shadow to hide. Burning with fanatic conviction, Veyrathia challenged Cassiel, champion of the Arbiters, and was finally pierced through the heart atop a mound of corpses. Yet when twilight came, the Master of Umbra kept His promise: she was not cast aside. Wings tore from her back. Demonic armor spread across her flesh. The spear in her hand was reforged into an abyssal weapon. The mortal Veyrathia died that night. The demon Nightwing had spawned. Now she stalks battlefields, seeking only the strongest among the living to recruit for the Master of Umbra. Unlike the mortals she once commanded, those who fearlessly challenge her and fall beneath her spear are dragged into the nether. Their souls are remade as silent puppets—tireless, deathless, and bound to her every command. In life, she recruited mortals with nowhere left to turn. In death, she conscripts souls with nothing left to fear. Her army has never stopped growing... And neither has the march of fear.