Surprise Attack
A Graphic Novel by Mood Red
One Soul. The Battle Within.
Chapter 1
Entry
The Heist & The Fall
Palos Texha. The old city sprawls beneath a dying sun.
Sokha has been planning this for months. The painting has haunted her for years.
Vor'khaeli. The Mirror Prince.
Everything she hates about the world, frozen in oil and gilt frame.
The museum closes at midnight. She waits.
Through the old quarter. Stone walls older than memory.
She moves through the night. A shadow among shadows.
There it is. The painting that has lived in her nightmares.
The glass betrays her.
A crack. A shift.
She falls.
She never gets to touch it.
Chapter 2
Three Halves
Wandering Ani'moth
She wakes in the sparse prairie. Dry grass like spears stretching to the horizon.
The silence has weight. Her footsteps make no sound.
Past ancient shrines. Stone monuments erected by those who came before.
Then darkness falls. And in the distance... fires.
Chapter 3
Towards
The Gallows
She walks toward the fires. Maybe safety. Maybe help.
By the time she realizes what it is, she's already surrounded.
The gallows. And waiting there—
Herself.
The Sokh'rai. Her shadow self. The version that gave up.
The noose goes around her neck.
She looks into her own empty eyes.
The floor drops.
She dies again.
Chapter 4
Heaven
The Celestial Library
She wakes on a stone table. Vaulted ceiling lost in shadow above.
Hands at her throat, expecting rope. But there's no rope.
Heth'ani
"Took you long enough, little plow."
Heth'ani. Her mentor. Waiting.
The woman who raised her in the craft.
Chapter 5
Sum
The Search
Heth'ani
"Find your book."
The stacks are infinite. Where to even begin?
A book with no title. Dark leather that breathes.
Inside: her own handwriting. Crooked letters from when she was nine.
"This one holds sacred darkness in her heart."
Chapter 6
Together
Training & Reunion
Young Sokha
"You found it. Now you have to learn it."
Young Sokha. The kid with braids in a knot.
Children live in both worlds. Light and dark.
The training begins. What was lost must be remembered.
Young Sokha
"I've always been with you. You just forgot how to see me."
They merge. Young and old. Light and shadow.
She is whole.
Thu'kael. Shadow Cleaver.
The scimitar of the Khora'im.
The weapon she carries into battle.
Chapter 7
Great Spirit
The Ancestors
The ancient staircase spirals upward. Toward light.
She emerges onto a ridge. Below: a clearing.
And filling it—THEM.
The Khora'im. Hundreds. Thousands. The weight of centuries.
Chapter 8
In Dem Massiv
The Gauntlet
"You carry the blade. But the blade can be stolen."
She must prove herself. Not against one.
Against all of them.
Until finally—Zhol'mara. The Night Mother herself.
The battle is brutal. Beautiful.
Sokha wins.
Chapter 9
Moment
The Warning
Zhol'mara
"You had your moment. But hear me now."
Zhol'mara
"They are as strong as we are. We cannot win by force."
"Victory's a visitor. Never stays long."
To Be Continued...
Chapters 10-12 coming soon.