The next morning, Ravenspire woke up angry.
Dark clouds covered the sky, and the wind carried the scent of rain and wet stone. The streets were still lively as always, but the laughter felt sharper, the shouting louder.
Like the city was warning everyone that today would not be peaceful.
Inside the Raven Guild Hall, the trainees were already lined up.
Some looked tired from yesterday's combat drills.
Some looked excited.
Some looked terrified.
Lyra stood two rows ahead of me, her posture stiff and proud, but I could feel her hatred like smoke.
Kael stood beside me, stretching his arms like he was preparing for death.
"This is how it begins," he whispered. "First training, then missions, then dying in some forest."
I glanced at him.
"If you are scared, stay behind," I said.
Kael's eyes widened.
"Me," he asked. "Scared"
He scoffed.
"I am not scared," he said quickly. "I am just… realistic."
Then he leaned closer.
"I am terrified," he whispered.
I ignored him.
Darius Crowe walked into the hall, followed by Varric and several senior guild members.
The moment Darius appeared, the room quieted.
His eyes swept over us.
"Today," he said calmly, "you leave the walls."
The trainees shifted.
Darius continued.
"You think Ravenspire is dangerous," he said. "It is. But the land outside is worse."
He turned slightly.
"Bandits. beasts. blood cults. and runaway hunters. Ravenspire is not surrounded by peace. It is surrounded by hungry things."
Kael muttered.
"That is comforting."
Darius's gaze flicked toward him.
Kael froze.
Then he smiled politely.
Darius ignored him and continued.
"This mission is simple," he said. "A merchant caravan is missing. It was last seen near the Thornwood Path."
He pointed toward a map pinned on the wall.
"The caravan carried medicine and mana crystals," he said. "If those supplies fall into the wrong hands, Ravenspire loses profit."
Profit.
That word made the guild members straighten.
Darius looked at us again.
"You will travel with a squad," he said. "You will find the caravan. You will return with what you can."
He paused.
"And if there are survivors, you bring them back alive."
A murmur spread through the trainees.
Darius's voice sharpened slightly.
"This is not a rescue mission," he said. "This is a test. If you fail, you are useless to the Raven Guild."
My eyes narrowed.
A test.
Of course.
Varric stepped forward.
"I will lead the squad," he said.
Some trainees looked relieved.
Others looked terrified.
Varric's eyes swept over the crowd.
Then they stopped on me.
His gaze lingered.
Like he was measuring me.
Then he looked away.
"Lyra," he called.
Lyra stepped forward quickly.
"Yes," she answered.
"You are coming," Varric said.
Lyra nodded.
Then Varric spoke again.
"Mira."
My heart tightened slightly.
I stepped forward.
"Yes," I replied.
Varric's eyes narrowed.
"You are coming too," he said.
Kael muttered under his breath.
"Oh no."
Varric's gaze snapped toward Kael.
"And you," he said.
Kael froze.
"Me," he asked.
Varric's smile was faint.
"Yes," he replied. "The thief comes too."
Kael sighed loudly.
"Of course I do," he muttered.
The squad was formed quickly.
Eight trainees.
Two senior fighters.
And Varric leading.
Within an hour, we left Ravenspire.
The gates opened with a loud groan, and the outside world welcomed us with cold wind and grey skies.
The land beyond the town was wild.
Tall grass, broken stone roads, scattered trees, and distant hills.
Nothing looked safe.
Lyra walked ahead, her cloak fluttering behind her. She did not glance at me, but I knew she was watching.
Kael walked beside me, unusually quiet.
I glanced at him.
He was staring at the forest line in the distance.
His jaw was clenched.
I could tell he was remembering something.
Something painful.
The Thornwood Path was darker than the name suggested.
The trees were tall and twisted, their branches reaching like claws. The ground was wet, and fog rolled between the trunks like ghosts moving silently.
A senior fighter named Harlan raised his hand.
"Stop," he ordered.
The squad froze.
Harlan crouched and touched the ground.
His eyes narrowed.
"Blood," he muttered.
A few trainees stepped closer.
I stayed still.
My senses sharpened.
I could smell it too.
Not the smell of blood.
The feeling of it.
A pulse.
Fresh death.
Harlan stood slowly.
"This happened less than an hour ago," he said.
Varric's eyes sharpened.
"Move," he ordered.
We advanced deeper into the forest.
The fog thickened.
Then we found it.
The caravan.
Two wagons overturned.
One horse lay dead, its throat ripped open.
Crates were smashed open.
Mana crystals were gone.
Medicine bottles were shattered across the ground.
Bodies lay scattered.
Merchants.
Guards.
Their eyes open, frozen in terror.
One trainee covered her mouth.
"Oh gods," she whispered.
Lyra stared silently, her expression cold.
Kael's face tightened.
His fists clenched.
Varric walked forward carefully, inspecting the bodies.
"These are claw marks," he said.
One trainee frowned.
"Beasts," he whispered.
Harlan shook his head.
"No," he said. "Beasts do not strike this clean."
He pointed toward a body.
The man's chest was torn open, but the wound was too precise.
Too deliberate.
My stomach tightened.
Something else was here.
The Queen's voice whispered.
Not beasts. Blood creatures.
I inhaled slowly.
My crown mark pulsed faintly under my hood.
Then I heard it.
A sound.
A low dragging sound.
From the trees.
The squad froze instantly.
Lyra gripped her blade.
Varric's eyes narrowed.
"Positions," he ordered.
Everyone drew their weapons.
Kael pulled out two small daggers.
His hands were steady now.
Not shaking.
Not joking.
The fog shifted.
And something stepped out.
At first, it looked like a man.
Tall.
Thin.
Wearing torn clothes.
But when it moved closer, I saw its skin.
Grey.
Cracked.
Its mouth was stretched unnaturally wide.
And its eyes…
Its eyes were completely black.
The creature tilted its head slowly.
Then it smiled.
A horrible, broken smile.
A trainee gasped.
"What is that," she whispered.
The creature's body jerked.
Then another stepped out.
And another.
Five of them.
They moved like puppets controlled by invisible strings.
Harlan cursed.
"Blood puppets," he muttered.
Varric's voice became cold.
"Kill them," he ordered.
The trainees attacked.
Steel clashed.
The puppets moved faster than expected.
One trainee swung his sword and cut one puppet's arm off.
But the puppet did not scream.
It did not stop.
It grabbed the trainee's throat with its remaining hand.
And crushed.
The trainee screamed, choking.
Blood spilled from his mouth.
Lyra rushed forward and stabbed the puppet through the head.
It fell.
But it did not die.
Its body twitched on the ground.
Then the severed arm crawled like an insect.
My heart tightened.
This was not normal magic.
This was forbidden blood craft.
The Queen's voice whispered.
This is Blood Council work.
Varric shouted.
"Do not let them touch you!"
Another puppet lunged toward me.
I dodged, slashing with my blade.
The puppet's chest split open, but it kept moving.
Kael jumped in, stabbing it in the spine.
The puppet froze for a moment.
Kael grabbed my wrist and pulled me back.
"Do not let them grab you," he whispered.
His voice was sharp.
Serious.
No jokes.
My chest tightened.
Kael was not the same person in this forest.
He looked like someone who had seen nightmares.
A puppet attacked again.
Lyra sliced it in half.
But the two halves crawled toward her like worms.
Lyra's eyes widened.
She stepped back, suddenly afraid.
"Varric," she shouted. "They do not die!"
Varric cursed.
He raised his hand.
A blood aura flared around him, strong and controlled.
He slammed his palm into the ground.
A crimson shockwave exploded outward.
The puppets were thrown back, their bodies smashing into trees.
They twitched.
But still did not die.
Harlan shouted.
"The core," he yelled. "Find the core!"
The puppets began crawling again.
Their movements were jerky, unnatural.
One puppet lunged toward Kael.
Kael dodged, but the puppet's nails grazed his arm.
Kael hissed in pain.
Black veins began spreading from the scratch.
My eyes widened.
Poison.
Kael staggered.
"Elara," he whispered.
My heart tightened.
Varric saw it too.
He turned sharply.
"Kael is infected," he snapped. "Cut the arm off if it spreads."
Kael's eyes widened.
"What," he shouted. "Cut off my arm"
Lyra scoffed.
"That is your fault for being weak," she muttered.
Kael glared at her.
"You evil witch," he hissed.
Lyra's eyes flashed.
"At least I am not a thief," she snapped.
Kael staggered again.
His breathing became heavier.
The black veins were spreading fast.
My stomach twisted.
I could not let him lose his arm.
I could not let him die.
The Queen's voice whispered.
Use your blood threads. Now.
I clenched my jaw.
If I used them, Varric would see.
But Kael…
Kael was not just a funny thief.
He was the only person who had stayed beside me.
I lifted my hand slightly.
A thin blood thread slipped from my fingertips.
Invisible in the fog.
It wrapped around Kael's arm, just above the spreading veins.
I tightened it.
Kael gasped.
"What are you doing," he whispered.
"Stay still," I hissed.
The thread tightened like a tourniquet.
The black veins stopped spreading instantly.
Kael stared at me, shocked.
His voice was barely audible.
"How did you…"
I cut him off.
"Do not talk," I whispered.
Then the puppets attacked again.
One lunged toward me.
I moved.
This time, I did not hold back completely.
My blood thread snapped outward and wrapped around the puppet's neck.
I pulled.
Its head twisted sharply.
Then I stabbed its chest.
A small black crystal fell out.
A core.
The puppet collapsed instantly, finally dead.
My breath caught.
So that was the key.
Varric saw the crystal.
His eyes narrowed sharply.
"How did you find that," he demanded.
I froze.
The fog felt colder suddenly.
Lyra's gaze snapped toward me.
Suspicion.
Harlan stepped forward.
"That was too fast," he muttered.
Kael's eyes widened.
He knew.
He knew what I had done.
But he stayed silent.
I swallowed.
Then I forced a calm expression.
"I guessed," I lied. "The chest looked different."
Varric stared at me for a long moment.
Then he turned away.
"Find the cores," he ordered. "Kill them."
The squad attacked again.
Now that we knew the weakness, the puppets fell faster.
One by one, we destroyed them.
When the last puppet collapsed, the forest fell silent.
Only heavy breathing remained.
The fog drifted slowly.
And I could feel it.
Something else was still here.
Watching.
Not the puppets.
The one controlling them.
The Queen's voice whispered.
A puppeteer.
Varric crouched beside one of the bodies, pulling out the black core crystal.
His expression darkened.
"This is Blood Council craft," he said quietly.
Lyra's eyes widened.
"The Blood Council," she whispered.
Harlan spat.
"Why would they be here," he muttered.
My heart tightened.
Because they were searching for me.
Kael leaned close, voice weak.
"Elara," he whispered, "they are close."
I nodded slightly.
I already knew.
Varric stood.
"We return to Ravenspire now," he ordered. "Immediately."
The squad began gathering the remaining supplies.
Kael stumbled slightly, still pale.
I stepped closer.
"Can you walk," I whispered.
Kael forced a weak smile.
"Yes," he said. "But if I die, tell everyone I died handsome."
I stared at him.
Kael coughed.
"Bad joke," he muttered.
We began moving back through the forest.
But the air felt heavier now.
Like eyes were everywhere.
Halfway through the path, I heard a whisper.
Not the Queen.
Not Kael.
A whisper from the fog.
"So the little queen hides among thieves."
My blood ran cold.
I stopped walking.
Varric turned sharply.
"What was that," he demanded.
The fog thickened.
Then a figure stepped forward.
A man wearing a long black cloak.
His face hidden by a mask carved with runes.
Blood Council.
He stood calmly like he owned the forest.
Lyra stepped back.
Harlan cursed.
Varric raised his blade.
The masked man's voice was smooth.
"I have been watching," he said.
Then his gaze turned toward me.
Even through the mask, I felt it.
He was looking directly at me.
"Hello, Elara Nightborne," he whispered.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
Kael's breath caught.
Varric's eyes widened.
"What did you just say," Varric demanded.
The masked man chuckled.
"The Raven Guild truly does not know what kind of treasure it has brought into its nest," he said.
The Queen's voice whispered.
Run.
But my body did not move.
Because the masked man lifted his hand.
And the ground beneath us began to glow.
A massive blood circle.
A trap.