The fire crackled low, sending lazy shadows dancing across the clearing. Layla sat beside me and Dormin, carefully wrapping her injured shoulder. She sent small pulses of healing magick into the wound, just enough to stop the bleeding. I remembered what she said during training. "It can heal wounds, but not internal damage."
Rue kept watch from the rocky ledge above, occasionally glancing down with a soft chuckle. The bodies of the Hunters lay piled near the treeline, a crude note stabbed into one of them: SOA Traitors — Do Not Touch. Dormin and Rue had insisted we claim their emblems for the bounty. I hadn't argued, I still hadn't earned a single coin.
"Oren," Dormin said, not looking up from skinning the rabbit, "add a few more logs to the fire and head up to relieve Rue. It's your watch."
I stood, brushing dirt from my clothes. My gaze flicked to Layla. She quickly looked away, a faint blush coloring her cheeks in the firelight. I smiled to myself and glanced toward the ledge.
"Dormin… how do I even get up there?"
Layla answered first, a teasing grin tugging at her lips. "There's a path. But real assassins make their own way."
"My teacher wasn't the best," I replied with a smirk, "and that climb looks brutal."
She laughed softly and rose to her feet. "Come on. I'll show you the path. I could use some air anyway."
As we started up the slope, Dormin suddenly caught my shoulder. His grip was firm, his voice unusually quiet.
"Oren… be careful up there."
I frowned. "What do you mean?"
He only offered a tight smile before turning back to the rabbit without another word. Layla took my hand, her fingers warm against mine. "Come on. There's something I want to show you."
We climbed the hill together. Moonlight bathed the jagged peaks, silhouetting the distant, brooding towers of Draznkal against the sky. The cold mountain wind made us both shiver and walk faster.
"So, I've been meaning to ask…" I began, but the words died in my throat.
Something was watching me.
I turned slowly. In the deep shadow cast by one of Draznkal's ruined towers, two glowing red eyes stared back. The darkness around them seemed to writhe, as if the shadows themselves were alive. My heart slammed against my ribs. My hand flew to my sword.
Layla stopped. "Oren? You okay?"
"You don't see that…?" My voice came out hoarse. I gripped the hilt tighter. Fear coiled in my gut. I couldn't see its form, but I could feel it smiling.
"Oren, there's nothing there," she said gently, reaching for my hand.
I barely felt her touch.
Then the screams hit.
Hundreds of them. Raw, agonized voices flooded my mind all at once. I gasped and dropped to one knee, clutching my head as pain exploded behind my eyes. My body shook violently.
A sudden burst of flame snapped me back to reality. The red eyes and writhing shadows vanished.
Rue strode up, both hands wreathed in fire that lit the slope in harsh orange light.
"Go on, Layla. I'll handle this," he said, helping me to my feet.
He led me the rest of the way up to his post in silence. Once we reached the ledge overlooking the valley, I finally found my voice.
"What… was that?"
Rue stared out into the darkness. "Nobody knows for sure. The spirits of Draznkal are a mystery even to us. Most who go in there either die… or come back unwilling to speak of it. That place is a magnet for dark energy. Ancient texts say it was once a kingdom of magickal innovation. Now it's little more than a tomb of evil."
"Have you ever been inside?" I asked, sitting on a nearby rock.
"Once." His tone made it clear the subject was closed. "And I'd rather not speak of it."
I flexed my fingers. A small orb of shadow formed in my palm, flickering violently as it drifted toward the distant towers before dissolving.
Rue clapped a hand on my shoulder. "Your shadow magick makes you more sensitive to this place. Just… be careful what you listen to up here." He turned to leave. "Have fun on watch."
As his footsteps faded and the light of his aura disappeared down the slope, I sat alone with the wind and the moon.
A moment later, softer footsteps approached. Layla sat beside me and leaned her head against my arm.
"Care for some company?"
I wrapped my arm around her, pulling her closer. Her warmth eased the lingering tension in my chest. "Always."
She smiled. "So… before we were interrupted, you wanted to ask me something?"
I swallowed, suddenly nervous, and flipped a small blade idly in my free hand. "Yeah… When we get back, I'd like to take you to dinner."
Layla let out a quiet laugh and rested her head against my chest. "Took you long enough. I was starting to think you weren't interested."
I felt heat rise in my face. "Why wouldn't I be interested in the girl who's threatened to kill me more than once?"
She lifted her head, her face close enough that I could feel her breath. Then she leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to my cheek.
I blushed instantly.
Without thinking, I cupped her face and leaned in. Her lips met mine again, firmer this time, and she wrapped her arms around my neck. My hands rested on her waist, holding her close. The warmth between us made my heart race.
A familiar voice cut through the moment. "You guys take it easy up there. Remember this is a mission—I expect professionalism."
Layla pulled back slightly, biting her lip and giggling.
"That was… intense," I said, trying to steady my breathing.
Her cheeks were flushed, and a playful grin spread across her face. "Yeah… didn't mean for that to happen," she said, tucking a strand of autumn-brown hair behind her ear.
She leaned closer again, pressing another quick kiss to my lips before resting her head on my bag.
"The stars out here…" she murmured, gazing upward, "…they're amazing."
● ● ●
"Compound's just ahead," Rue said, kneeling over the weathered map. "Recent developments mean I have to change the plan."
He looked up at each of them in turn.
"Layla, you're still injured. Stay back by the treeline as our reserve. Dormin, you're on bow duty—take her position in the canopy and provide cover. Oren…" Rue's gaze settled on me, steady and trusting, "you and I will hit them head-on. Clear?"
"Clear," the three of us answered in unison.
A quiet thrill ran through me. For the first time, I wasn't an afterthought. I was in.
We left the horses at camp and moved on foot for nearly an hour. Layla stayed close the entire way, her shoulder brushing mine more often than necessary. Dormin noticed.
"I knew it," he muttered with a smirk.
Both Layla and I flushed red.
The compound emerged through the trees—squat, fortified, and deceptively quiet. Dormin melted into the branches without a sound. Layla took up position behind a thick oak, bow already half-drawn, her injured side held carefully still.
Rue and I approached the heavy wooden door together.
"Want to see what real magick looks like?" he asked, flashing me a crooked grin.
He brought his palms together. A spark ignited between them, rapidly swelling into a roiling ball of flame. The fire churned and compressed, growing brighter, hotter, tighter—until it looked ready to tear the world apart.
"Open it," he said.
I yanked the door wide.
"Now!"
Rue hurled the condensed blaze forward. It streaked through the doorway like a miniature sun, then detonated.
The explosion was intense.
A roaring wave of fire and force ripped outward. The door and entire front wall disintegrated in a storm of splintered wood and shattered stone. The shockwave slammed into me, hurling me backward. My ears rang violently as smoke and ash flooded my lungs. Debris rained down like fiery hail.
The first rank of guards never stood a chance. They were thrown like ragdolls, bodies wreathed in flame, their screams swallowed by the inferno.
I pressed myself to the ground, coughing, eyes burning. Through the chaos, Dormin's arrows began to sing—silent, lethal whispers cutting down anyone who tried to rise. Layla's shots joined them, each one finding its mark with deadly precision despite her injury.
Rue strode through the shattered doorway like he owned the ruins.
"Tell us where the information is," he called into the smoke, voice calm and cold, "and we'll leave you in peace."
A blur of motion.
Something seized my throat with crushing force and slammed me into the dirt. Blood burst from my mouth. Before I could react, I was hurled through the air, crashing through a crumbling wall and skidding to a stop at Layla's feet. She gasped, dropping to her knees beside me.
Inside the compound, a sudden eruption of flames and crashing stone erupted. Rue came flying out backward, landing hard but rolling to his feet. Blood streamed down the side of his face.
Then the entire building seemed to explode outward—except the debris didn't fall. Chunks of wood, stone, and twisted metal hung suspended in mid-air, glowing with deep violet magick.
"You were a fool to come here, Rue."
A woman descended slowly from the swirling wreckage, her black braid swaying behind her like a serpent. A powerful aura of violet energy pulsed around her, hungry and barely contained. Her eyes glowed the soft, eerie shade of lavender.
"To those who don't know me," she said with a graceful, mocking bow while still hovering ten feet off the ground, "I am Catarina. A pleasure."
Dormin loosed three arrows in rapid succession. They streaked toward her—only to rocket harmlessly upward the moment they entered her aura.
"Cute," Catarina purred. She flicked two fingers upward.
The ground beneath Dormin's tree tore free. The entire tree, along with surrounding boulders, shot violently into the air. Dormin's face went slack with shock for half a second before he began leaping desperately from one floating piece of debris to the next, struggling to keep his balance.
Rue's expression hardened. "Everyone—retreat! Now!"
Layla was already hauling me to my feet, her arm wrapped tightly around my waist. Blood still trickled from my split lip and the bruises blooming across my throat.
Dormin flipped down from the airborne wreckage and landed beside Rue, bow still in hand.
"Layla, Oren—go!" Rue ordered.
"Oh, Dormin," Catarina called, her voice dripping with false sweetness. "Why do you insist on holding yourself back? You could be magnificent… if only you'd let them see what you truly are."
Rue's voice turned deadly serious. "This isn't the time to play it safe, Dormin. Go all out, or we both die here."
Dormin closed his eyes and exhaled slowly.
Then the air around him ignited.
Sparks crackled into flames. Red lightning lashed out from his aura like living whips. The two forces merged into something raw and terrifying—crimson fire threaded with furious lightning.
Rue answered with his own power. His flames roared to life, blazing hotter and brighter than ever, an uncontrollable inferno that lit the entire battlefield in savage orange light.
Catarina spread both hands wide, violet energy swirling between her fingers. A wicked smile curved her lips.
"Come on, then."