Chapter 40: "When the Raven Wakes"
Region 6 – The Jaden Estate
The dusk sky bled crimson over Region 6, casting long shadows over the obsidian towers of House Jaden.
The air was thick, heavy with a silence that murmured of secrets and war. Deep within the fortified residence, in chambers adorned with blades of fallen warlords and relics of bloodstained history, Jaden sat cross-legged on a crimson velvet mat, idly twirling a silver dagger between his fingers.
Across from him, Jerusha reclined on a cushioned settee, arms crossed, brow furrowed. She wasn't just irritated—she was simmering. Not getting what she wants sucks, especially if the causative agent of her present predicament is very much alive and well.
"Big brother, when are we going to get revenge on those who dared to attack me?" she snapped, her tone sharp as broken glass. "You haven't made a single move since I returned. Don't tell me you've gone soft." She gripped a bottle as if it was her mortal enemy.
Jaden didn't look up. "Jerusha, you're nearly twenty-one. You can vote to execute a traitor in court, but you're still here pouting like a girl whose toy was stolen." Jaden smiled having won this round.
Jerusha's eyes narrowed, her voice dripping venom. "You're really going to let a nobody—a worm beneath our boots—bully your sister and just walk away?" she wasn't going to just give up, if soft tactics doesn't work, then she would go for hard tactics, and if that doesn't work, she would go for another.
Jaden's lips curled slightly in amusement. "I know exactly what you're doing." Jaden shook his head.
"Oh?" She raised a brow and shrugged.
"You're trying to incite me. Stir my pride, light a fire. It won't work." His gaze met hers then—calm, unreadable, yet far too calculating for comfort. "Not now. I've already had to bury five spies this week. You think the knives aimed at us are fewer because of your drama? They've multiplied."
Jerusha leaned forward, her tone rising. "This isn't some personal squabble, Jaden. It's a matter of our name. Of power."
Jerusha's lips parted, an indignant retort loading—when a knock echoed against the reinforced chamber door.
Jaden sighed like a man granted momentary escape from an oncoming storm. "Come in," he called lazily.
The door slid open soundlessly, revealing a shadow that moved like mist. His footfalls didn't exist. A man wrapped in midnight-gray, face half-veiled—Jeremy, one of Jaden's most trusted eyes.
"What do you want?" Jerusha snapped, annoyed by the interruption.
Jeremy paused, caught between protocol and an unpredictable princess. His eyes flicked toward Jaden.
"Maybe I should return later, my lord—"
"Nonsense," Jaden interrupted with a half-grin. "Reconnaissance, yes?"
"Yes, my lord." The man—Jeremy—bowed his head. He turned to Jerusha briefly, unsure, then continued. "My report is urgent. Something... monumental has happened."
Jaden set the dagger down. His eyes sharpened like a hawk mid-hunt. "Go on."
Jeremy drew a shaky breath. "The Scarlet Raven... has been freed."
Time stopped.
Jaden rose slowly to his feet, each movement deliberate, his calm now a mask for the storm behind his eyes. "The Scarlet Raven… from the Quorin Depths of Region 29?"
"Yes, my lord," Jeremy confirmed, his voice barely a whisper. "The prison is in ruins. The guards—those who weren't vaporized—were torn limb from limb. Witnesses saw the huge Raven, with crimson wings. Eyes like burning coals. It matches the descriptions in the Oradonian legends... perfectly."
Jerusha sat upright, tension rippling through her. Even she, for all her posturing, felt the weight of the name. The Scarlet Raven—the cursed mage who went mental a century and a half ago, it took an arch mage to imprison him, by the ancients..., a walking extinction event has returned.
Jaden's jaw clenched. "I told them Quorin wasn't built to last. That seal was from the old kingdom. Damn fools."
"The Empire…" Jeremy murmured.
Jaden's eyes narrowed. "Will drown in blood."
He turned abruptly. "Send word to His Majesty—my father. And to Balek. No cryptic language. Tell them: the Raven has flown free."
"Yes, my lord." Jeremy turned, but Jaden stopped him with a word.
"Wait. If the Raven's free... he wouldn't just vanish. He's going somewhere. What direction did he head?"
Jeremy nodded, already expecting the question. "Region 24. South-east trajectory. Confirmed."
Jaden's voice turned cold. "Alloysius."
Jerusha's head snapped up. "What does he have to do with this?"
Jaden's lips thinned. "That bastard always had a hand in dark things. If the Raven's heading to Region 24, it's no accident. Alloysius is reckless, not stupid. He's either trying to control it, or worse…"
"Worse?" Jerusha asked.
"He plans to unleash it… as bait."
"Bait?" Jerusha frowned. "For what?"
Jaden's eyes burned with a rare intensity. "For the Black Dragon. He wants to start the war of heirs ahead of everyone."
"That conniving, slithering dog is many things," Jaden muttered. "Coward. Manipulator. Ruthless. But never a fool. If he survives the Scarlet Raven's wrath, he would only have one reason: to direct him toward the black dragon of region 32."
Jerusha stiffened. "The Black Dragon?"
Jerusha went pale. "You're saying Alloysius wants to lead the Raven to the black dragon?"
"I'm saying," Jaden said grimly, "he's desperate enough to try. And if he succeeds, the Nazare Blade Empire will become a huge graveyard."
"You can leave..." Jaden waved Jeremy away.
Jeremy bowed and vanished without a sound, swallowed by the corridor.
Silence returned. Thick. Electric.
Jaden looked toward the far horizon through his window—the skies darkening over Region 6. "The Scarlet Raven was sealed away for a reason. If he's free now… then the Oradonian Prophecy has already begun. And not just Region 32... maybe the entire empire will end up in ruins if no one stops that monster. Alloysius would think he can control the Scarlet Raven until he discovers that one doesn't play with fire of such intensity."
Jerusha swallowed. "You think you'll have time to stop it?"
Jaden didn't answer immediately. He got up and paced back and forth before stopping and looking out the window, toward the horizon—again.
His voice came low. "Stop it...? Are you blimey...If we are lucky enough to escape in time, that's another matter for another day. ."
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