The night was thick with an eerie stillness, the towering trees of Noctharis Forest whispering as the wind slithered through their twisted branches. The air smelled of damp earth and ancient magic, a scent that carried the weight of centuries. In the heart of this darkness stood Blackthorn Manor, a foreboding fortress of black stone and jagged spires that clawed at the heavens.
From the treetops, Zayn watched as the heavily armored guards patrolled the perimeter. The security was tight—too tight for a simple noble's retreat. The Empire had always been careful, but Varyn Deimos? He was paranoid beyond reason. Zayn knew that infiltrating this place undetected would have been impossible if not for their carefully laid plan.
A soft rustling behind him signaled Elara's arrival. The silver-haired mage crouched beside him, her violet eyes gleaming with concentration as she traced delicate runes into the air. The sigils pulsed with arcane energy, reflecting briefly in her gaze before vanishing.
Zayn, standing between them, ignored their exchange and turned his sharp gaze toward Elara. "The wards."
Zayn gave her a sideways glance. "How much time will we have?"
She inhaled sharply, her violet eyes narrowing. "The security enchantments on this fortress are unlike anything I've encountered before." She gestured toward the darkened sky, where faint lines of shimmering runes pulsed just beyond sight. "Layered, interwoven, designed to detect even the subtlest disturbances. If I had more time, I could deconstruct them properly, but as I am now?" She exhaled, shaking her head. "I can only override them for about ten minutes, no more."
Zayn frowned. "That won't be enough time for a drawn-out fight."
"Which is why," Raiden chimed in from behind them, his grin almost feral, "we won't waste a second. I'll make sure they're too busy dying to fight back, 10 minutes should be doable."
Zayn smirked. "You'll manage."
Zayn interrupted before Raiden could retort. "Then we move fast. Varian, are you in position?"
Zayn gave Raiden a single nod before turning to Varian, who had remained eerily silent up until now. The assassin was watching the manor like a hawk, his hood drawn low over his sharp, calculating gaze. This was his moment.
A shadow shifted from the canopy above, and Varian dropped down in a fluid motion, his masked face barely illuminated by the fires below. "Already inside," came his hushed reply. "The manor's security is compromised. The main guards are panicking after the explosions. The Minister is in his study—alone."
Zayn's smirk was sharp. "Perfect."
"Remember the plan," Zayn reminded them all. "Elara disables the wards, Raiden causes a distraction, and Varian finds and eliminates Varyn Deimos. We'll regroup at the eastern ridge. No mistakes."
Varian inclined his head slightly, disappearing into the shadows without another word.
Elara stretched her fingers, the sigils forming in the air growing more complex by the second. "I'm starting the override. The moment I finish, we move."
The runes at her fingertips flickered violently, her breath coming faster as she muttered a complex incantation. The air around them hummed with resistance, the sheer magnitude of the enchantments pressing down on her magic like an iron vice. But then—
A final pulse of power shot outward from her hands, and suddenly, the weight lifted.
"Go! You have ten minutes!" Elara gasped.
As if on cue, movement near the fortress gates caught their attention. A group of soldiers—no less than a dozen—filed out of the manor, their torches casting flickering orange glows against their polished armor. The Imperial insignia shimmered on their cloaks, marking them as Varyn's personal enforcers. Their leader, a grizzled man with a thick scar running down his cheek, barked orders as they descended into the misty woods, their voices fading into the distance.
Raiden stood atop a jagged outcrop, watching the soldiers move with a grin that gleamed like a predator's fangs. The firelight reflected in his storm-gray eyes, his muscles taut with unrestrained excitement.
"This," he murmured, taking in the sight of men scrambling in terror, "is going to be fun."
Elara, standing just a few paces away, sighed, exasperation flickering across her face. "You're disturbingly enthusiastic about this."
Raiden's grin widened. "You call it disturbing, I call it exhilarating."
Raiden snorted. "Ten minutes? Plenty of time to crack a few skulls."
Elara shot him a flat look. "Perhaps you should focus on the mission instead of indulging your violent tendencies."
Raiden let out a low chuckle, the anticipation crackling in his veins. "Finally. Time to make them bleed."
A thunderous boom shattered the silence, followed by a series of cascading explosions that sent shockwaves rippling through the trees. Flames erupted in violent bursts, bathing the fortress in a hellish glow. The ground trembled as shockwaves tore through the surrounding terrain, knocking men off their feet and sending debris raining from the sky. Screams pierced the air as confusion spread through the ranks of the guards.
A fiery inferno erupted at the fortress's western wall, sending debris flying as flames licked at the sky. The distant screams of panicked soldiers echoed through the valley as another explosion followed, shaking the very foundation of the fortress.
Raiden's eyes gleamed with excitement. "Now that's a distraction!" Without another word, he launched himself toward the chaos, his greatsword gleaming under the moonlight.
Zayn didn't hesitate. He darted forward, blending into the shadows as he slipped through the now-vulnerable perimeter. The battle had begun.
Then, the night erupted.
The group moved like ghosts through the chaos. Elara's fingers wove intricate patterns in the air, severing magical threads that would trigger alarms. She worked fast, sweat beading on her brow as she unraveled decades of enchantments in mere seconds.
Zayn, with Varian at his side, advanced through the fractured fortress. The ten-minute countdown had begun.
The mission had officially started.