Sierra blinked then laughed, the sound harsh and mocking. "Veinwalker, huh? That takes me back…" Her aura flared crimson, veins glowing faintly through her arms. "I used to wear that name too before I realized loyalty doesn't feed you, and honor doesn't save your life."
Ceyla's grip tightened. "Then you've forgotten what it meant."
"Forgotten?" Sierra stepped forward, her Shinrei pulsing like a heartbeat. "No, girl. I learned. There's no 'meaning' in the battlefield only contracts and corpses."
Their eyes locked two warriors cut from the same cloth, but shaped by different fires.
Ceyla said coldly, "Then I'll remind you."
She vanished.
The ground exploded where she'd stood. Ceyla reappeared above Sierra, slashing downward with both daggers. Sierra twisted, catching one strike with her own blade, deflecting the other with a backward kick. Sparks rained between them.
"Fast," Sierra said, grinning. "But sloppy!"
