The Mourncrest estate's gates opened for the first time without fear.
Children stepped into the light with some blinking, some crying, some silent. Tamura stood beside Mugen, watching as Vayrik's guild members escorted them to safety. Some were placed with families in Xathia's outer districts. Some chose to leave the kingdom entirely. A few, like Tamura and Mugen, chose to stay. "We owe him," Tamura said quietly. "He didn't just help us escape. He gave us a new place to belong." Mugen nodded. "Besides, who else in the guild is gonna be enough to handle the crazy bastard like we do?"
Four years passed.
The guild's influence grew with over 80 members. It's name whispered in markets, etched into contracts, respected and recognized by the nobles. Even, the royal family. They were respected in courts. Vayrik trained Tamura and Mugen personally, shaping them not into weapons, but into leaders. Tamura mastered mana control, diplomatic reading, and even created some of his own spells specifically designed to maximize his strengths and cancel out his weaknesses. Mugen became the guild's tactical heart. Strategist, archivist, and field analyst. He also found out that he had an extremely rare affinity for shadow magic, being able to paralyze, possess, and absorb people and magic with his new found power. The brothers were assigned to squad 2 together. A unit built for high-risk missions, rescue operations, and political extractions.
Tamura sat on the edge of the guild's rooftop, legs dangling, eyes scanning the horizon. Mugen joined him, tossing the same old coin between his fingers from back then. "You're still brooding like it's a damn sport," Mugen teased. "You know they took off the chains a while ago right?" Tamura smirked. "I'm just thinking." "About Freya again?" Tamura didn't answer immediately.
He remembered her laugh, her constant teasing, always a little too loud when he wanted to sleep in. "You're too serious," she'd say. "You've got all that power to do something else besides intimidating and killing. Something special, and you still act like you're afraid to smile." She taught him how to read shifts in a person's mana. How to sense lies even in silence. How to fight for something besides for the sake of rage and bloodshed. "You two done with the sappy crap?" Vayrik asked, stepping onto the rooftop. Tamura snapped out of the memory. Mugen grinned. "We were just waiting for you to give us something exciting to do." "Yes, because dangerous high risk missions are always extremely fun." Vayrik said sarcastically as he threw a scroll onto Tamura's lap. "Rescue mission. Northern border. Caravan went dark. Last message mentioned a red symbol." Tamura's eyes narrowed. "You think it's a trap." "I think it's your first real test to see if the results of wasting my youth on training you two freaks is paying off." Mugen stood. "Then let's make it a lesson." Tamura nodded. "For them."
The war room was dim, lit by a single mana orb suspended above the table. Vayrik stood at the head, arms crossed, eyes sharp.
Tamura, Mugen, and Aylin sat across from him Squad 2, young but proven.
"Caravan went dark three days ago around the Northern border, "Vayrik said.
"Last transmission mentioned a figure that carried a red sigil. Not fae. We're thinking it's the Redmane." Mugen leaned forward. "Redmane? I thought they were scattered."
"They were," Vayrik replied. "Now they're organized with unknown leadership. And it seems they've been going back to their roots and making devil pacts again." Tamura's mark pulsed faintly. Aylin shifted in her seat, fingers twitching near her daggers.
"How many are we expecting?" Tamura asked.
"Unknown. But there were six guards on the caravan. Four royal army with two of our own. One scout made it to a relay tower before dying. Said they were surrounded. Said they were smiling." Mugen frowned. "Smiling?" "Like they'd already won."
The northern border was jagged terrain, cracked stone, wind that carried whispers, and trees that bled sap like old wounds.
Tamura led the way, eyes scanning for movement. Mugen followed, using his shadows to cover more ground. Aylin moved like a shadow herself, her steps silent, her eyes sharp. "I hate this place," Aylin muttered. "Feels like it's waiting to swallow us." Tamura nodded. "Keep your aura low. If they're really in pacts with devils, they'll sense us. Also," Tamura turned his head back to face Aylin. "Where have you been the past few months?" Aylin seemingly looked caught off guard by his question. "I've been taking on personal missions for Vayrik. Why? Is there something you want to know Tamur-"
Mugen stopped suddenly. He pointed to the left of the team.
"There. Blood trail. Faint. Leading west."
They followed it to a clearing and found the caravan wreckage scattered, crates broken, mana seals ruptured. And one survivor.
A young woman from squad 6 in the guild, barely older than Tamura, slumped against a tree, breathing shallow. Tamura knelt beside her. "Hey Kiya. It's me, Tamura." The girl's eyes flickered open. "Too late," she whispered. "They've been waiting."
Aylin stepped back, blades drawn. "Something's wrong here Tamura." Mugen scanned the area. "No runes. No aura spikes or mana signatures of any kind. It's too clean." Tamura stood, eyes narrowing. "They wanted us to find her." The girl coughed, blood spilling from her mouth. "We tried… We tried to hold them off. They said… they said the flameborn would come." Tamura froze. "What did you say?"
"They know you."
Suddenly, the ground beneath the wreckage shimmered. A hidden glyph igniting, red and black, infernal in design.
Figures emerged from the trees. Redmane operatives, cloaked in blood-thread armor, eyes glowing faintly with the red of the hells within them. Aylin shouted. "Ambush!" Tamura raised his aura shield. Mugen activated a shadowed counter spell to swallow the magic beneath them. Aylin lunged into the fray.
Steel clashed. Glyphs exploded. Tamura moved with his flames, precise, brutal, loud. Mugen directed from behind, launching paralysis spells and absorbing enemy spells. Aylin fought with fury her blades singing through the air.
They pushed the Syndicate back, one by one falling, until only silence remained.
Tamura turned to the survivor. "We did it. Now then, let's get you back home."
The girl smiled. She reached towards Tamura, signaling him to help her up.
Her chest glowed a pact sigil igniting.
Tamura's eyes widened.
"No---!"
The girl exploded in a burst of infernal fire a final trap, designed to kill the rescuers.
Tamura shielded Mugen.
Aylin was thrown back, bleeding. The smoke cleared and the girl was gone.
Only ash remained.
Tamura sat in the wreckage, hands shaking. "We were supposed to save him." Mugen placed a hand on his shoulder. "We did everything right. They planned for that." Aylin wiped blood from her cheek. "They knew you'd come. They know about you."
Tamura knelt beside the ashes of the girl they couldn't save.
No tears.
No screams.
Just silence.
Then, crimson.