Night draped the City of Crows like a burial shroud.
From the rooftop of a broken cathedral, she watched—the woman in the silver crow mask, cloaked in moonlight, sword across her back. Her name whispered through the city's underworld like a dagger in the dark:
The White Crow
She moved without sound. Without hesitation.
And her target was marked.
---
Below, in the Bloodgate chamber, Syaoran traced the mark on the wall—a flaming eye circled in thorns.
"It's not a Seal," Teren whispered. "It's a brand. Like a curse… or a claim."
Kira nodded slowly. "Someone put that there. Not to lock something away… but to say: this is mine."
Syaoran's eyes narrowed. "The cult?"
"No," Kira said, her voice cold. "Worse. This belongs to the king."
---
Outside, the White Crow dropped into the alley like a shadow made flesh. She moved past patrols, past blind corners, through traps meant for fools—not assassins.
She reached the entrance to the Bloodgate in moments.
Paused
Touched the mark burned into her wrist
It flared with light
The stone parted for her
---
Inside the chamber, the runes dimmed.
Kira drew her blade, instincts bristling. "We're not alone."
Then came the whisper of steel from the dark.
A flash of white fire
And she was there
The White Crow stood at the base of the steps, mask gleaming, sword already drawn.
Teren stumbled back. "Who—"
"I wasn't sure until now," she said, voice smooth, deliberate.
Then she looked at Syaoran.
"Your eyes… they're his. Just like mine."
Syaoran raised his blade. "Who are you?"
She pulled off the mask
A young woman. Scars beneath her eyes. Fire in her gaze.
"I'm your sister."
---
Silence.
Syaoran didn't lower his sword. "Lies."
"I wish they were," she said.
"I was born in the citadel. Bred as a weapon. Raised to kill for the king. Until the priests told me a secret—that I wasn't his."
She stepped forward
"They said I was a shadow born from a Veilborn bloodline. That my brother was cast out. Left to rot in the mud. An orphan. A stray."
"And when I asked what happened to him?" Her voice broke for just a second.
"They said he was dead."
Syaoran's hands shook
Teren and Kira exchanged shocked glances.
"Why are you here?" Kira asked, ready to block her if needed.
The White Crow met Syaoran's eyes again.
"To find the truth," she said.
"Or to kill you if the king was right."
---
In the silence that followed, the runes on the walls changed.
A new symbol lit up in the stone: two swords crossed over a single flame.
Teren gasped. "Another Seal… it's reacting to both of you."
Kira stepped back. "Then the king lied to more than just his priests."
Syaoran stared at the woman in front of him.
This assassin
This stranger
This sister
He sheathed his blade
"Then let's find out together"
---
Far above, in the Sky Citadel, King Valcheiros watched from a mirror of shadows. His knuckles were white on the arm of his throne.
He had seen her
The girl he'd failed to kill
And beside her—the boy with lightning in his blood.
"Both," he whispered
"Both must burn"