The assembly ended, but the echoes did not fade.
Even as we staggered back into the corridors, the air seemed to vibrate with the memory of chains tightening, flames crackling, poison seeping. The stone itself carried scars — cracks running through the dome, scorches along the floor, black stains on the walls where venom had burned.
The thirteen thrones of the Lotus had not been empty for a hundred years. Now, one sat vacant, and the others were bloodied.
The wolves whispered.
Everywhere in the halls, cells of assassins and spies clustered in shadows, voices lowered but trembling with hunger or fear. Some spoke of Iron Veil's chains strangling the Widow. Others claimed Widow's venom already rotted Veil from within. Still others swore Crimson Flame would reduce them all to cinders if challenged.
But the truth was plain.
The Lotus was no longer one body. It was a carcass, and its fangs were gnawing themselves apart.
* * * * * * * * *
We reached our quarters in silence. Wei Lan was the first to break it, collapsing onto a straw mat with a delighted sigh, arms spread wide like she'd been drunk on chaos.
"Ahhh! Did you feel it, Leader? The heat, the choking, the dripping, the silence? A banquet of truths! I could swim in that poison forever."
Qiao Han slammed the door shut hard enough to shake the hinges. His arm was still bandaged from the shard of stone. His voice was low, bitter.
"We almost died. Again. Stray strikes from captains. We don't belong in that hall. Wolves like us are meat to them."
Shen Yu crouched in the corner, parchment spread over his knees, ink staining his fingers black. His writing was frantic, symbols sprawling over the page. His voice was a whisper.
"Fangs bare. Wolves crossfire. Blood drips. Blood binds. Blood drowns."
I sat in the center, back straight, forcing my hands to stop trembling.
Because I still felt it — the flicker of blood threads burning across my palm, that single heartbeat when crimson chains had met flame and held. Fragile, weak, fleeting… but real.
Proof that I was not prey forever.
* * * * * * * * *
The knock came like a blade across stone.
Three strikes. Sharp. Precise.
Before we could rise, the door slid open and Reed entered.
He did not ask permission. Shadows clung to him, muffling the torchlight until the room itself dimmed. His presence carried the silence of a tomb.
Wei Lan's laughter died in her throat. Qiao Han stiffened. Shen Yu's quill snapped between his fingers.
Reed's eyes settled on me.
"Come."
* * * * * * * * *
He led me to a side chamber I had never seen — a vault of stone sealed with black lacquered doors. When they closed, the sound cut off from the world outside.
And then Reed let his Lein slip.
Silence.
It was worse than in the assembly.
Sound vanished. My breath made no noise. My heart's pounding seemed crushed in my chest. My thoughts themselves felt muffled, as if the silence seeped through skull and bone.
I dropped to my knees. Blood welled in my ears.
Reed stood above me, his expression calm, voice cutting through the void like a blade.
"Speak. What did you see?"
* * * * * * * * *
I forced my throat to work. The silence devoured the words as soon as they left, but Reed heard them.
"I saw truths. Chains tighten with conviction. Poison seeps into despair. Fire rages with anger. Earth strikes only where fists fall. Threads twist words into suspicion."
Reed's eyes narrowed. "And what did you learn?"
"That Lein are not just weapons," I said, each word dragged from me. "They are obsessions made real. Self given shape."
The silence pressed harder. My ribs ached.
"Good," Reed said at last. "You see."
Then his voice hardened.
"But remember this, Lin Xuan. Captains do not see you as wolf. They see you as weapon. They will wield you, and when you break, they will discard the pieces. If you wish to survive, sharpen faster. Learn faster. Chain yourself before they chain you."
His eyes burned into mine. "Do you understand?"
I bowed, forehead to the cold stone floor. "Yes."
The silence lifted. Sound returned like a scream — my breath ragged, my pulse pounding in my ears.
Reed turned and left without another word.
* * * * * * * * *
When I returned, Wei Lan leapt up, grinning wide. "Leader! Did he strangle you with silence? Did he whisper truths into your bones?"
I ignored her, collapsing onto the mat.
Qiao Han studied me, eyes narrowed. "You look half-dead. What did he say?"
I exhaled slowly. "That we sharpen faster. Or we're used until we break."
Shen Yu scribbled, ink splattering. "Sharpen faster. Wolves cut. Wolves bleed."
* * * * * * * * *
By dawn, the Lotus halls were shifting.
Captains had retreated to their own chambers, but their wolves spread like disease through the corridors.
Iron Veil's wolves marked their arms with chain tattoos, black links inked into skin. They prowled in groups, strangling dissent in alleys.
Ink Widow's wolves wore violet ribbons, soaked faintly in perfume that made the air thick around them. They whispered to loners, promising safety, promising pleasure, promising belonging.
Crimson Flame's wolves carried charred blades, laughing loud as they marched, their very presence heating the air.
Iron Hand's wolves sparred in courtyards, breaking stone with every strike, their gauntlets slick with blood.
Even Silk Ghost's wolves moved unseen, pale threads left on doors as warnings or claims.
The Lotus was dividing.
Not whispers of war anymore. Factions.
And we — Reed's wolves — were caught in the middle.
* * * * * * * * *
Wei Lan twirled a stolen violet ribbon around her fingers, laughing. "Mmm, see? The Widow calls to us already. Imagine her poison dripping through our veins…"
Qiao Han slapped it from her hand, snarling. "Chains, poison, fire — all of them want to leash us. We can't pick any."
Shen Yu scribbled faster, his voice cracking. "Fangs pull. Wolves crossfire. Wolves devoured."
I stared at the stain on my sleeve — black from poison, red from blood, gray from chains.
Crossfire.
Reed was right.
If I did not sharpen faster, if I did not bind myself in blood, we would not last another assembly.
* * * * * * * * *
Reed summoned me at dusk.
The air in his chamber still carried the weight of silence, though now it was drawn tight, compressed, like a bowstring waiting to snap. He did not look up when I entered, his hands folded within his sleeves, eyes closed as if listening to something only he could hear.
Finally, his gaze flicked to me.
"The Lotus splits. Chains pull one way, poison another, flame yet another. Wolves scatter like carrion birds. In chaos, truth hides. You will find it for me."
I bowed, forcing my voice steady. "What truth, Captain?"
Reed's hand slid a slip of parchment across the floor. Black characters scrawled it plain:
The ledger. Archive of wolves assigned, names marked, loyalties noted.
He said, "Iron Hand guards it now. Bring it to me."
His eyes narrowed, sharp as daggers. "Do not fail. If you do… silence will be your grave."
* * * * * * * * *
When I told the others, Wei Lan clapped her hands together, thrilled. "Ahhh, finally! A hunt instead of hiding. Leader, I'll bleed the gauntlet dogs myself."
Qiao Han shook his head, jaw clenched. "Iron Hand's wolves are monsters. If they guard the ledger, it won't be by chance. It's bait."
Shen Yu traced lines of ink across his arm, whispering, "Ledger bleeds. Ledger binds. Wolves drown in letters."
I studied their faces.
This wasn't choice. This was the chain Reed had set on us.
And if I failed, he would tighten it until we suffocated.
* * * * * * * * *
The archives were buried deep beneath the Lotus compound, carved into the bedrock itself. The air grew colder as we descended, the torches fewer, their light swallowed by stone.
At the final stair, Wei Lan inhaled deeply, lips parting like she could taste the blood in the air. "Mmm. Wolves ahead. Hungry ones."
She was right.
We emerged into a corridor lined with iron doors, each etched with old characters. Beyond them were records — names, missions, contracts. The Lotus memory.
But the passage was not empty.
Three wolves stood guard, each wearing gauntlets heavy with iron, their arms scarred from endless sparring. Iron Hand's mark burned into their skin, the chain of their captain.
Their eyes fixed on us the moment we stepped into view.
"You don't belong here," one growled.
Qiao Han's hand found his saber. "Neither do you."
* * * * * * * * *
The fight broke without warning.
One lunged, gauntlet smashing down. The stone floor cracked where I had stood a moment before. Wei Lan whirled behind him, knives flashing, her laughter sharp as steel.
Another swung at Qiao Han. Steel rang, sparks flying. Qiao's saber trembled against sheer force. His arms shook, but he didn't yield.
The third came for me.
I staggered back, pulse racing, veins screaming. His fist was a hammer, his steps like falling stone. If he landed a single clean blow, my body would shatter.
Blood boiled in my throat.
I bit down hard.
* * * * * * * * *
The chain flickered.
Crimson threads burst from my palm, trembling but real. They lashed across the gauntlet as it descended, wrapping tight for a heartbeat.
The wolf snarled, muscles bulging, veins straining. My threads quivered — then snapped, shattering into red mist.
But in that breath of delay, I moved. I twisted aside, the fist crashing past me into stone.
My lungs burned. My vision swam. But I had seen it: blood could bind iron, if only for a breath.
* * * * * * * * *
Wei Lan shrieked in delight, knives sinking into the back of her opponent's knee. "Leader! More chains! Bleed them all for me!"
Qiao Han roared, his saber carving across a gauntlet arm, sparks and blood spraying. "Focus! We can't hold if you waver!"
Shen Yu crouched in the corner, ink dripping from his hands as he scrawled lines across the wall, chanting: "Blood binds. Blood breaks. Ledger waits."
The wolf before me growled, dragging his gauntlet from the stone. His eyes burned with fury.
"You're weak," he spat. "Average men break under my fists. You? Nothing but meat."
He lunged again.
I bled again.
Threads of crimson snapped into place, sharper this time, trembling less. They wrapped his wrist mid-swing, cutting faint lines into flesh.
He froze, eyes wide at the sting.
And I pulled.
Not much. Not strong. But enough to drag his arm off-course, his fist slamming into the wall instead of my skull.
The blood-chain shattered instantly, but the crack in his gauntlet remained.
I smiled through the blood running down my lips.
"Average men don't bleed chains."
* * * * * * * * *
The fight raged, brutal but brief. Wei Lan slit her opponent's throat with manic laughter. Qiao Han drove his saber through another's chest, collapsing to one knee as his arms shook from the strain.
Mine fell last, choking on his own blood as the crimson threads sliced his neck open, weaker than steel but sharp enough to cut flesh when dragged with desperation.
Silence filled the corridor, broken only by ragged breaths.
Shen Yu lifted his scroll, smeared black with ink. His eyes gleamed feverishly. "Ledger waits. Wolves bind. Blood binds. Blood devours."
* * * * * * * * *
The iron door to the archive stood ahead.
Inside, the ledger waited.
We slipped within, the chamber lit by a single hanging lantern. Rows of shelves stretched into shadows, scrolls and books stacked like bones. The scent of dust and ink clung thick.
Wei Lan prowled between shelves, humming softly. "So many secrets. Which one tastes sweetest?"
Qiao Han searched with grim focus, dragging scrolls open. "Ledger. We need the ledger."
It was Shen Yu who found it — not by searching, but by collapsing to his knees before a shelf, fingers trembling toward a thick bound tome.
"Ledger bleeds. Ledger binds."
Qiao Han snatched it free, dust cascading from its cover. He flipped it open, eyes narrowing.
Names. Dozens of names. Wolves marked with symbols — chain, flame, ribbon, thread.
Iron Veil's. Crimson Flame's. Ink Widow's. Silk Ghost's. Dozens already pulled into factions.
The Lotus was not preparing for outer war.
It was already bleeding itself from within.
* * * * * * * * *
We left with the ledger bound tight beneath Qiao Han's arm, our bodies aching, our blood dripping.
Wei Lan skipped ahead, blood still wet on her knives. "Mmm, delicious hunt. Let's do it again."
Qiao Han spat, his face grim. "Shut up. We barely lived."
Shen Yu staggered behind us, muttering, "Ledger binds. Blood binds. Wolves drown."
I walked last, hand pressed to my side, the faint sting of blood-chains still burning in my veins.
Weak. Fragile. Broken each time I summoned them.
But real.
I could see it now.
Blood would not just bind me.
It would bind them all.