The summons came before dawn.
A single bell tolled across the Lotus compound — low, mournful, the kind of sound that rattled into bone. Wolves stirred from their quarters, dragging tired limbs into the yard. No one dared to linger. The summons of the captains was not a request.
The yard was already a wound in stone, scarred from yesterday's skirmishes. Chains had cracked the flagstones, venom had eaten pits through the walls, fire had blackened timber into cinder. Wolves limped as they gathered, some still coughing blood from poisons, others half-blind from burns.
But today, the wolves were not the spectacle.
The captains were.
* * * * * * * * *
Thirteen thrones circled the yard. Not all were filled, but enough to crush the air. Each captain sat or stood, obsessions bleeding into the stones. Their presence alone bent the world, and for the first time, wolves realized the kennel was not theirs — it was a cage.
Iron Veil's chains writhed around his body, clattering with every breath. They gouged the ground, the metallic scent of blood and rust rolling out with every rattle. His wolves knelt nearby, their necks scarred from the brands he burned into them.
Across from him sat Ink Widow, pale lips painted black, her robe trailing like a pool of oil. Flies hummed faintly in her presence, and the faint glimmer of her Lein shimmered around her — venom so subtle it felt like the whisper of silk on skin.
Crimson Flame leaned forward lazily, flames licking his arms as though flesh was nothing but kindling. His wolves bore burn-marks proudly, laughing through cracked lips as smoke rose from their skin.
Others lingered in shadow — Iron Hand sharpening his knuckles against stone, Silk Ghost smiling with her veil of silver threads. Silent Reed sat unmoving, the weight of his stillness crushing every sound around him.
Even Lin Zhen stood among them now, not on a throne, but close enough that his shadow stretched with theirs. The wolves noticed. They whispered.
* * * * * * * * *
It began with accusation.
Iron Veil's voice cracked like chains dragged over stone. "Widow. One of my branded wolves choked last night. His veins burst black. Do you deny it?"
Widow's laugh dripped like venom. "I deny nothing, Veil. Your wolves are weak. They break on their own chains."
Her words slithered through the yard, and some wolves coughed as if her poison seeped into their lungs.
Veil slammed his chains into the ground. The yard shook. "You mock me. You killed what was mine."
Venom shimmered faint in the air, Widow's lips curling. "Then leash them better. Or perhaps… they would prefer my kiss to your chains."
* * * * * * * * *
The clash ignited.
Veil's chains lashed upward, thick links glowing with red rust, rattling like thunder. Widow's hand lifted slightly, and mist poured from her sleeve, thin, invisible, but burning every nose it touched. Wolves gagged, clutching throats, falling to knees as poison threaded into them.
The obsessions collided. Chains snapped, poison hissed, the yard cracking beneath their weight. Wolves screamed, dragged by Veil's bindings, their skin blistering under Widow's venom.
It was not a battle, not yet. It was only a taste. And already, dozens suffered.
* * * * * * * * *
Then Flame laughed.
He rose, his aura igniting, flames coiling like serpents. "Enough whispering! If you will strike, then burn the kennel to ash!"
He hurled fire between them. The chains caught flame, the venom hissed into sparks. Wolves scattered as smoke and light blinded the yard.
Captains rose in fury, obsessions bleeding louder. For a heartbeat, the Lotus seemed ready to tear itself apart.
And then Reed moved.
Not with chains, not with fire, not with poison. Only silence.
He stood, and the world stopped.
The sound of chains cut. The hiss of poison died. The crackle of flame guttered out.
Every breath froze in throats, every word stilled. The silence was not emptiness. It was weight. It pressed on bones, crushed into marrow, filled every thought with nothing.
The captains paused, their obsessions trembling under his stillness. Even Flame's grin faltered.
Reed did not speak. He did not need to.
Slowly, one by one, the captains pulled their obsessions back. Chains settled. Venom dissipated. Flames flickered into smoke.
The silence held.
And then, only then, Reed sat once more.
* * * * * * * * *
The wolves gasped, choking on the return of air.
Wei Lan grinned, blood smeared across her cheek. "Beautiful. Did you feel it, Leader? The silence cut louder than chains."
Qiao Han's voice was low, steady, but heavy. "If captains are storms… Reed is the sea that swallows storms whole."
Shen Yu shivered, scribbling furiously. "Silence breaks sound. Silence drowns chain. Silence kills truth. Silence binds shadow."
I said nothing. My chest heaved, sweat cold on my brow. I had seen power before — but never this.
Veil's chains could crush wolves like flies. Widow's venom could choke a hall. Flame's fire could consume flesh and stone.
But Reed… Reed had no need for display. His silence swallowed all.
If obsession birthed Lein, then Reed's obsession was not to shout. It was to erase.
* * * * * * * * *
"Do you see?"
The voice slid beside me. I turned. Jian Yi stood at my shoulder, though I had not seen him approach. His robe was clean, his face calm, his eyes sharp as ever.
He nodded toward the thrones. "This is what obsession makes. Storms in flesh. They bleed themselves until they drown in their own truths."
His gaze lingered on Veil and Widow, then Flame. "One will drown soon. Maybe two. Maybe all."
He looked at me. "Unless someone strangles them first."
His words were soft, almost kind. But his smile was not.
* * * * * * * * *
My wolves stiffened.
Wei Lan's knife twitched in her hand. "He smells too calm."
Qiao Han muttered, "Why does he keep coming to us? He's circling like a vulture."
Shen Yu hissed, scratching blood across his parchment. "Shadow whispers. Shadow bleeds lies. Shadow hides truth."
I clenched my fist, blood drying on my palm. Jian Yi's words echoed.
Storms in flesh.
Drown in their truths.
Strangle them first.
Was he guiding me? Mocking me? Or baiting me into his shadow?
His eyes burned as if he already knew the answer.
* * * * * * * * *
The yard lay in ruins after the captains' clash. Wolves limped away, coughing, bleeding, whispering of storms they had no power to survive.
But I did not make it back to my quarters.
A silent hand fell on my shoulder. Cold, heavy.
I turned — and Reed stood behind me.
No words. Just a tilt of the head, and I followed. My wolves moved as one, but when Reed's shadow passed across them, they froze. His silence pressed on them like a mountain.
"Leader—" Wei Lan hissed, but the sound strangled in her throat. Qiao Han tried to step forward, but his feet rooted. Shen Yu clawed at his parchment in panic, his whisper trembling: "Wolf alone. Wolf drowns in silence. Wolf bleeds."
I met their eyes once. Then I followed Reed into the inner halls.
* * * * * * * * *
The chamber he led me to was bare. Stone walls, no windows, only a single brazier burning faint.
A wolf already stood inside. His skin was pale, his eyes hollow, and faint silver marks coiled along his neck like shackles. The air around him was wrong — too still, too heavy.
Reed stepped aside, letting the silence weigh. Then, finally, his voice came, low and cold as water.
"Chains bind wolves. Obsession binds captains. Which will you be?"
The marked wolf raised his head, eyes lifeless, waiting.
Reed gestured once. The duel was not optional.
* * * * * * * * *
The wolf moved first. His blade cut air soundlessly. No hiss of steel, no grunt of breath. Even his footsteps made no sound.
Reed had marked him with silence.
I bled my palm at once, forcing the crimson chains to life. They hissed and rattled, but faint — even my chains sounded muted in this chamber.
The wolf struck. His sword fell without warning, no sound to betray its arc. I barely twisted aside, chains lashing to intercept. Sparks flew — but the spark itself made no noise.
The duel was suffocating. Every strike, every clash, drowned in Reed's silence. Only my heart thundered, but even that I barely heard.
The wolf pressed me hard, his blade precise, every movement sharpened by Reed's obsession. My chains faltered, thin and fragile. Ten breaths… eleven… I felt them strain, unravel.
But the memory burned sharper than steel.
Lin Zhen's smile.
The blade in my back.
The snow red beneath me.
I screamed, and the chains thickened, dripping blood as they surged.
Twelve breaths.
Thirteen.
Fourteen.
Fifteen.
The wolf faltered as my chains wrapped his arm, twisting until bone cracked. I tore the blade aside, slammed him down, crimson binding his throat.
For the first time in this duel, a sound escaped — a strangled gasp as he hit the stone.
Silence closed over it a heartbeat later.
But the chains had lasted.
Fifteen breaths.
I stood above him, bleeding, shaking, but alive.
* * * * * * * * *
Reed's shadow loomed behind me.
"Obsession grows," he said simply. His words carried no praise, no judgment. Only weight. "But obsession devours."
Then he turned and left. The duel was over. The silence eased with his departure, leaving me gasping as though the world had returned.
The wolf on the ground did not rise. Whether dead or broken, I could not tell.
* * * * * * * * *
I staggered into the hall. My wolves rushed to meet me. Wei Lan caught my arm, eyes wide at the blood streaming down my sleeve.
"You bled yourself again," she hissed, half furious, half delighted. "Do it more. Do it until your veins run dry. I'll lap what's left."
Qiao Han steadied me, his grip iron. "You push too far. Your body isn't ready. Fifteen breaths is madness."
Shen Yu pressed parchment into my hand, words smeared in blood and ink: "Wolf bleeds longer. Wolf breaks. Wolf drowns."
Their voices clashed, but mine drowned them all.
"I'll bleed as long as it takes," I said, my voice hoarse, trembling. "Until my chains can strangle captains."
And for a moment, none of them argued.
* * * * * * * * *
But Jian Yi was there.
He leaned against the wall ahead, his robe untouched by blood, his eyes calm, watchful. He had followed unseen, as if Reed's silence had parted for him.
"You lasted fifteen breaths," he said softly. "Vulture once said the same thing. The night before he died."
The words froze me.
Wei Lan's knives twitched in her grip. "You lie."
Qiao Han's hand went to his saber. "Speak clearly, or I'll cut it from you."
Shen Yu hissed, voice shrill: "Shadow knows. Shadow lies. Shadow tells truth of blood."
But Jian Yi only smiled faintly, as if none of their fury mattered. His gaze stayed on me.
"He bled chains in silence. He thought it made him strong. But obsession devoured him before the blade fell."
He turned away, walking into the dark. His voice lingered behind him.
"Careful, wolf. The same chain waits for you."
* * * * * * * * *
That night, the Lotus was restless. Wolves whispered of the captains' clash, of Reed's silence, of Jian Yi's cryptic words. Rumors spread like infection:
"Jian Yi knew Vulture's secrets."
"Reed tests new wolves in silence."
"Lin Zhen will rise above them all."
"Another captain will die soon."
The kennel stank of fear.
And in my chamber, blood dripped slow from my arms, chains tightening in the dark.
Fifteen breaths.
One day… longer.
Long enough to choke the truth from every shadow.