The city loomed out of the mist like a fortress of knives.
High walls of black stone circled the settlement, jagged and uneven, as if carved from betrayal itself. Towers leaned inward, casting long shadows that swallowed the streets. Every window was shuttered. Every voice was hushed. The gates creaked open not with welcome, but with suspicion.
"This is Veylon," Aria whispered, her violet eyes scanning the streets. "The city where lies are currency. Everyone here has betrayed someone."
Kael spat on the ground. "Then we'll fit right in."
Ren walked silently, the Black Celestial throbbing faintly under his sleeve. The weight of Rylan's betrayal was still burned into his flesh and yet, it had made him stronger. He wondered how many more marks he could endure before the curse consumed him.
Inside the city, the streets were crowded but tense. Merchants barked half-hearted offers, eyes always flicking to shadows. Guards stood in groups of three or more, never alone. Everyone carried blades hidden in sleeves or boots.
"Feels like the whole place is waiting for someone to stab them," Kael muttered.
"They are," Aria said simply.
That night, they stayed at an inn. The keeper welcomed them with too-wide a smile, and Ren felt the pulse of a Celestial under the man's skin a False Celestial, feeding on deceit.
As Ren lay awake in his room, he heard the sound of footsteps soft, deliberate, climbing the wall outside his window. His Black Celestial pulsed like an alarm.
He rolled aside just as a blade slashed through the shutters.
A shadowed figure leapt inside, daggers glowing with Celestial light. A second figure followed through the door, moving in silence. Assassins.
Ren's blade was in his hand before the second strike. Steel clashed, black fire sparking against silver. The assassin's mark glowed red a Celestial of Silent Oaths.
"Your curse," the assassin hissed. "The Black Celestial. Our master wants it."
Ren gritted his teeth. "Come and take it, then."
The assassin lunged. Ren caught the blade, sparks erupting. The second assassin darted in low, aiming for Ren's back.
But Kael crashed through the door, his longsword swinging in a blaze of crimson fire. "Don't touch him!"
The strike split the assassin's blade, sending the man sprawling.
Aria appeared next, staff blazing. Chains of flame erupted, binding the second assassin mid-strike. He writhed, screaming as the fire scorched him.
The first assassin snarled, throwing off his cloak. His Celestial mark spread across his chest like blackened wings. "We are the Blades of Veylon. Betrayal is our creed. We'll carve your curse from your flesh!"
His Celestial flared his speed doubled, his body flickering like a phantom. He darted past Kael, slashing across Ren's chest.
Ren staggered, blood staining his shirt. His Black Celestial pulsed violently, drinking in the betrayal of the strike. His body ignited with black fire.
The assassin sneered. "You'll die like the rest"
Ren's voice cut through the room, low and sharp. "No. I don't die from betrayal. I live on it."
He surged forward, blade swinging. Black fire erupted, colliding with the assassin's crimson glow. The clash shook the room, walls cracking, floor splintering.
Kael roared, charging with his own Celestial ablaze, and Aria's chains dragged the second assassin to the floor.
Ren's mark flared. He felt the assassin's treachery sear into his body. Power surged. His blade pierced the assassin's chest in a blaze of black and red fire.
The man gasped, eyes wide, before collapsing into shadow.
The second assassin screamed as Aria's chains tightened, burning him to ash.
Silence fell.
Ren stood in the center, chest heaving, his Black Celestial pulsing like a living thing. Another scar had etched itself across his arm. Another betrayal had been consumed.
Aria stared at him, her violet eyes troubled. "Every time you take in betrayal… your body darkens."
Ren glanced down at his arm. The black marks spread further, like cracks in porcelain. His grip tightened on his blade.
Kael sheathed his sword with a grunt. "Then we just make sure he doesn't take too many."
Ren said nothing. But inside, he wondered: how many betrayals would it take before he wasn't Ren Nakamura anymore?
The city outside whispered with secrets. More blades waited in the dark. And in Veylon, betrayal was never finished.