The palace of Veylon rose above the city like a knife poised to strike. Its walls gleamed crimson under torchlight, banners snapping in the wind scarlet blades on black fields. Ren, Aria, and Kael walked beneath its gates, each step watched by guards whose eyes never softened.
They had been summoned. Or so the letter claimed.
Ren's Black Celestial burned faintly under his sleeve. Every whisper, every hidden glance carried weight. Betrayal is close.
Inside, the throne room stretched long and narrow, lined with masked courtiers. At the end sat Lord Varcel, the ruler of Veylon a thin man draped in crimson robes, his Celestial mark etched across his neck like strangling fingers. His smile was cold.
"Welcome, wanderers," he said. "I have heard… troubling things. A boy with the Black Celestial. A girl who once betrayed a guild. A mercenary whose oath burned with his brother's blood. Curious company indeed."
Kael's hand drifted toward his sword. "Get to the point."
Varcel chuckled. "The point is simple. In Veylon, betrayal is power. But some betrayals… cannot be tolerated. I must decide whether to kill you or use you."
The courtiers whispered, voices like serpents.
Ren's grip tightened. He hated their stares. Their hunger.
That was when the light in the room shifted shadows bent unnaturally.
Ren's instincts screamed. "Move!"
Blades fell from above, assassins dropping from the ceiling beams, their cloaks dissolving into darkness. The throne room erupted in chaos.
Kael drew his sword in a flash, his Crimson Vow blazing. He cut down two assassins before they landed, blood spraying across the marble.
Aria's staff ignited, chains of flame spiraling outward, binding one assassin mid-strike before snapping him into ash.
Ren's Black Celestial pulsed violently as betrayal flooded the room it wasn't just the assassins. The courtiers themselves drew daggers, turning on one another, cutting throats in the madness.
It was a slaughter born of paranoia.
Ren slashed through an assassin's blade, black fire consuming the man. Another lunged from the shadows but Ren's body moved faster, his curse sharpening his reflexes. He drove his blade through the attacker's chest.
But something was wrong.
The assassins weren't aiming for him. They were aiming for Lord Varcel.
Ren spun just as one assassin reached the throne. Varcel rose smoothly, unarmed and the assassin's dagger stopped an inch from his throat. The man froze, shaking.
Varcel smiled. "Traitor."
His Celestial flared Celestial of Scarlet Silence. The assassin convulsed, his body splitting apart in ribbons of blood. The throne room fell silent, except for the drip of crimson.
Varcel looked at Ren, Aria, and Kael, his expression unreadable. "You see? Betrayal is our creed. Even my own blades test me. And now, I must decide if you are tools… or threats."
Ren's Black Celestial pulsed violently. This man was dangerous not because he betrayed, but because he thrived on it.
Varcel's smile widened. "Stay in Veylon for now. Serve me. Or defy me… and I will see how your curse tastes when I carve it from you."
Later, back at the inn, the three sat in silence.
Kael slammed his fist on the table. "We can't serve that snake. He'll slit our throats the second we're useful."
Aria looked away. "If we defy him, the whole city will turn against us. Veylon eats outsiders alive."
Ren stared at his arm, the Black Celestial pulsing. He thought of Rylan's grin. Of Cairn's flames. Of Varcel's blood-soaked throne.
His voice was quiet, but it carried weight. "We don't serve him. We don't defy him. We survive him."
The words settled like iron.
But outside, the shadows of Veylon stirred. The assassins had not failed. They had only begun.