The Forbidden Wing shook.
Dust rained from the ceiling.The blue flames flickered violently.Aria clung to Kael's cloak as another explosion echoed through the distant halls.
"Kael… they're coming closer!"
Kael held her tighter.
"I know."
For the first time since she met him—Kael actually looked worried.
Not for himself.For her.
He pulled her behind a broken archway just as a crack split open along the wall.Whispers rushed out like cold breath.
Aria shivered. "This place is alive…"
Kael pressed a finger to her lips.
"Quiet."
Footsteps echoed—many footsteps.
Then shadows moved at the far end of the corridor.
Aria's heart dropped.
Figures in black armor emerged, faces hidden behind horned masks.Their cloaks were stitched with red sigils that pulsed like veins.
Kael whispered sharply:
"The Shadow Court."
Aria's pulse spiked."Who are they?"
"Assassins," Kael said."Elite ones. The council's hidden blade."
Aria grabbed his arm.
"How did they find us?"
Kael's jaw tightened.
"They followed your mark. Even sealed, it shines through the realm."
Aria's throat closed.
"It's my fault—"
Kael turned instantly, eyes blazing.
"Nothing about you is a fault."
Aria's breath caught.
But there was no time to respond—because one assassin lifted its mask to speak.
A voice like scraping metal hissed:
"Prince Kael… hand over the human girl."
Kael stepped in front of Aria, flames rising off him.
"Come closer," he growled, "and I'll tear your hearts out."
The assassin didn't flinch.
"Your defiance is expected. Your death… is permitted."
Kael smirked coldly.
"My death is not that easy."
The assassins moved.
Fast.Silent.Deadly.
Kael pushed Aria behind a column as a blade made of shadow sliced past her face.
"Stay down!" he shouted.
Aria ducked just as three assassins surrounded Kael.
Kael's aura exploded—a vortex of crimson fire, heat blasting down the hall.
Aria shielded her face as the firestorm hit.
Kael fought like a demon unleashed.
He grabbed one assassin by the throat, lifting him off the ground—his flames melting the mask into molten metal.
The assassin screamed as Kael hurled him into the wall.
Another leapt from behind—Kael spun, catching the blade with his bare hand.
The weapon sizzled.
Aria gasped."Kael!"
He didn't even look in pain.
In one motion, he twisted the assassin's arm—and fire ripped through the attacker's chest.
Shadow dissolved into smoke.
But there were more.Too many.
Aria saw one assassin slip around the side—heading straight for her.
She stumbled back."No—NO!"
The assassin raised a blade—Kael's eyes widened.
"ARIA!"
He ran—
Too far.Too slow.
The assassin struck.
Aria threw her arms over her head—
—but something exploded beneath her skin.
A shockwave burst from her mark, rippling outward like a ring of red light.
The assassin was launched backward, slamming into a pillar so hard the stone cracked.
Silence fell.
Aria stared at her glowing mark, shaking.
"I… I didn't mean to…"
Kael froze.
His flames vanished.
He walked to her slowly, like approaching something sacred.
"Aria," he whispered, "your mark… awakened again."
Aria trembled."I didn't try to do anything. It just—reacted."
Kael cupped her face gently.
"It wasn't reacting to danger."His voice dropped low."It was reacting to me. Because I panicked. Your mark answered my fear."
Aria blinked. "It… listens to you?"
Kael's jaw clenched.
"It listens to both of us. The bond is deeper than I feared."
Before he could say more—
A heavy, cold presence crawled into the corridor.
The remaining assassins all stepped aside.
Someone new walked forward.
Taller.Stronger.Aura thick like poison.
Aria grabbed Kael's arm.
"Kael… who is that?"
Kael's flames slowly darkened to black.
His expression hardened into pure hatred.
"That," he said quietly,"is the Shadow Master. The one they send to kill kings."
Aria's blood turned to ice.
The Shadow Master removed its horned mask.
Beneath it—
A face of smoke and darkness.Eyes like hollow pits.
And a voice that rattled the walls:
"Kael. Step aside. The girl's life is not yours to protect."
Kael stepped forward.His aura cracked the floor.
"You'll have to kill me first."
The Shadow Master tilted its head.
"That," it said, raising a hand dripping with shadows,"was always the plan."
The corridor trembled.
Aria's heart screamed.
Kael pushed her back gently, whispering:
"Aria… no matter what happens—don't run from me."
And then—
The Shadow Master lunged.