Finding the serpent guard proved far more difficult than Ningyan had anticipated.
By the time he abandoned the search, dusk had already begun to settle.
He stood by the lattice window, the faint glow of twilight filtering through drifting mist, the gloom of the clan yet to lift. Between his fingers rested the feather, Its glow flickering faintly against his skin.
Ningyan's gaze darkened.
Lan Huiwen's words echoed in his mind. 'You can open it. You are of the same kind.'
A phoenix... Yet the one who led him there had been a serpent.
His fingers tightened around the feather.
"What is going on…" he murmured, voice low.
Only five of them had known the plan.
No one else. And yet... someone had entered the dungeon. Someone had taken the phoenix.
Ningyan exhaled slowly, forcing his thoughts into order. "When we arrived… there was no one but remains and half dead corpses."
Which meant... it had happened after. During the chaos of the battle.
His brows drew together.
