The next day
The world was still asleep. A pre-dawn chill clung to the land, heavy with silence. The trees surrounding the cottage stirred faintly, their branches groaning against one another as though whispering secrets to the bruised sky. Purple and gray swirled together above, the sun not yet risen, its promise still locked behind the horizon.
Inside the cottage, the floorboards creaked softly beneath Sora's measured steps. She moved like a shadow through familiar halls, her presence sharp but soundless, the quiet authority of someone who never needed to announce herself.
Her first stop was the girls' room. The door yielded beneath her hand with no protest, swinging open into stillness. The sight drew the faintest breath of warmth from her stern face. Lily lay curled in sleep, her arms wrapped protectively around Syl. On Syl's face, against the soft curve of her cheek, ben had burrowed in, its tiny chest rising and falling in rhythm with hers. The fragile harmony of the moment lingered in the air.
Sora allowed herself a brief, fleeting smile, one that vanished as quickly as it came. A picture of perfect peace. She eased the door closed again, leaving them undisturbed.
Her next destination was Kibo's room.
The air changed as she neared. It thickened, cloying with heat that didn't belong to the hour, a restless tension seeping through the cracks. She pushed the door open, her movements deliberate.
Kibo was already awake. His silhouette sat against the faint glow of the window, shoulders rigid, gaze fixed on the bruised sky beyond. Every line of his body was taut, brimming with energy that had no place to go.
Sora stepped inside, her voice steady, calm, but cutting through the stillness like the edge of a blade. "Kibo. I know you're awake."
He turned slowly, his face breaking into a crooked half-smile that was more shield than truth.
"Oh, your sadistic aunt knows. Didn't I tell you she'd know? She sees you for the pathetic pretender you are." Ignis's voice slithered through his thoughts, cruel and amused.
Kibo's lips curled with forced ease. "Aunt Sora," he said, his tone a thin mask. "Just waking up." He straightened, his back stiff, his every motion too deliberate, as though he could will control into his bones.
Sora's gaze was unflinching, her disapproval sharp and silent before she even spoke. "I don't care why you lie. That isn't the point." Her words left no space for argument, cold and precise. "I am going to meet with Uncle Bram."
Kibo's mask cracked at once. His eyes widened slightly, and the half-smile faltered. "But… Aunt Sora," he began, his voice carrying a note of genuine concern now, "it's still dark out."
"I know." The answer was clipped, final, her tone dismissing the hour as irrelevant. "Uncle Bram needs my help with something. Until I return, you are in charge here." Her stare pinned him, heavy and immovable, a chain of authority he could not break. "And no hunting today…Don't even think about it."
Kibo's mouth opened, the start of a protest, but her gaze sharpened, a warning in itself. He shut it again, jaw tight.
"I don't want to hear you whine," she said, her voice low but cutting. "You'll do as I say."
His fists clenched against his knees, the words spilling out despite himself, thin and strained. "Why? Is there a reason?"
Her face didn't change. Only the faintest glint on her glasses caught the dim light as she adjusted them, a gesture that felt final. "No. Nothing particular."
The silence that followed was heavier than any argument.
"Strange," Ignis hissed in Kibo's mind, his voice a venomous whisper curling around every thought. "Your sadistic aunt is hiding something. A lie wrapped in a lie. Look at her. The fear is dripping from her pores, even under that stone mask she wears. Something is coming, brat… and she thinks she can stand against it with nothing but herself."
Kibo's eyes flickered toward Sora. "Is that true?" The tension in her shoulders, the way she wouldn't meet his gaze for more than a heartbeat—it was there. Subtle, but real.
"Yeah, it is strange. I'll have to follow…"
"Don't you dare, brat!" Ignis's words struck like claws across the inside of his skull. "She is not telling you what she is going to do there. She is telling you to stay, to sit and guard the girls. Don't you see?"
Kibo clenched his teeth, his hand curling against the bedsheet. The words he wanted to spit out burned at the back of his throat, but when his eyes met Sora's again, her gaze was immovable, cutting away his defiance before it could form.
"Okay, Aunt Sora," he said at last. The words tasted bitter, like swallowing iron. Outwardly it was surrender, but inside, it was anything but.
Sora gave a single, short nod. She turned, her footsteps steady as she made her way to the door. At the threshold, she paused, her back to him, her figure caught in the pale light of the window. She was a statue carved of steel and shadow.
"Whatever happens, Kibo," she said, her voice lowering into something that carried both weight and warning, "you must protect the girls. Do you understand me?"
Her words struck harder than any order. They felt like a burden passed to him, heavy as stone, unshakable.
Kibo lowered his gaze, thoughts spinning like storm winds. "She won't tell me the truth. She never will. But this much… this much I can hold on to." He lifted his head, meeting her eyes with a rare clarity. "I will always protect them," he promised, his voice steadier than he felt. And he meant it.
"Good."
She left. The door clicked shut behind her, gentle but final.
Kibo exhaled, a sound between a sigh and a growl. The weight of her words pressed down on his shoulders, and for once even Ignis was silent, as though savoring the turmoil instead of feeding it.
He listened to her footsteps fade through the cottage. Each step was precise, purposeful, until the faint scrape of the front door opening carried through the silence.
Sora stepped into the cold breath of morning, her expression a fortress no one could breach. Her thoughts twisted beneath that mask, loud in the silence of her own mind. "This will have to do. Kibo can protect the girls from any harm…Sigh…I should never have agreed to protect people I do not know.
The air outside bit against her skin, sharp and clean. She pulled the door shut behind her, locking her silent torment within those walls.
Her gaze lifted to the sky, where bruised shadows clung stubbornly to the horizon. "Let the inevitable not happen," she whispered into the wind.
Then she was gone, swallowed by the breaking light.
~~~~~~~~~~
The Bloodbound Covenant
In Balmount, the Bloodbound Covenant's halls brooded in silence. The building's outward face was nothing more than carved stone and solemn banners, but beneath the ordinary facade lay a nest of schemes and shadows.
High above, Cassien stood alone on the roof, his figure cut against the bruised horizon. He was a still silhouette, one hand resting on the hilt of his blade, his eyes cast out over the kingdom sprawled in slumber. Balmount—the kingdom he guarded, and the kingdom he betrayed to protect.
"Cassien."
The voice was a rasp, dry and sharp, pulling him from his thoughts. He turned, finding Lucain approaching across the rooftop. The other man's steps were deliberate, his presence carrying a cold weight. "What are you doing up here?"
Cassien's lips bent into a practiced smile, polished from years of diplomacy but hollow within. "Oh, friend…I am only up here wondering… if we'll live to see another sunrise."
Lucain came to stand beside him, gaze dropping to the winding streets below, where the lamppost flickered faintly in the dark. "I have been wondering that myself."
Cassien gave a short laugh, though there was no joy in it. It was brittle, bitter, and cracked at the edges. "Strange, isn't it? When the King offered us this task, it was you who accepted before his words even cooled in the air. Not a breath of hesitation."
Lucain's expression didn't shift. His tone was flat, unyielding. "And you raise this now, of all times?"
"I wanted to know," Cassien said, his voice low, the practiced mask slipping. His eyes burned with an old question, one that never left him. "Why, Lucain? Why did you agree so quickly, without even a second thought?"
Lucain's shoulders lifted in a faint shrug. "What is the point of hesitation, when thousands…perhaps a million…lives stand in the balance?"
"Lives?" Cassien barked out a laugh that scraped like broken glass. He turned on him, eyes flashing. "That word sounds strange in your mouth, Lucain. After the rivers of innocent blood you have spilled."
Lucain's reply was as sharp and cold as drawn steel. "And you? Tell me, Cassien…are you any different from me?"
The words landed deep. Cassien's head bowed, fists tightening until his knuckles whitened. His voice fell into a rasp. "No."
"Good." Lucain's eyes, hard as stone, turned back to the kingdom. "Then we understand each other. We did what had to be done. And the King chose us because of it. I, for one, will see this mission through… no matter the end. For the betterment of Balmount."
Cassien's jaw worked, as though chewing on the bitterness of the vow. "And if the price of that betterment is your own death?"
Lucain's gaze lingered on the sprawling streets, as though the kingdom itself demanded his answer. "We both know a devil walks among us, one who could end our lives with no more than a thought. Yet even he told us to continue without fail. He handed us purpose, even when we already had one."
"You believe him?" Cassien's voice was edged with disbelief, almost desperation.
Lucain's reply was steady, colder than before. "What is there to believe? We both watched him kill a Councilor with nothing but a name."
The silence that followed was heavy, the air pressing against their skin.
At last, Cassien stepped forward, placing both hands on Lucain's shoulders, grounding himself against the storm of doubt. His voice was softer, though it trembled with unease. "You are right. As always. Tell me… is everything ready?"
Lucain gave a slow nod. "Yes. It should be."
Cassien's laugh returned, but it was twisted now, laced with morbid amusement. "Then may we not fall beneath the hand of the devil himself."
Lucain's eyes stayed fixed on the city, his face unreadable. "Let us hope."
Cassien lingered for a moment, then turned away. He descended the trellis that clung to the building's side, slipping into shadow. His boots met the ground in silence, but his mind was not quiet. Doubt clawed at him, louder than any whisper of wind. "Had I made the right choice? Should I have left while I still had the chance?"
The thought followed him into the Covenant's dim corridor. He was nearing the stairs when the air shifted. A shadow peeled itself away from the stone wall, as though the darkness itself had chosen to move.
"Oh, Cassien."
The voice was slick and cruel, filling the hallway like cold smoke.
Cassien froze. Every instinct screamed danger. His heart hammered in his chest, urging him to flee, to fight, to do anything but stand still. Is this bastard here to kill me?
He turned. Out of the gloom stepped Vielwalker, his smile thin, curved, and merciless.
"How rude of you," Vielwalker purred, every word dripping mockery. "It's not as if I came to end your life."
In a single, impossible instant, Vielwalker was no longer were he stood. He was there, close enough that Cassien could feel the air tighten around him, every breath growing shallow against the suffocating chill pouring from his presence. The world itself seemed to recoil, the shadows bending toward him like loyal hounds.
Cassien froze. His heart beat a frantic rhythm, but his limbs betrayed him, refusing to move. One wrong breath, one wrong word, and I am finished.
Vielwalker tilted his head, his voice a silk-draped blade. "Now, Cassien… surely you can do better than this. Look at you, stiff as a corpse. How are you supposed to protect anyone if the mere sight of a being like myself is enough to crush you?"
Cassien swallowed hard, his throat burning. His voice scraped out, raw and strained. "What… what do you want?"
The question seemed to amuse him. Vielwalker leaned closer, his eyes swallowing all light, black wells that promised only abyss. His smile deepened, and Cassien felt the warmth drain from his skin.
"That question," Vielwalker murmured, savoring each syllable as though it were wine. "Always the same, and always a delight. Very well, let me be clear. If you dare to die before completing your task, I will find you. Your end will not shelter you. And when I do…" His voice fell to a chilling whisper, his breath cold against Cassien's ear. "…I will unravel your existence piece by piece, and make your eternity one long scream."
Cassien's chest tightened, his vision blurring as the threat seeped into him like venom. His instincts howled for escape, but his body stood shackled by dread.
Then Vielwalker tapped his shoulder, light as a feather, almost playful.
"Come now," he said with a laugh too smooth, too sharp. "I am just joking. You must learn to lighten up, Cassien."
The words struck like poisoned honey. Relief crept in, bitter and fleeting, only to give way to a deeper, more suffocating terror. Because when Vielwalker's smile slipped away, there was no jest left at all.
"But understand me," he whispered, his tone colder than stone. "Do. Not. Fail me."
Cassien's mouth moved before his mind could catch it, the word tumbling out as little more than a stammer. "O-okay."
Vielwalker's eyes locked with his, and the command inside them was inescapable. Cassien felt it settle into his bones, an unspoken leash pulling tight around his will.
"Good," Vielwalker said at last, his smile returning, though it no longer reached his eyes. "You have a report to deliver. Do not let me be a wall in your way."
The leash snapped free. Cassien turned, fleeing down the stairs, his boots striking the stone with frantic urgency. He did not look back, he did not dare look back.
Behind him, Vielwalker remained in the corridor, watching, listening to the retreating steps fade into the shadows. A low, malevolent chuckle spilled from his lips, soft but sharp enough to cut the silence.
"Finally," he murmured, his gaze drifting to the unseen horizon. "My master… you will soon arrive. And I will make the path easier."