The air in the bunker hung thick, heavy with the stale scent of earth and fear. Dim light flickered from a single bulb overhead, casting jagged shadows across the concrete walls.
Borun's small voice trembled as he clutched his little brother's hand, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. "Sister Aeri," he whispered, voice cracking, "I think Vol has a very high fever."
Aeri's heart lurched. She knelt beside the cot where five-year-old Vol lay, his small body curled beneath a threadbare blanket. His cheeks burned red, his breaths shallow and ragged, each one a quiet stab at her composure.
She pressed her palm to his forehead, and the sharp heat seared her skin like a brand. Not good, she thought, the words escaping in a hushed murmur, barely audible over the hum of the bunker's ventilation.
The underground shelter was a fortress of last resort, stocked with enough food, water, and medical supplies to outlast a siege. But the vials and packets lining the shelves mocked her now...none were meant for a child as young as Vol. Her pulse quickened, a drumbeat of dread in her chest. She couldn't lose him. Not after everything.
"Borun," she said, turning to her ten-year-old brother, whose wide, waterlogged eyes locked onto hers. "Will you do me a favor?"
He lifted his chin, tears spilling over despite his effort to hold them back. "What is it, Aeri?"
"I'll be back in an hour." Her voice was steady, a lie to mask the storm raging inside. "Can you take care of your little brother for me?"
Borun's lip quivered, and the tears flowed freely now, carving tracks down his dirt-smudged face. Aeri knelt before him, placing her hands on his narrow shoulders, feeling the tremble beneath her fingers. "I promise," she said, forcing a smile that felt like a betrayal, "Vol will be playing nonstop with you once I'm back with the medicine."
Borun sniffed, dragging a sleeve across his nose. Then, with a fierce inhale that seemed to pull all his fear inward, he straightened, puffing out his chest. "Sister Aeri," he declared, placing a small hand over his heart, "leave Vol to me." His voice held a spark of pride, a flicker of courage that pierced her heart.
Aeri's smirk hid the ache clawing at her throat. "Aye, aye, Captain," she teased, ruffling his hair to keep the tears at bay. She rose, her boots scuffing against the cold floor as she approached the bunker's ladder.
Each step felt heavier, the weight of what lay beyond the hatch pressing down on her. She paused, one hand gripping the rusted rungs, and glanced back at Borun, who stood sentinel beside Vol's cot.
"Remember," she said, her voice low, edged with urgency, "if you think something's wrong, what will you do?"
Borun hesitated, his small frame tensing as he recalled the plan drilled into him over weeks of hiding. "I'll use the back exit," he said after a beat, his voice steadier now. "Go to the surface through the back alleys, make sure no one sees me and Vol, and stay hidden until you appear."
Aeri nodded, her smile tight but warm, a lifeline in the gloom. "That's good," she said, her words barely above a whisper. With one last look at her brothers, Borun's defiant stance, Vol's fevered form, she climbed the ladder, the creak of metal echoing like a warning. The hatch loomed above, a barrier between safety and the unknown. Whatever waited on the surface, she'd face it. For them.
Aeri pulled her hood low, the enchanted fabric shimmering faintly as she spiked her mana, weaving a cloak of invisibility around herself. The air hummed with the strain of her magic, a delicate balance she couldn't afford to break..not this close to the bunker where Borun and Vol waited, their lives tethered to her precision.
One misstep, one flicker of her presence, and the predators prowling the capital's underbelly would find them. She vanished into the darkness of the back alleys, her footsteps silent against the cracked cobblestones, swallowed by the night's embrace.
The capital's alleys were a labyrinth of sin, where shadows hid more than secrets. Aeri moved like a wraith, her senses razor-sharp despite the dread gnawing at her gut. She passed a cluster of illegal dealers, their whispered trades of forbidden mana crystals tainting the air with a metallic tang. Further on, a local gang loomed, their laughter jagged as they extorted a trembling merchant.
The soldier in her, a legacy of her father's training, screamed to intervene, to shatter their cruelty with a single burst of mana. But she clenched her fists, nails biting into her palms. Not now. Not until Borun and Vol are safe. Even if it was the last thing she did.
Thirty minutes of heart-pounding stealth brought her to the edge of the capital's merchant district. Her father's old accomplice, Nyxar, ran a modest workshop here, its weathered sign swaying in the night breeze.
The shop wasn't grand, but its shelves brimmed with merchandise. Aeri slipped inside, her hood still up, and eased the mana cloaking her presence, letting it fade to a whisper. Exhaustion crashed over her like a tidal wave. Channeling mana with such focus for half an hour was a feat even seasoned mages struggled with, and at seventeen, she was pushing her limits to the brink.
She approached the counter, her voice low but firm. "Uncle, it's me. Aeri."
Nyxar froze, his weathered face paling as her voice cut through the quiet. For a heartbeat, shock widened his eyes, but he recovered swiftly, gesturing to his staff with a subtle flick of his hand. "Clear the shop," he said, his tone calm but urgent.
Within ten minutes, the customers were ushered out, the staff following, locking the door behind them. The shop fell silent, save for the faint creak of the floorboards.
"Aeri," Nyxar breathed, relief mingling with disbelief. "You're alive. How are you here?"
She pushed back her hood, the artifact's enchantment fading as her face came into view...pale, strained, but resolute. "Uncle Nyxar, I'm sorry for the secrecy, but I need medicine. For Vol. He's been burning with fever for two days, and it went out of control today. Please, I'll repay you later."
Nyxar's expression faltered, a shadow of guilt flickering in his eyes, followed by something darker, something... foreign. He pressed his lips into a thin line.
"Of course, Aeri," he said, his voice too steady. "Wait here. I'll get the medicine from the nearby store." He moved to his money box, then paused, glancing back. "By the way, where are you hiding? I can arrange a better place."
Aeri's heart sank. Trust was a luxury she couldn't afford, not even with Nyxar. "I'm sorry, Uncle," she said softly, "I can't tell you—"
A sharp hiss cut her off. A snake-like rope, glowing with sinister green runes, coiled around her from nowhere, its grip tightening like a vice. Her mana drained, siphoned away in a sickening rush.
Aeri's eyes widened in horror. The Coil of Yseraeth, an artifact that devoured magic. She looked at Nyxar, betrayal cutting deeper than any blade. His eyes brimmed with tears, but he couldn't meet her gaze, his head bowing as he sank to his knees. "I'm sorry," he whispered, voice breaking. "They got to my daughter at the Academy. I had no choice."
Rage and pity warred in Aeri's chest, but there was no time for either. The shop's door exploded inward, splintering under the force of twenty armed guards flooding the room. Their armor clinked, blades gleaming under the shop's dim lanterns. A towering, shirtless man swaggered in, his muscles rippling with menace. "This little rat's worth that much?" he sneered, his voice dripping with disdain.
A thin man at his side, cloaked in black, smirked. "Don't underestimate her. She's very important to him."
Aeri's mind raced. She surged her mana, trying to break the Coil's grip, but it was a mistake. The artifact drank her power faster, sapping her strength. "Bad move," she muttered, cursing her misstep. The shirtless man signaled, and the guards lunged.
Even bound, Aeri was a storm. She twisted, slamming her foot into the nearest guard's face with a sickening crunch. Using his staggering form as a springboard, she launched herself into the air, landing nimbly on the counter. Nyxar flinched as she charged him, his arms raised in defense. But her kick wasn't for him, it struck the Coil of Yseraeth in his hand.
The artifact shattered, its fragments scattering like broken promises. Nyxar screamed, his arm twisting unnaturally from the force.
Aeri's eyes burned with an emotion she couldn't name, fury, sorrow, resolve. The ropes fell away, and she snatched a dagger from the fallen guard's belt.
Two more guards rushed her. She spun, slamming her shoulder into the shop's back wall. The wood splintered under the impact, pain lancing through her arm. She swallowed a scream, driving the dagger through one guard's throat in a single, fluid motion.
Using his lifeless body as a shield, she deflected a hail of ranged attacks, arrows and mana bolts sizzling past her.
She scrambled through the broken wall, climbing pipes and windows to reach the rooftops of the adjacent building. The guards pursued, their shouts echoing through the alleys. Aeri fought like a cornered beast, her dagger flashing as she cut down one pursuer after another. A thrown blade caught a guard in the chest; a spinning kick sent another tumbling into the darkness.
But exhaustion clawed at her, slowing her movements, dulling her reflexes.
A sudden kick from the left, delivered by the shirtless brute himself, sent her flying across the alley. She crashed into a brick wall, the impact shattering bone. A scream tore from her throat, but she staggered to her feet, blood dripping from her split lip.
The guards closed in, but Aeri melted into a shadowed turn, her training kicking in. One by one, she took them down, silent, precise, her dagger slicing throats from the darkness.
The boss stood alone now, unguarded, his arrogance blinding him. Aeri surged from behind, dagger raised...but a sharp pain erupted in her leg.
An arrow, fired from a hidden ranger, buried itself in her thigh. A trap. She stumbled, and the shirtless man's boot slammed into her stomach, sending her rolling across the cobblestones. He loomed over her, crushing her wrist under his heel until the dagger clattered free. His hand closed around her throat, lifting her like a rag doll.
She tried speaking, but the choke hold made it hard.
"What's that, bitch?" he mocked, his grip tightening. "Got something to say?"
Aeri's vision blurred, her lungs screaming for air. He pulled her closer, sneering. "Go on, say your last words."
"Die, scum," she rasped.
His face twisted in rage. "What did you—"
Schlick. A thin wire, tethered to the dagger she'd "lost," whipped through the air. The blade sliced his throat in a clean arc, blood spraying like a crimson fountain.
The guards froze, stunned, as their leader collapsed, gurgling. Aeri didn't hesitate. She seized his fallen sword, driving it through the nearest guard's throat in one fluid motion.
Her eyes locked on the thin man, the one who'd called her "important." She charged, her blade severing his arm in a single stroke. He staggered, laughing like a madman despite the pain.
"Speak, Who sent you?" She barked, her daggar digged into one of his palms.
"What's the point?," he spat, blood bubbling at his lips. "You think we left those kids alone? We sent an elite unit tracing your mana. That big idiot's job was to delay you, bitch." His face bulged, veins pulsing unnaturally, and then...boom...his body erupted in a gory explosion, the shockwave knocking Aeri back. Shrapnel grazed her, but the pain was nothing compared to the terror seizing her heart.
Borun. Vol. Their faces flashed in her mind.
In that instant, for reasons unknown, a single line crossed Aeri's mind... her father's voice, steady and sure: "Aeri, if you put in effort and never stop, there's nothing God can't give you. He watches us like a father seeing his child fall and rise to take their first trembling steps toward him, anxious but annoyingly strict. But once the kid reached the father, he would never fall again in his life, not until the father held them."
She stumbled to her feet, blood oozing from her leg, her broken bones grinding with every step. They know nothing. They're innocent. She dragged herself forward, the capital's alleys blurring around her. Please, god, keep them safe. I'll do anything. Just let them live. Her prayers echoed in her mind, a desperate mantra as she staggered toward the bunker, her body screaming, her soul burning with one singular vow: No matter what, please save them.
"Hey! Hey... That's dangerous..can you please drop that down..!"
The man, a lanky figure with a mop of unkempt hair and a startled expression, froze, clutching a rusty pipe he'd picked up from the alley floor. His eyes widened, darting between the butter knife and Borun's tear-streaked face. "I-I…" he stammered, clearly rattled by the ten-year-old's ferocity. "Who are you, kid? And why are you… waving that at me?"
Borun's eyes narrowed, his nose dripping as he fought back sobs. "Tell us who you are and why you're here!" he demanded, jabbing the knife for emphasis, though the dalda glistened comically in the dim light.
The man raised his hands, the pipe clattering to the ground. "I'm..I'm.. Caelumis. Caelumis! I just take this path to get home to the hill district. That's all!" His voice was a nervous squeak, his gaze flicking to Vol, who clutched Borun's sleeve with fever-weakened fingers.
Borun's scowl deepened, unconvinced. "You use this alleyway?" he asked, his tone dripping with suspicion, as if Caelumis had claimed to stroll through a dragon's lair for fun.
Caelumis blinked, affronted. "I could ask you the same thing, kid! What's a couple of brats doing in a place like this?" He gestured at the grimy walls, his confidence returning, until Borun pointed the butter knife again, its tip quivering an inch from his nose.
"I'm sorry!" Caelumis yelped, stumbling back a step.
Borun's lips twitched into a sneer, though his legs shook beneath him. "You're a wuss, aren't you?"
Caelumis's jaw dropped. "A wuss? That's...come on, won't a wuss get cut or something?"
"You really are a wuss," Borun declared, his flat tone cutting through the tension like the dull blade in his hand.
"That's rude!" Caelumis protested, still clearly afraid of the butter knife held by ten-year-old.
Borun's grip tightened, his voice edged with desperation. "Whatever. Since you use this route, do you know any hiding spots?"
Caelumis opened his mouth, but before he could answer, a chilling voice sliced through the air from above. "Hiding spots? To scurry like rats?"
Borun's blood ran cold. He looked up, and his breath caught. Ten masked figures perched on the window ledges and rooftops, their black cloaks blending into the night like specters. No footsteps, no warning—they were just there, their eyes glinting with predatory intent. The alley seemed to shrink, the walls closing in as the air grew heavy with menace.
Caelumis whirled, his bravado crumbling. "Who are you?" he squeaked, his voice barely a whisper.
A shadow moved—a man, taller and broader than the rest, clearly the leader. Without a word, he stepped forward and drove a fist into Caelumis's stomach. The blow landed with a sickening thud, and Caelumis crumpled, unconscious before he hit the ground, his body slumping into a pile of trash.
"Tie him up," the leader barked, his voice cold as steel. "Throw him in the ocean on our way back. No witnesses allowed."
Borun's heart thundered, his legs wobbling as he clutched the butter knife tighter. Vol's fevered panting grew louder, a desperate rhythm against the silence.
The leader turned, his masked face unreadable, but his gaze locked onto the boys, one trembling with a fever that burned like wildfire, the other standing defiant with a dalda-smeared knife, tears streaming from eyes that refused to break.
"Well, well," the leader said, his voice a low, mocking drawl. "What do we have here? A sick rat and a brave little fool."
Borun's knees shook, but he raised the knife, its dull edge gleaming faintly in the moonlight. Dalda dripped from his nose, tears from his eyes, but he stood his ground, Vol's small hand clutching his.
"...Don't be afraid..your big brother is here," Borun said, looking at his panting little brother.
The masked men closed in, their shadows swallowing the alley, and Borun's heart screamed one truth: Aeri, where are you?