Chapter 3: The Kidnapping
The sky was crimson the night of Serina Valeheart's fifteenth birthday.
The Valeheart estate shone brighter than ever nobles, magicians, and knights gathered to celebrate the prodigy daughter of the house. She had inherited her brother's calm presence, but her mana was pure light, radiant and soft.
Shadow stood at a distance from the ballroom balcony, a faint smile tugging at his lips. He wore a formal black coat, his silver eyes reflecting the fireworks above.
He had always watched her from afar. Serina didn't know the truth that her brother was the invisible guardian who wiped out entire demonic cults to keep her safe.
Lyra appeared beside him like a whisper. "Master. We've swept the perimeter. No threats so far."
Shadow nodded. "Good. Keep the rest of Shadow Veil on standby. I don't want a single mistake tonight."
She hesitated. "You're worried."
He looked down at the laughing crowd. "I've learned that happiness draws predators."
Midnight came. The music faded, and guests departed under the silver moon.
Serina lingered in the garden, her white dress flowing like moonlight. She turned toward her brother, smiling.
"Thank you for coming tonight, Shadow. It means a lot."
He smiled faintly. "You've grown strong."
She laughed softly. "That's rich, coming from the strongest man I know."
"Strongest man you think you know."
She rolled her eyes. "Always so mysterious."
It was their last normal conversation.
A piercing scream split the night.
Shadow's senses flared a demonic surge exploded from the western wing of the estate. The sky turned black.
"Serina!"
He vanished in a burst of shadow mana, reappearing at the source too late. The room was in ruins, blood and smoke filling the air. His sister's guards were dead.
And she was gone.
On the wall, a red sigil burned like a scar a circle of blood magic. It pulsed once, then carved itself into the stone.
Lyra and the other shadows rushed in behind him.
"Master, what "
"Quiet," he ordered, stepping closer. The sigil's lines formed a pattern only he could read coordinates.
A message, left to taunt him.
"They think this is a game," Shadow whispered. His eyes darkened, shadows rippling around him. "But I don't play games."
Hours later, in the underground war chamber of Shadow Veil, the three elite shadows Lyra, Iris, and Rai knelt before their master.
"Master," Iris said, "this sigil belongs to the Crimson Hand the same cult that performed the demonic fusion rituals five years ago."
Rai clenched his fist. "They want to finish what they started."
Shadow stood in silence, staring at the glowing map projected in the air a remote fortress deep within the Ravenridge mountains.
He pointed at it. "She's there."
Lyra frowned. "It could be a trap."
"I know," Shadow said. "That's why I'm going."
"You're not going alone," Rai insisted. "We'll go with you."
Shadow turned slowly, his eyes cold. "Then prepare. We leave at dawn."
The Raid
The next night, seven shadows stood on a cliff overlooking the Crimson Hand fortress. The air reeked of blood and rot. Below, thousands of cultists chanted around a crimson altar.
Shadow's cloak rippled in the wind. "They plan to bind a demon to her soul. That's their mistake."
Rai smirked. "What's the plan, Master?"
Shadow drew his black blade, its edge humming with compressed mana.
"The plan," he said calmly, "is to erase them."
He disappeared.
A second later, the fortress gate exploded inward, black lightning tearing through the night. Cultists screamed as shadows flickered through their ranks, blades and magic slicing faster than light.
Lyra danced through the chaos, twin daggers flashing. Iris's blind eyes glowed white as she called forth a storm of spectral blades.
The Crimson Hand never stood a chance.
At the altar, a cloaked priest raised his hands over Serina's unconscious body. "The vessel is ready! Bind the demon"
"Bind this," a voice murmured behind him.
The priest turned. Shadow's eyes glowed red in the dark.
"You shouldn't have touched my sister."
He raised his hand, and black mana swirled dense, crushing, atomic.
The priest screamed, "You're not human!"
"I never claimed to be."
The world turned white.
When the dust cleared, the entire fortress was gone vaporized, reduced to nothing but a crater. The wind howled through the empty space.
In the center stood Shadow, holding his sister in his arms.
Around him, the bodies of his seven shadows lay broken. Each had given their life to shield him and Serina from the final explosion.
Lyra was the only one still breathing, barely.
"Master… we did it…"
Shadow's voice trembled. "You shouldn't have followed me into that blast."
She smiled faintly. "You… would've done the same for us."
He looked at his fallen family, his heart heavy. "You'll all be remembered. I swear it."
He raised his sword, pointing it toward the dawn.
"I'll rebuild Shadow Veil again stronger, unbreakable."
Back at the Valeheart estate, Serina awoke days later.
Her brother was gone. Only a letter remained:
> "You're safe now. Stay in the light.
The world needs one Valeheart it can trust.
Shadow."
High above the mountains, a single man stood on a dark cliff, watching the sunrise.
His cloak fluttered. His eyes glowed faintly red.
"The Crimson Hand was only the beginning," he murmured. "If they want to play in shadows, they'll learn what true darkness is."
And with that, Shadow disappeared into the wind the rebirth of a legend.