I. Emberlight's Outskirts – The Silent Landing
A windless night. No stars above, only a slivered moon, veiled by tattered clouds.
On the outskirts of Emberlight, where the ancient trees of the Ebonveil Thicket rose like skeletal fingers against the sky, the forest shivered—not with wind, but with presence.
In a clearing carved into the earth itself, ten cloaked figures materialized from smoke, their bodies silent as moonlight. They wore no armor, only dark leather stitched with runes that seemed to drink in the light. Their faces were hidden behind obsidian masks, featureless save for glowing crimson slits where eyes should be.
Their leader stepped forward—taller than the rest, bearing a single gauntlet carved from living bone.
The Shadowbound had arrived.
His voice was a whisper on the wind.
"The Moonstone Court demands the head of the one who awakened the Obsidian Flame."
The others bowed in eerie unison.
They moved without words, melting into the forest, already splitting into squads—one tracking Kael, the others spreading into Emberlight itself.
For assassins like them, war was not fought on battlefields, but in the unseen spaces between heartbeats.
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II. Emberlight – Saelith's Unease
Back in Kael's restaurant, night had settled comfortably over the city. Lanterns flickered outside, and inside the soft scent of roasted herbs and fresh-baked bread lingered.
Saelith stood in the rear courtyard, arms crossed, her pale silver hair catching the moonlight. Her elven senses twitched.
Something was wrong.
From the shadows behind the herb shed, a cat hissed and darted away. But Saelith did not turn. Instead, her fingers brushed the hilt of the dagger hidden in her sash.
She closed her eyes.
Then… she opened her mouth and sang a single, ancient elvish note.
A ward flared around the building, unseen until now—a dome of protective light, layered by Kael weeks ago… and woven into it, Saelith's own voice-magic.
But even that wouldn't stop what she felt approaching.
"Karl…" she whispered, her voice tight, "you'd better come back soon."
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III. Elsewhere in Emberlight – Silent Infiltration
At the southern wall, a city guard walked his route—lantern swaying, his hum light and unfocused.
A sound behind him—just a rustle.
He turned.
Nothing.
But when he turned back around, there was no time to scream. A hand, gloved in silence, wrapped around his face and pulled him into the shadow of the wall.
Another figure replaced him—identical in uniform, even in smell.
The patrol continued.
But it was no longer human.
All across Emberlight, people were being replaced. Not killed—no, the Shadowbound preferred subtlety. They needed access, eyes, passage through the guarded gates of society.
One infiltrator stood outside the guild registry.
Another perched near the city archives.
One even walked the outer halls of the High Enchanter's Tower, disguised as a scribe.
Their goal?
Kael.
Their instructions?
Isolate. Confuse. Eliminate.
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IV. The Sleeping Flame
Far beneath the city, Kael stood staring down the revived Guardian, unaware of what crept toward his family above.
But in that moment, his heart skipped—not from fear, but from instinct.
Something… had shifted.