Lightning split the dark skies over Valdorne with a thunderous crack. The city trembled, not from the storm, but from something worse—a silent wave of violence that swept in from the shadows.
Renegade assassins, cloaked in Falzath corruption, surged into the outer corridors of the Grand Guildhall. They moved like ghosts, blades drawn, chanting in tongues not meant for mortal ears. Their targets were clear: eliminate the leaders, sow chaos, and silence Shin Soma before the summit could begin.
But what they didn't anticipate was her.
Laverna.
She stepped forward from the inner chamber, golden eyes glowing like twin suns through the shadows. Her right hand hovered over the tiger-eye necklace that pulsed with warning. A fierce gust of wind whipped her orange hair around her like a banner of war.
"You picked the wrong day," she whispered, yanking the necklace free.
It shattered into shards of light and flame, the pieces forming into her jamadhars, the twin curved blades once wielded by George Applebee, a Master Assassin. The jamadhars had accepted her, recognizing a worthy successor.
The first assassin lunged, blade glinting. Laverna stepped into the strike with flawless kunoichi speed, her jamadhar slicing through the man's arm in a gout of blood and corrupted mist. Fire erupted in her wake, engulfing his body before he hit the stone.
Wind surged behind her, knocking two more off their feet. She turned, slicing upward, leaving a storm-trail of ice and flame in an arc around her body. Her crest flared on her lower abdomen, gleaming with Kitsune power, her bloodline and resolve igniting.
The Guildhall's windows shattered under the elemental pressure, wind and fire spiraling through the corridors. The tapestries along the walls burned to ash. Thunder roared again, not from the sky, but from Laverna's fury.
Shin had just emerged from the council room with Davis when he saw her.
She danced in the center of the chaos, blades flashing, hair glowing, a goddess of vengeance.
"Laverna!" Shin called.
She turned, her eyes locking with his. In that instant, she wasn't the broken slave he'd once found in chains. She was the warrior he'd molded, the partner who stood beside him in flame and shadow.
"Stay back! They came for you!" she shouted, her voice a whip of steel and fire.
Assassins surged again. Zera joined the fray, her sapphire blade carving light through the dark. Maika flickered into vision beside her, her sun-kissed movements weaving through enemy lines. Tessara cloaked them all in lunar illusions, blinding the enemy.
But it was Laverna's firestorm that turned the tide.
Her jamadhars erupted in molten heat, and with a roar, she slammed both into the ground. Pillars of fire and ice burst forth, tearing through the cobblestones, hurling Renegades into the air. The Grand Guildhall shuddered. Columns cracked. Tapestries ignited. The very air warped from the intensity.
The blast sent a ripple through the heart of Valdorne. Debris rained down. Thunder echoed from the force.
Then silence.
Bodies smoldered. Ash drifted like black snow.
Davis staggered forward, hand on his blade, mouth agape. "By the Flame... what was that?"
Laverna turned to him, shoulders rising and falling with each breath. She stepped in front of Shin, jamadhars dripping with blood and embers.
"That," she said, "was what happens when you threaten him."
Davis blinked. "You speak as if he's your king."
"He's more than that," Laverna growled. "When I was a child, I was shackled. I was owned. I was enslaved. I was beaten until I was on death's door. I didn't know freedom until Shin broke my chains. Not just the iron ones, the ones inside my soul."
She looked at Shin, her voice softening. "He didn't just save me. He made me whole."
Zera stepped beside her, blade lowered. Her heart beat in sync with the glow of her crest. "You're not alone in that. He gives us purpose. He reminds us that we are not defined by what broke us."
Tessara touched her own shoulder where her crest pulsed. "He sees us. The real us. And never flinches."
Maika stood, her eyes reflecting the flames, her back straight. "He's the light the East needs. And we'll burn the darkness to see him shine."
There was a moment of calm, a sacred pause in the aftermath of battle. Soldiers exhaled. The air was thick with soot and smoke, but also with the quiet awe of survival.
Davis looked from one woman to the next, then back at Shin. The young man hadn't said a word, but his presence radiated with authority. Even Davis, a seasoned Guild Master, felt the weight of it.
Laverna stepped forward, lowering her blades. The crest on her lower abdomen pulsed brightly, in perfect sync with Shin's glowing left hand.
"I don't need a crown," she said. "I serve one man. Not because I was ordered to. But because I chose to."
She turned to the gathered soldiers, some still shaken from the attack.
"If you doubt him because of what they whisper in the East, then doubt me too. But know this: I've killed for scraps and survival. Now I fight for the truth. I'll defend this city and him with my last breath."
For a moment, there was only silence.
Then Davis bowed his head. "Aye, girl. If half the East had your fire, Tristan would've been ash long ago."
The soldiers around them dropped to one knee.
"We follow you, Soma," Davis said. "And the women mad enough to love you."
Shin stepped beside Laverna and placed a hand on her shoulder. The bond between them pulsed through their crests, a warmth that flooded her chest.
She looked up at him, tears gleaming but unfallen. He saw the girl she once was in the flicker of her eyes, afraid, fragile.
But now she stood like a storm.
"We free Laginaple next," Shin said. "And we do it together."
The jamadhars vanished in light. Her hand found his.
Tessara inhaled deeply, sensing his emotion. He hides the weight well, she thought. But we feel it. And we carry it with him.
Maika touched her side, her voice quiet. Let them mock him. We know the truth. He's the fire beneath our wings.
Zera smiled faintly. I was a knight once. But he made me a sword. I will never be anything less again.
Their crests pulsed in tandem. One bond. One cause.
As dawn broke, casting golden light over the battered city, the people of Valdorne emerged. They gathered silently around their defenders, eyes wide.
And for the first time in years, they saw hope.
Together, hand in hand, the Servants of Shin walked forward, toward freedom, toward war, toward destiny.