As the bronze gears of the gallows gnawed through the morning mist, Elisa's chains burned her wrist bones. On the surface of the howling stone pillar in the center of the execution ground, the brains left over from last night's blood feed were being pecked by crows - every time the beasts pecked, the silver wolf skeleton embedded in the stone pillar twitched, like a traitor who was sealed alive in the wall three hundred years ago and was still struggling.
"Seventh carload of smugglers," Cain lifted the kneeling man's chin with the tip of his scepter, "Do you like to feed pack animals with pregnant women's placentas?" The lord's voice echoed in the dome of the courtroom, shaking the suspended bronze wolf-head lamp. Alyssa's thorn birthmark jumped under her cloak, and the flames of the eclipse churned in her stomach - the wine this morning was mixed with the "tranquilizer" sent by Lucien, and at this moment her intestines felt like they were being twisted by poison ivy.
The prisoner suddenly jumped up. The half-broken canine bit Kane's ankle, but was shattered by the black iron shin guard. Alyssa's chains rattled, and she saw the soul-controlling crystal behind the man's neck - a special supply from Lucien's Jade Workshop, flashing a dangerous green light with the beat of his heart.
"Burn him." Kane ordered without looking back. As soon as the blue flames shot out from Alyssa's fingertips, the wailing stone pillars of the entire execution ground suddenly resonated and trembled. The eclipse flames surged out of control, and the flames licked the bronze lamp, melting it into the shape of thorns.
The cage bars twisted into a knot in the heat. Alyssa's birthmark burned through her cloak, and vines climbed up her neck along her collarbone - the pattern was exactly the same as the thorn totem that appeared on the prisoner's back. When she tried to put out the fire, Cain's palm suddenly clamped her neck, and his tongue licked the remaining flame in the corner of her right eye: "My sin fire..." The lord's canine teeth scratched her brow bone, "...I will not allow others to touch it."
Blood rolled into her eyes. Alyssa's vision suddenly split - with her left eye, she saw blue blood seeping out from the ground of the execution ground, outlining the Wailing Wall formation set up by Lucien; with her right eye, she saw the thorn heart absorbing her eclipse flame through the chains under Cain's torn clothes.
The uncontrolled fire tornado swept across the viewing platform. The nobles' mink capes burned to ashes, exposing the silver wolf tattoos on their backs - each totem twisted into a crown of thorns in the flames. Alyssa's birthmark grew to her temple, and the scream of the first queen exploded in her skull: "Burn! Burn the crown and the lies!"
"Stop her!" Lucien's cold emerald light flickered on the second floor of the execution ground. Twelve priests of the Wailing Wall rang the Bone-Erosion Bell at the same time, and the sound waves condensed into a physical chain that wrapped around Alyssa's ankles. Her Eclipse Flame suddenly turned, following the sound waves in the opposite direction and burning through the priests' throats - the laughter of three hundred infant spirits floated out of the ashes, merging into the cloud of resentment above the execution ground.
Kane's scepter penetrated the ground. Black thorns grew from the cracks, wrapped around Alyssa's waist and dragged her back to the judgment seat. The lord tore open her cloak in public, revealing the birthmark that spread to her chest - the vine patterns were forming a complete crown of thorns, resonating and vibrating with the bronze pendant on the dome of the execution ground.
"This is the real trial." Cain's nails pierced the center of her birthmark. Alyssa's eclipse flame suddenly turned fluorescent white, and the firelight illuminated the secrets under the execution ground - piles of silver wolf cubs soaked in a pool of blood, and each heart had a miniature crown inserted.
Lucien's claws broke through the surface of the blood pool. He pulled out the half-rotten baby's body and held it above his head: "Look! This is my brother's justice!" The umbilical cord of the corpse was wrapped around a faded marriage contract, and the edge was covered with the fingerprints of Alyssa's mother.
Alyssa's flame suddenly went out. Cain's heart thorns pierced through his brocade robe, with a glowing crystal on the tip - her baby's cry sealed inside. The wailing stone pillars around the execution ground collapsed at the same time, and three hundred silver wolf skeletons crawled out of the cracks in the wall. The spine of each skeleton was engraved with the process of the twin sacrifice.
When the moonlight was completely stained by blood, blue blood oozed from Alyssa's birthmark. Cain sucked the wound on her wrist in public, and the blood he swallowed formed moving thorn patterns under his skin. Lucien's emerald ring suddenly exploded, and the roar of broken chains came from the bottom of the execution ground - the bronze coffin of the first king was being pulled to the ground by some force.
The judgment bell rang at this moment. The remaining flames in Alyssa's pupils suddenly condensed into Kane's reflection - two crowns of thorns were suspended behind the lord, one was as black as night, and the other was as blue as flames, and Lucien's claws were quietly hooking towards the latter.