The sound of falling rain echoed across the slate rooftops of Velmora.
High above the city's winding alleys and crowded bazaars, Lyra Veloria stood like a shadow in the night — silent, still, unseen. The cold wind blew through her dark cloak, but she didn't flinch. She never did.
Below her, nobles laughed, soldiers marched, and thieves moved like rats through puddles.
They had no idea the kingdom's deadliest weapon stood watching.
"The capital sleeps peacefully," she whispered. "But ghosts don't."
She reached into her satchel and pulled out a scroll, sealed in black wax — the Emperor's personal order.
She broke it open with a flick of her thumb.
Her sharp eyes scanned the contents... and narrowed.
Target Identified:Kael Raventhorn — Status: Presumed dead.Recent reports suggest movement in Ashmoor Ruins. Investigate, confirm, eliminate.
Lyra stared at the name for a long time.
"Kael Raventhorn..."
It had been over a decade. The boy prince — dead during the palace massacre, or so the world believed. She remembered him vaguely: silver eyes, a quiet presence, and a softness that didn't belong in a kingdom at war.
But if the Shadowblood truly returned…
"This isn't just an order," she whispered. "It's a warning."
[Flashback — 10 Years Ago]
Blood.Fire.Screams echoing through marble halls.
A younger Lyra, barely fifteen, crouched behind a crumbled pillar. Her hands were covered in crimson. Her first kill. Her first mission. Her first betrayal.
"Execute the prince. Do not hesitate."
She hadn't. She had stormed the palace with her master.
But by the time she reached the throne room... the boy was gone. Only the throne burned.
"He died," she was told."Mission complete."
Yet something inside her never believed it.
And now, fate was calling her back to that unfinished ghost.
[Present Day — Assassin HQ, Ravenhold Spire]
Lyra entered the inner sanctum of the Spire — where the walls whispered secrets and the air stank of blood magic. The Grand Master sat in the shadows, his voice dry as old parchment.
"You've read the scroll?"
"I have."
"Do you believe it?"
Lyra paused. "I believe in unfinished business."
"Then go to Ashmoor. Find him. Confirm. And if he breathes...""Make sure it's his last."
She bowed slightly, but her heart was not steady.
Something deep inside her — a voice she hadn't heard in years — whispered:
"He doesn't deserve to die like a criminal."
But she buried the voice. Like she always did.
Mission first. Emotions never.
Far away... in the ruins of Ashmoor...
Kael stood at the edge of a broken chamber, staring into the abyss below.And somewhere far above, the storm rolled in.
Two fates were moving.Two paths were crossing.
And only one would survive the first meeting.