The sun had barely risen over Emberhold, its golden rays dancing off rooftops and the proud spires of the Guildhall, when the first scream shattered the morning.
It came from a stable boy.
Inside the alley behind the Blazing Dawn headquarters, he'd found one of the guards—charred from the inside, yet with no burn on his skin. His eyes still wide in horror.
Aira rushed to the scene with Seris and Mira.
"What did this?" Seris asked, crouching beside the body.
Mira ran a scan. "The energy… it's shadowfire. Someone is mimicking your magic, Aira. But twisting it with death."
Message from the Ash
Kael returned moments later with grim news.
"The emissary we were supposed to meet this morning? Dead. Same mark on his chest."
Aira's brow furrowed. "Someone's trying to frame me."
Then came the message.
A scorch mark on the outer wall of their guild house slowly darkened as the sun rose, until a symbol revealed itself—
A broken phoenix, bleeding shadows.
Beneath it, five words burned into the stone:
'Return the Flame, or Fall.'
Seris growled. "Cowards."
Mira spoke softly. "That mark belongs to the Nightbrand. Assassin sect. They only move when paid in royal gold."
The First Assault
That night, the first wave came.
Aira sat meditating in the courtyard when the wind shifted. She opened her eyes.
Twelve assassins cloaked in embersteel cloaks dropped from the rooftops in perfect silence. Their blades shimmered with anti-magic runes.
But Aira didn't need spells.
She was the flame.
She clapped her hands—and the air ignited.
Blazing Maelstrom.
Four went down instantly, their cloaks failing to shield them from her ambient heat. The others tried to rush her, but Seris appeared like a meteor, sword carving through shadow.
Kael's tornadoes shredded their formation.
Mira's shields blocked the poisoned daggers flung toward Aira's heart.
The courtyard burned red.
In five minutes, it was over.
Interrogation
Only one assassin survived—barely.
Seris pinned him to a wall with a flaming blade.
"Who sent you?"
He spat blood.
"The Emperor of Ash. He wants her flame. Or he'll bring a tide that burns cities."
Aira's eyes narrowed. "Who is he?"
But the assassin grinned—and self-immolated in black flame.
Mira screamed, shielding the team.
Council of Fire
The next day, Aira convened a meeting with the senior members of Blazing Dawn.
"This is no longer about leveling. We've made enemies high up. Royal, maybe even imperial."
"We need allies," Mira said.
"And defenses," Kael added. "If we wait for another wave, we might not survive."
Seris grinned. "Then we go hunting first."
Aira stood and looked
at the burned phoenix mark on the wall.
"No more hiding."
"We burn the shadows before they reach our gates."