The instant Freyheart felt the feather return, he knew something was wrong. With his wings fully extended, he streaked through the sky at incredible speed, the village growing closer by the second. Halfway there, with 5 kilometers left, he raised his aura.
The intense wave of aura radiated outward like a beacon, designed to alert the people in the village. The first to notice this was none other than Sera, one of the four legendary-tier aura users in the village.
Sera always had her blessing active that would scan her surroundings. The blessing was called *Ecliptic Awareness,* from a creature that was near the Eltheris Kingdom.
There were three Xoliti clan members in the village, but they were only in the elite tier. They could not match Sera's aura output, which allowed her to use her blessing over a larger area. The blessing had a simple function: Sera could designate the aura she sensed and assign names to them. The blessing would record the aura of the specific name given. Whenever she focused on an aura in a five kilometer area with her blessing, she would see the name of the person. The blessing also allowed her to know when any new auras popped up in her radius.
Noticing the aura was coming from Freyheart and that he was heading toward the village, Sera focused again on *Ecliptic Awareness.*
She sensed nothing wrong at first, but Ardyn and Kael were moving too fast alongside the aura of a sand rat. She immediately activated one of her blessings, *Shadow Veil,* a common blessing given to the assassins of the now destroyed Kingdom of Eltheris of which she was the head assassin.
Eltheris had been a kingdom of innovation and war, where Sera rose to become a legendary-tier assassin at the astonishing age of twenty. Sera was also one of the seven Phoenix clan members whose identities were known to all Black Talons. Her identity was taught to the Black Talons because she was a prime target and threat, there was an order to immediately call for reinforcements if she was seen.
Her eyes widened. The sand rat wasn't moving naturally; its shadow revealed an entirely different story.
Sera stepped into Kael and Ardyn's shadow, her form disappearing instantly. She reappeared beside the shadow but found the ground empty. Glancing up, her eyes caught the horrifying sight: a Black Talon soldier, carrying the boys high above the treetops.
"Disguised as a sand rat,"
she muttered, her voice cold and deadly.
Though Sera lacked flying abilities, she was far from helpless. Activating her Gravity Blessing, she wrenched massive chunks of rock from the ground and sent them spiraling upward, forming a jagged path toward the soldier. Her aura flared, dark and suffocating, as she closed the distance with astonishing speed.
The soldier, an elite-tier Black Talon operative, felt the oppressive weight of her presence. He had studied Sera, the infamous former head assassin of Eltheris, back when he was still a novice. He knew he had no chance against her in direct combat.
Realizing escape was impossible, he made a ruthless decision. With one sharp movement, he hurled Kael and Ardyn in opposite directions, each sent flying at deadly speeds.
Sera moved faster than thought. Her shadows stretched unnaturally across the sky as she teleported to Kael's shadow first. She leaped upward, catching him securely in her arms before vanishing into another shadow to intercept Ardyn. Her timing was flawless, and she caught the second boy midair before putting them both in her shadow.
However, this brief exchange gave the soldier just enough time to activate his communication device. His voice crackled through the air:
"Target identified: Sera of the Phoenix Clan. Requesting immediate reinforcements."
Sera's cold gaze locked onto the fleeing soldier. She whispered,
"You won't escape."
Spotting the shadow of a low-tier Ember Hare darting through the forest below, she vanished again, reappearing directly in the soldier's path. Her aura surged her speed on making the makeshift stone platforms outpacing the Black Talon soldiers frantic flight.
The soldier tried to evade her, but she was relentless. In a blur of movement, Sera severed all his limbs with precision, each strike leaving him unable to react. She didn't use a weapon but instead pulled apart his limbs with her bare hands. Before he could even process the pain, she used her shadows to drag him down into her *Shadow Prison,* a space inside her own shadow, binding him with tendrils of darkness.
As she secured the soldier, Sera methodically worked. The Shadow Prison was also used for storage. Pieces of cloth, stored within the prison and manipulated by her blessing, bound the soldier completely. She tightened the bindings around his arms and legs, ensuring he didn't die of blood loss from ripped limbs.
Using another shadow tendril, she forced open his mouth and restrained his jaw to prevent him from biting his tongue. All the while, she stopped the bleeding from his severed limbs, keeping him alive for interrogation.
Without slowing, Sera began moving back toward the village, with the soldier trapped in her shadow.
By the time Freyheart landed in the village, his fiery aura extinguished as his wings folded behind him, the sight that greeted him filled him with dread.
Aelina sat on the ground, clutching her stomach, her eyes red from tears. Luis stood frozen near Taran's lifeless body, his fists clenched in helpless frustration. The air was thick with silence, the earlier chaos now replaced by grief. The nearby villagers stared at the children with fear and the emergence of hate in their eyes because of the children and because of what the empire would do knowing there were Phoenix clan members here.
Freyheart's eyes clouded further, his fists tightening. Aelina looked up and whispered through trembling lips,
"Father... they took Ardyn."
A wave of fury passed through Freyheart, but before he could respond, a familiar shadow appeared on the ground. Sera emerged, her expression grim, her voice steady.
"I've recovered Kael and Adryn,"
she announced, gently setting Kael and Ardyn down on the ground next to her.
"But we need to talk. Reinforcements are coming."
Freyheart's fiery aura flickered with restrained fury as he stood in the aftermath of what happened in the village. Right as Sera arrived, two more powerful auras swept the surroundings, signaling the arrival of Isabella (Luis's grandmother) and Bane.
Isabella descended gracefully as her Phoenix wings disappeared. In her arms, she held a sleeping Lira. Bane landed next to Isabella, his energy feeling heavy, seemingly exuding raw power.
Isabella spoke,
"Freyheart, Sera, what happened here? I saw Lira running in the streets, panicked, and then sensed yours and Sera's aura from afar."
Freyheart stepped forward, crouching down to comfort his daughter.
"Black Talons they came in undetected. They took Adryn and Kael, but Sera managed to recover them."
"I captured the soldier, but he was able to call for reinforcements," Sera continued.
Isabella's gaze softened as she saw the figures of Luis and Aelina, who looked like they had been hit hard, their clothes messy and dirt-streaked from the ground. Her gaze darkened a bit when she looked at the lifeless body of Taran, feeling guilt that an unrelated person had to be involved in the Phoenix Clan's mess. Isabella moved near Aelina and signaled for Luis to come to her.
"Come here, my dears, let me help."
Luis didn't hesitate and moved forward. Flames danced around Isabella, golden and gentle. The fire exuded a sense of warmth that made Luis and Aelina calm down.
The flames stopped all the pain in their bodies. The flames felt like a warm embrace, momentarily making them forget all their worries. They felt a sense of renewed strength within themselves.
Luis looked at her with a flicker of hope. With slight hesitation, he asked,
"Grandmother… can you help Taran?"
Isabella's expression darkened as she placed a hand on his shoulder while still holding Lira. "I'm sorry, Luis. His spirit is already gone."
Bane stepped forward before Luis or Isabella could continue speaking.
"Sera, let me interrogate the soldier. Send one of the Xoliti Clan members with me. We'll figure out how they were able to get in undetected. Also, get the rest of the clan members into your shadow prison. We need to get out of here."
Sera nodded and looked at Freyheart.
Freyheart's voice rang out.
"Flameborn Connection."
An invisible pulse radiated out of him in a 2 km radius with clear instructions.
"Everyone, please don't be afraid of the shadows clawing at your feet. Enter them voluntarily. We've been discovered, and we need to leave. Spread the message outward. If you have the Flameborn Connection blessing, use it as well and repeat everything I said."
Sera's shadow prison was very weak at pulling enemies in herself. She could cover the entire five kilometres radius and try to drag everything in, but after ten meters, unless it was voluntary, she wouldn't be able to drag anyone in. This was why Freyheart needed to inform everyone.
Freyheart's blessing would only contact those who were part of the Phoenix Clan or those he had designated to inform. He was only able to designate ten individuals who were not Phoenix Clan members, but he didn't need more than ten right now.