The moon in the Demon Realm was not a sphere of light; it was a weeping eye of crimson, casting a sickly hue over the Citadel of Thorns. Beneath its gaze, the thirty survivors of the Pit stood in a circle, their breaths frosting in the midnight air.
At the center of the circle lay a heap of weapons jagged, rusted, and hungry.
"The rules are as thin as your loyalty," the Lady of Thorns announced from her balcony. She held a glass of fermented soul-essence, swirling the swirling violet liquid. "At dawn, only four of you must be standing within this circle. If there are five, I kill you all. If there are three, the strongest among you will be executed for being too slow to save your sisters."
She leaned forward, her voice dropping to a seductive hiss. "Begin."
For a heartbeat, there was silence. It was the silence of a held breath before a plunge. Then, the screaming started.
The Descent into Madness
Dessy didn't move for the weapons. She knew the center was a death trap. She grabbed Kaelith by the arm and ducked behind a pillar of obsidian just as Vane the girl with the filed teeth swung a heavy iron mace into the skull of the girl standing next to her.
"Stay behind me," Dessy hissed, her eyes scanning the chaos.
The training yard turned into a slaughterhouse. These weren't soldiers; they were children raised on hate and hunger. They fought like animals, using teeth, nails, and broken shards of stone.
"Dessy, look out!" Kaelith shrieked.
A girl named Janna, who had shared her bread with Dessy only two days ago, lunged from the shadows. Her eyes were glazed with a primal terror. She held a jagged shard of glass, aiming straight for Dessy's throat.
"I'm sorry!" Janna sobbed as she swung. "I want to live! I want to live!"
Dessy parried the blow with her forearm, the glass slicing a deep gash through her leather bracer. The pain was sharp, but it was the look in Janna's eyes that hurt more. This was what the Lady wanted to prove that "pure hearts" were just a myth.
Dessy didn't use a weapon. She stepped into Janna's guard and struck her in the solar plexus with the heel of her palm. As the girl doubled over, Dessy grabbed her by the hair and slammed her head against the obsidian pillar. Janna went limp.
"Don't kill her," Kaelith whispered, her face pale.
"If I don't, someone else will," Dessy said, her voice sounding cold even to her own ears. "But I won't be the one to do it. Move!"
The Rise of the Ruin-Sisters
By the time the moon reached its zenith, the thirty had become ten. The yard was slick with black blood, and the air was thick with the scent of copper and sweat.
The strongest had separated themselves.
• Vane stood over a pile of bodies, her mace dripping.
• Sora moved like a literal shadow, her twin daggers finding the gaps in armor with surgical precision.
• Dessy and Kaelith held the northern corner, a two-person fortress.
Vane turned her predatory gaze toward them. "The Solaris brat and the Weakling," she spat, wiping blood from her mouth. "You've survived long enough by hiding. Let's see how your 'Hero' blood tastes."
Vane charged. She was a mountain of muscle, her mace whistling through the air with enough force to shatter bone. Dessy pushed Kaelith aside and met the blow with a stolen iron sword.
The impact vibrated through Dessy's teeth. She felt the Second Seal in her chest pulse a warning. Not yet, she told herself. If I show the light now, the Lady will experiment on me like an animal.
"You're fast," Vane grunted, swinging again. "But you're soft! You're trying to protect her!" She jerked her head toward Kaelith. "In this world, weight only holds you down!"
Vane shifted her aim. She didn't strike at Dessy; she threw her mace at Kaelith.
"No!" Dessy screamed.
She threw herself in front of Kaelith, the heavy iron head of the mace slamming into her shoulder. Dessy felt the bone crack. She went down hard, the world spinning in shades of red and black.
The Spark of Betrayal
Kaelith stared at Dessy, who lay gasping in the dirt. Then she looked at Vane, who was walking toward them, drawing a serrated knife.
"Please," Kaelith begged. "Vane, stop. We can all survive. There are four spots!"
"There are four spots for the strong," Vane sneered. "And you, Number 22, are a parasite."
Vane lunged. But she didn't hit Kaelith.
Kaelith had found a discarded vial of "Liquid Shadow" a combat stimulant used by low demons. Without a second thought, she smashed it against her own chest. The dark glass cut her, but the fluid seeped into her veins.
Kaelith's eyes turned a solid, terrifying violet. She didn't scream; she let out a sound that was half-hiss, half-sob. As Vane reached her, Kaelith moved with an unnatural, jerky speed, driving a broken dagger into Vane's thigh.
"Get... away... from us!" Kaelith roared.
The stimulant gave her the strength of a demon, but it was eating her from the inside. She began to claw at Vane's face, her fingernails tearing flesh. It wasn't a fight; it was a mental breakdown turned violent.
The Dawn of the Daughters
"Enough!"
The Lady of Thorns descended from her balcony, landing silently in the center of the yard. She looked at the carnage with a satisfied purr.
Four girls remained standing or crawling.
Sora, untouched and silent.
Vane, clutching her bleeding face but still alive.
Kaelith, shaking as the violet poison began to recede, leaving her weak.
And Dessy, standing up despite her shattered shoulder, her eyes burning with a silent, terrifying promise of revenge.
"The four Daughters of Ruin," the Lady announced. She walked to Dessy and traced the line of her jaw. "You saved the weak one again. How touching. I wonder... when the time comes to harvest the King's soul, will you still be so eager to bleed for her?"
The Lady waved her hand, and four brands of violet fire appeared in the air. They slammed into the girls' foreheads, searing the symbol of the Citadel into their flesh.
"Tomorrow, you teleport," the Lady said. "The human world has forgotten what it means to fear the dark. Go there. Collect the souls. And find the Spire."
As the Lady walked away, Kaelith reached out to touch Dessy's good arm. "I... I did it, Dessy. I saved you this time. I used the shadow."
Dessy looked at her friend. She saw the violet stains beneath Kaelith's fingernails. She saw the desperate, hungry look in her eyes the look of someone who had tasted power and liked the flavor of the poison.
"You did," Dessy said quietly. But for the first time, she didn't hug her.
She looked up at the red moon, and for a fleeting second, she remembered the smell of a golden manor and the sound of a father's voice. The sun is gone, she thought. And I am the only one left to remember the light.