Seori was in danger.
“She’s bleeding,” I whispered, eyes widening as I saw flashes of her pain — white walls, screaming wards, silver blades near her spine.
They tried to sever it.
“Jisoo!” I barked, shoving myself upright. My body was trembling, rage barely contained. “They touched the bond. They touchedher.”
Jisoo appeared in seconds, wild-eyed, shirtless, a dagger in each hand like he'd been sparring with ghosts.
“What do you mean they touched it?”
“She’s in the Guild. And they tried to break it,” I said through clenched teeth.
Taeyang growled low, the air around him rippling with wrath.
“Then we burn them to ash.”
“No,” I said sharply. “Not yet. Not without getting her and the others out.”
“Others?” Jisoo blinked.
“Yuna. Minji. They were with her. If the Guild’s declared them traitors, they’ll be imprisoned — or worse.”
“They won’t kill her,” Taeyang muttered. “She’s bonded to you. Even those bastards fear what’ll happen if they break something ancient.”
“Maybe not intentionally,” I said. “But fear makes monsters of men. We’ve seen what they’ll do when cornered.”
Jisoo’s jaw clenched, but then his grin crept in — slow, razor-edged.
“Then we cornerthem.”
I nodded once. My flames had steadied now — but the bond still throbbed beneath my ribs like a heartbeat not entirely my own.
“I want you to lead the outer distraction,” I told Jisoo. “Fire and flash. Make them think the attack is coming from the west wall.”
He smirked.
“I do love making an entrance.”
“Taeyang — break the prison wards. Get to the lower vaults. You’ll find Yuna and Minji.”
“What about you?”
“I’m getting her.”
The Guild took what was mine. Touched the one thing I swore I would never lose. And now, I will show them what happens… when a prince remembers his crown. And let the fire burn.
--------???--------
The last time I walked these halls, I showed restraint. Not tonight. Tonight, I came to end them.
My boots echoed over sacred stone, ash and ward-fire trailing behind me like a cloak. Jisoo flanked my left, blades out, laughter already dripping from his tongue like poison. Taeyang was on my right — silent, focused, and ready to kill.
The front gates didn’t stand a chance. The holy wards? Shattered with a flick of my hand. The sacred lights dimmed the second I stepped into the Guild.
Because shadows don’t ask permission. It swallows everything.
They tried to stop me at the corridor bend — five hunters with spirit-forged weapons.
