The first light of morning crept through the canopy, pale and thin, painting the clearing in soft gold. The fire had burned down to glowing embers, their warmth fading into the cool breath of dawn. Mist curled low across the ground, drifting between roots and stones like the forest's own exhalation.
Siegfried stirred, blinking against the light. The weight of sleep clung to him, heavy but welcome after the long night. He pushed himself upright, stretching stiff muscles, and listened.
The forest was alive again.
Birdsong rose in scattered bursts, tentative at first, then swelling into a chorus that filled the clearing. Leaves rustled overhead as the breeze shifted, carrying the scent of dew and pine. Somewhere nearby, water trickled faintly a stream hidden just beyond the trees.
Vinrah was already awake, standing at the edge of the clearing with her arms crossed, eyes scanning the treeline. She glanced back at him, her expression unreadable but steady. "You slept," she said simply.
Siegfried nodded. "For a while."
The carriage door opened.
Ellina stepped out, her hood lowered, silver hair catching the dawn light like strands of living moonlight. Her blue eyes were clear, calm, though shadows of fatigue lingered beneath them. She moved with quiet grace, as though the forest itself parted for her.
The riders stirred, gathering their gear, tightening straps, preparing for the road. The clearing buzzed with soft activity, but Siegfried's gaze remained fixed on Ellina.
She paused at the fire's embers, studying them for a moment before turning to him. "The forest is calm," she said. "It will allow us passage today."
Siegfried rose fully, adjusting his sword belt. "And tomorrow?"
Ellina's lips curved faintly not quite a smile, not quite sorrow. "Tomorrow will depend on what waits in Gishtar."
The mist thinned as the sun climbed higher, burning away the shadows. Horses stamped and snorted, eager to move. Vinrah barked quiet orders, her voice sharp against the morning hush.
The retinue gathered.
The road awaited.
The retinue pressed onward as the morning deepened. Mist clung to the ground, curling around the horses' legs, before thinning as the sun climbed higher. The forest opened in places, revealing stretches of moss‑covered stone and tangled roots, then closed again into shadowed corridors where the canopy swallowed the light.
For the first hour, the road was calm.
Birdsong filled the air, bright and scattered. The riders spoke little, their voices hushed as though unwilling to disturb the forest's fragile peace. Siegfried walked beside the carriage, his hand resting near his sword, his eyes scanning the treeline with practiced vigilance.
By the second hour, the silence grew heavier.
The birds quieted. The wind stilled. Only the creak of wheels and the steady rhythm of hooves broke the hush. Vinrah raised her hand once, signaling the riders to tighten formation. Her gaze swept the shadows, sharp and unyielding.
Ellina remained within the carriage, her presence felt more than seen. Siegfried caught the faintest shift of the silk veil now and then, as though she watched the forest with the same intensity he did.
By the third hour, unease settled in.
The riders shifted in their saddles, hands lingering near weapons. One guard, a broad‑shouldered man named Corven rode closer to the carriage than usual, his eyes flicking toward it more often than the treeline. Siegfried noticed but said nothing. The man had always been quiet, his loyalty unquestioned. Still, something in his posture felt different. Tense. Coiled.
By the fourth hour, the forest seemed to hold its breath. Siegfried's grip tightened on his sword. The carriage jolted over a root.
Corven spurred his horse forward, breaking formation. His blade flashed in the morning light as he turned not toward the treeline, but toward the carriage itself.
"Protect the lady!" Vinrah shouted, her voice sharp as steel.
The riders reacted instantly, but Corven was already moving. His strike was aimed not at the forest, not at an unseen threat, but at Ellina Sorell.
Siegfried lunged, his sword meeting Corven's with a ringing clash. The force of the blow jolted through his arms, but he held firm, driving the assassin's blade away from the carriage.
Corven's eyes met his cold, focused, utterly devoid of hesitation. "She cannot reach Gishtar," he hissed.
Siegfried shoved him back, fury igniting in his chest. "You're no guard."
"No," Corven spat, circling his horse for another strike. "I am what your company failed to see."
The riders closed in, but Corven moved with deadly precision, cutting through their formation with practiced ease. His betrayal was not clumsy or desperate it was calculated, honed, the strike of a man who had waited for this moment.
Ellina's voice rang out from within the carriage, calm but commanding. "Do not kill him. He must answer."
Vinrah's blade flashed as she intercepted Corven's next strike, her face a mask of fury. "He'll answer with his blood."
Siegfried stepped between them, sword raised, his breath steady despite the chaos. "No. He's mine."
The forest erupted with sound the clash of steel, the shouts of riders, the pounding of hooves. The calm of the morning shattered into violence, the ancient woods bearing witness as loyalty fractured and the assassin revealed his hand.
Steel rang out as Siegfried met Corven's blade, sparks scattering in the morning light. The assassin pressed hard, his strikes vicious and precise, but Siegfried absorbed the blows with practiced endurance. Step by step, he drove Corven back, his sword cutting low, then sweeping high in arcs that forced the assassin to retreat.
"You're finished," Siegfried growled, pressing forward.
Corven's jaw tightened, sweat streaking his brow. His defense faltered under Siegfried's relentless assault. Step by step, he was forced toward the treeline, his blade clashing louder with each parry. Vinrah barked for the riders to hold formation, her eyes locked on the duel.
Siegfried ducked beneath a wild swing, slammed his shoulder into Corven's chest, and sent him staggering. His sword followed, cutting in a brutal arc that split the assassin's guard and left him exposed.
Corven stumbled, breath ragged.
Siegfried raised his blade for the finishing strike.
The carriage door burst open.
Ellina stepped into the clearing, her silver hair catching the lantern light, her blue eyes blazing with focus. She raised her hand, fingers splayed and spoke words sharp and resonant elven syllables that thrummed with ancient power.
The air thickened.
Corven froze mid‑strike, his body locked in place as invisible bonds wrapped around him. His blade hovered inches from Siegfried's throat, trembling against the unseen force.
The assassin snarled, straining against the magic. "Witch..."
Ellina's voice cut through his fury, calm but edged with steel. "Be still."
The forest itself seemed to echo her command as several voices followed slightly after her word as if hearing what was said in a cave.
Siegfried seized the moment, rolling free and snatching up his sword. He rose, battered but resolute, and pressed the blade against Corven's chest. Vinrah surged forward, her own weapon ready, and together they forced the assassin to his knees.
Ellina lowered her hand, the glow fading from her eyes, though her presence remained sharp and commanding. "Do not kill him," she said. "He must answer."
Corven spat, his voice dripping venom. "You cannot stop what waits in Gishtar. Lord Sabrin's plan is already unfolding in your absence you will do well to learn your place."
Siegfried pressed the blade harder, his voice low and cold. "Then you'll tell us who sent you."
"I'd rather die." he smiled with conviction as his physically bit down on something, foam began to pour from the corners of his mouth. A purple ichor began to spread through his veins a poison rushed through his body. His skin turning black, as his eyes reddened before blood and ichor flowed out and he collapsed to the ground in convolutions till he finally perished. The riders closed in, weapons raised, the clearing heavy with tension. The duel had ended not in Siegfried's defeat, nor in Corven's victory, but in revelation Ellina's power unveiled, the assassin dead, and the road to Gishtar darker than ever.
Silence fell over the clearing.
Corven's body lay twisted on the ground, his veins blackened, his eyes staring lifelessly into nothing. The stench of poison hung in the air, acrid and sharp, mingling with the faint smoke of the lanterns. The riders stood frozen, weapons raised, their breaths quick and uneven. As his body began to dissolve in front of them his bones skin and armor reduced to black puddle.
Vinrah was the first to move. She lowered her blade, her jaw tight, her eyes locked on what use to be a corpse. "He chose death over answers," she said bitterly. "That alone tells us how deep this goes."
Siegfried wiped sweat from his brow, his chest still heaving from the fight. He looked down at the assassin, fury simmering beneath his exhaustion. "He was ready for this. Whoever sent him knew he might fail."
Ellina stepped forward, her silver hair catching the lantern light, her expression unreadable. She knelt beside the body, her fingers hovering just above the blackened skin, not touching. Her blue eyes narrowed. "This poison is not of the human world. It is crafted to silence, not to kill swiftly. His masters wanted him to suffer for failing."
The riders shifted uneasily at her words.
Vinrah spat into the dirt. "Cowards. They send blades in the dark, then bind them with death."
Ellina rose, her gaze sweeping the clearing. "This was no lone betrayal. It was orchestrated. And it will not be the last."
Siegfried sheathed his sword, his jaw set. "Then we stay sharp. No one rides at our side without scrutiny."
The riders nodded, though unease lingered in their eyes. The forest seemed heavier now, the shadows deeper, as though the trees themselves had witnessed the assassin's end and carried the weight of it.
Ellina turned back toward the carriage. "We move. The longer we linger, the more the forest remembers."
Vinrah barked orders, and the riders fell into formation once more. The carriage door closed behind Ellina, the silk veil drawn tight.
Siegfried took his place beside it, his hand resting near his sword, his mind replaying the duel, the poison, the way Ellina's voice had bound Corven in place.
The road stretched ahead, darker than before.
And though the assassin lay dead, his words lingered like a curse: "You cannot stop what waits in Gishtar. Lord Sabrin's plan is already unfolding in your absence you will do well to learn your place."
Vinrah ordered the riders to push further down the road until the forest opened into a small clearing. Only then did they halt, leaving what remained of the assassin's body behind to rot among the roots. The air felt cleaner here, though the memory of his convulsions clung to them like smoke.
The riders moved with subdued efficiency, their voices hushed, their eyes still shadowed by suspicion. Horses were tethered at the edge of the clearing, stamping nervously, ears flicking at every sound. A fire was lit at the center, its glow pushing back the darkness but never quite banishing it.
Vinrah sat close to the flames, her blade across her knees, her jaw tight. "He chose death over answers," she said flatly. " Who is it that could possibly command that much loyalty?"
Siegfried stood at the perimeter, arms crossed, his gaze fixed on the treeline. His body ached from the duel, but his mind replayed every moment. "He was ready for this. Whoever sent him knew he might fail."
Ellina stepped forward from the carriage, her hood lowered, silver hair catching the firelight. She looked at each of them in turn, her blue eyes calm but unyielding. "Corven's betrayal was not his alone. He was bound to masters who want everything to go as planned. That will drive them to send more."
Her words steadied the riders more than any command could, though unease lingered. They had seen her power, felt it bind Corven in place, and though none spoke of it, the memory hung heavy in the clearing.
Ellina returned to the carriage, her veil drawn once more. The clearing settled into silence.
Vinrah took first watch, her silhouette sharp against the firelight. The riders lay down one by one, though sleep came slowly. Siegfried lingered near the flames, his sword within reach, his eyes drifting toward the carriage. He could sense Ellina's presence even through the veil, steady and unbroken.
The forest breathed around them.
The fire crackled.
As the night began to fall still and sleep began to take Siegfried, he heard a faint whistle cutting through the air. A loud thud followed by a groan and a wet cough his eyes snapped open.
"NO!!!!" his scream, guttural and filled with rage echoed through the silence like a knife slicing through the air.