Smoke blackened the horizon as Seina stood on the ramparts of Ghallan’s Gate. Below her, armies stirred—some loyal, others bought with Annora’s poisoned coin. But all of them were here for the same reason.
The Bone Crown.
“She’s sending the Vulture Houses,” Kaydence muttered beside her, eyes narrowed on the moving banners in the distance. “She’s not coming herself.”
“She doesn’t need to.” Seina clenched her fists. “She’s the serpent. She waits for others to die before she strikes.”
Behind them, the fortress buzzed with preparation. Miro trained with the Ghostguard. Little Kiva, the child Seina had saved from the fire, braided Seina’s hair before battle. Jareth walked the halls, his scars echoing stories of betrayal and promise.
“I dreamt of fire last night,” Seina whispered.
Kaydence looked at her. “A warning?”
“No,” she said softly. “A memory.”
Of Feathers and Flame
The Vulture Houses attacked at dawn.
Winged war banners filled the air as arrows blackened the sun. Seina led the charge—no longer hiding, no longer afraid. Her blade met necks. Her fists cracked ribs. She fought like the ghost of every queen Annora ever tried to erase.
Miro fell beside her, a wound in his thigh. Jareth hauled him up, dragging him to safety.
Kaydence cleaved through the battlefield like wrath incarnate. “Protect the queen!” he roared.
“I’m not your queen,” Seina hissed as blood soaked her arms, “I’m your reckoning!”
Bodies fell. Steel sang. And when the dust cleared, the Vulture Houses had been clipped—but not broken.
A Knife in the Spine
In the aftermath, while they counted the dead, Kaydence entered Seina’s war tent, face pale.
“We caught one of the Vulture commanders.”
Seina raised a brow. “And?”
“He had a message. From Annora.”
He tossed a bloodstained scroll at her feet. She opened it.
‘If the crown must burn, let it be on your head.’
And beneath it—Annora’s sigil, the snake coiled around a bone blade.
“She’s not coming for the throne,” Seina said. “She’s coming for me.”
Kaydence nodded. “She wants to end your line completely. It’s not about power anymore.”
Seina looked up, fire flickering in her eyes. “Then let her come. But I swear to every ghost who’s ever whispered my name—I will end hers first.”
The wind over Ghallan’s Gate whispered secrets. Seina stood alone in the Hall of Mirrors, a forgotten chamber sealed beneath the throne room. Her reflection fractured across ancient glass, a dozen versions of herself staring back—warrior, daughter, queen, liar.
“Why did Mother hide this place?” she murmured.
At her feet lay the old emblem of her bloodline: a triangle carved into obsidian, its center filled with crimson resin. She touched it, and the floor trembled.
Behind her, the stone wall cracked open.
The Triangle Rises
Dust choked the air as Seina stepped into the hidden sanctum. Candles—unlit for years—sputtered to life as if called by her presence. Scrolls lined the walls, each one marked with the symbol of the Triangle.
A voice echoed through the chamber. “The last daughter awakens.”
It was not a ghost. It was a man—aged, hooded, and blind in both eyes.
“You knew my mother,” Seina said.
“I served her. And I failed her.”
He knelt, head bowed. “You are Scarlet Veil. But you carry another name now. Seina Sallow, child of flame and vengeance. The Triangle is yours.”
Behind him, three others emerged from the shadows—two women, one man. Branded with the same sigil on their palms.
“We were the guardians of the Blood Pact,” the woman with a falcon tattoo said.
“Your mother’s death broke the balance. The Bone Crown rose. And now... you must choose.”
The Blood Pact
As Seina read the pact—written in her mother’s hand—truth shattered everything she believed.
If the blood heir falls before her claim is fulfilled, the world will turn to ash. Only through the Triangle shall balance return. Only through Scarlet shall truth survive.
“I wasn’t just hidden to protect me,” Seina whispered. “I was hidden because if I died... everything ends.”
Kaydence burst into the chamber, sword half-drawn. “What is this place?”
“The beginning,” Seina said. “And the end.”
The Oath Reforged
That night, Seina stood before the surviving members of the Triangle. Firelight danced in her eyes.
“I swear on my blood, my name, and my vengeance: I will rebuild the Circle. I will end the Bone Crown. And I will burn Annora Fernsby from history.”
One by one, they knelt.
Kaydence hesitated... and then dropped to one knee.
“For the queen,” he said quietly. “Not the crown.”
Seina closed her eyes.
No longer a ghost.
Now, a reckoning.
To Be Continued...