Ambush in the Moonlight – Trial by Shadows
The moonlight over the Rebellion compound was silver and silent.
Raghav stood on the rooftop alone, the last warmth of his duel with the Mirror Monk fading from his limbs. His body ached. His mind buzzed with unease. But for once, the Devourer rune didn't hum. It simply… listened.
A rare peace.
So of course, it didn't last.
---
He heard it before he saw it.
A faint hiss of wind—too soft for natural movement. Then a flicker in the air. A silhouette where no shadow should be.
Raghav's instincts kicked in. He ducked as a thin, black wire snapped over his head, slicing a scar into the steel beam behind him.
"Stealth kill attempt?" he muttered, already moving. "Really?"
He rolled across the rooftop, racket in hand before he realized he'd grabbed it. The fifth rune throbbed—not fully awakened, but aware.
A second shadow dropped from the sky.
And a third stepped through the wall like a ghost.
They weren't like the duelists.
No fanfare. No challenge. No names.
These weren't combatants.
They were Relic Wraiths—assassins trained by a hidden branch of the Rebellion, meant to erase threats without drawing light.
---
The first one attacked.
Raghav deflected the strike—but barely. The Wraith's weapon wasn't a racket. It was a short, thin rod—its relic manifesting in pure speed. The hits didn't come from one direction, but three, like echoes splitting midair.
He gritted his teeth and matched tempo. His own relic responded sluggishly—still recovering from the Mirror Duel. His vision blurred.
He backed off, buying time, thinking fast.
> I'm not at full strength. Can't overpower them. But I can outthink them.
---
The second Wraith launched—this one faster, with blades attached to his knees, slicing with every leap. Raghav dodged left—
And ran straight into the third.
The ambush had been designed for maximum synergy. Movement control. Blindside slicing. Psychological pressure.
Someone knew his patterns.
This wasn't just a hit.
It was punishment.
---
FLASHBACK –
Zern Kael screaming as the Devourer consumed his relic.
The Host's words: "Your relic remembers the taste of chaos."
> They're afraid of me.
The thought was cold comfort as a strike landed across his shoulder, blood blossoming instantly.
He stumbled.
Another hit.
He dropped to a knee.
The relic hummed.
> Let me out, it seemed to whisper.
Raghav hesitated.
Not yet.
---
But before the final strike landed—
A blur of steel and violet light crashed into the second Wraith.
A figure emerged from the smoke—hooded, masked, twin swords in hand.
The fourth Wraith?
No.
Ally.
"You're late," Raghav coughed.
The figure pulled off her mask.
Mira.
"You were supposed to rest," she said, slicing through the last Wraith's attack path with precision. "I take one nap and you collect assassins?"
"I'm popular lately."
---
Together, they fought back-to-back.
Raghav's racket whistled, Mira's blades sang.
He took the rhythm of her swings, matched his returns to her tempo.
Wraiths fell.
Two retreated into mist.
One died on the rooftop, face cracked open like glass.
The last one whispered before vanishing:
> "You should've died with your echo."
---
After the battle, Mira pressed a glowing seal onto Raghav's wound. He hissed.
"You're a magnet for trouble," she muttered.
"I didn't ask for that."
"No one asks," she said. "But now we have to act."
She reached into her coat and pulled out a scroll—sealed with three distinct symbols.
Raghav recognized them.
Three crossed rackets. A spiral of runes. A black eye.
"The Judges?" he asked.
Mira nodded. "They were already watching. But this attack? They'll act now."
---
Hours later, in a chamber veiled in darkness, a low voice echoed.
> "The Devourer woke its fifth gate."
Another voice replied, cold and aged:
> "And now it breathes where it should not."
A third voice—the oldest—sighed:
> "Then bring him before us. Before the Devourer eats the court from within."
---