Ashes and Oaths

Location: Tavara – District 7, Burned Out Zone

The ground was still warm with the memory of flames.

Ash curled upward in lazy spirals, dancing in the moonlight. The buildings in District 7 stood as broken silhouettes against the dark horizon—smashed windows, blackened walls, sirens echoing in the distance.

Victor Kane walked through the devastation with measured steps, his face unreadable beneath the haze of smoke. Behind him, Nora moved silently, scanning the ruins. Elite security flanked them, but neither Kane nor Nora seemed to need protection. They were the storm now.

"This," Nora muttered, crouching to inspect a melted datapad, "was meant to cripple more than just infrastructure. They wanted a symbol to burn."

Victor nodded slowly. "Let them burn symbols. We'll build legacies."

A comm-link crackled in his ear. Lena's voice came through. "We've recovered Kaleb's body. Confirmed dead. But no sign of the strategist woman. She's vanished."

Victor's jaw tightened.

"She was never going to die here," he said coldly. "This was a distraction from the start. She knew we'd find her trail. She wanted us to."

---

Location: Tavara – Inner Kane Estate, Rooftop Garden

Later that evening, Victor stood alone under the starlight, the garden eerily calm compared to the chaos earlier. The scent of scorched earth still clung to his clothes.

Nora approached from behind. "You've been quiet."

He turned, eyes softer now. "I remembered something my mother used to say. 'From the ashes of ruin, comes the oath of steel.'"

Nora tilted her head. "You think this was a test?"

"No. I think this was a promise."

He stepped toward her. "Someone out there thinks they can finish what the world started years ago. Erase my bloodline, undo everything we've built."

Her gaze met his. "And what do you say to that?"

Victor's voice was low. Unshaken. Absolute.

"I say—let them try."

---

Location: Unknown – Underground Hideout

Far away, in a dimly lit underground hideout laced with encrypted signals and arcane tech, Veyra stood before a small gathering.

A holographic map of Tavara shimmered in the air.

"We failed to destroy the system," she said. "But now, we've identified its heart."

She zoomed in on a glowing mark—the Kane estate.

A new voice spoke from the shadows. Masculine, cold, familiar.

"Then we strike from within. No more sabotage. No more games. We cut the serpent's head."

Veyra turned slowly. Her lips curled slightly at the sight of the new arrival.

"You're late."

The man stepped into the light—and the glint of his eyes was unmistakably royal.

"Only because I was busy… buying your war."