Chapter 64 Broken bonds

The screams echoed across the jagged rocks as the blackened moon hung heavy in the night sky.

The two assassins writhed beneath Rin's boots. Their bodies convulsed, veins twitching under the excruciating grip of the Dragon Brand. The cursed mark glowed faintly,cruel, elegant, and merciless.

Rin crouched beside the leader, his black armor stained with soot and scorched blood. His white eyes glowed through the visor slit like the eyes of a demon without pity.

"Tell me where the hostages are," he said quietly, "and I'll let you live."

The only response was more screaming. The second man,the one who had barely survived the earlier blast,was howling like a dying animal. Every breath he took was a gasp, every twitch an agony. He had lost his arm. The charred stump was still smoking.

Rin glanced at the leader. "He's in a lot of pain, isn't he?"

"Y-You monster," the man spat, his voice trembling. "You're not Solas. You're a devil in a dragon's skin."

Rin smiled faintly. "I see… you care for him."

He leaned closer, whispering into the leader's ear.

"Close friends? Or… brothers?"

The leader stiffened.

"Oh," Rin said, "I was just guessing. But that face of yours,priceless."

"Stop. Don't hurt him. Please."

Rin stood up slowly, stretching his back. "I don't have time."

In one swift motion, he grabbed the wounded man's remaining hand and ripped it off, a sickening tear of flesh and bone.

"NO! NOOO!!" the leader screamed, his voice raw.

Rin turned toward him, his tone mockingly casual. "So this was supposed to be a safe, easy family mission, right? A quick in-and-out, snatch a noble, maybe kill a few guards? Too bad."

The one-handed man was barely breathing, convulsing in a pool of blood. Rin ignited a pale black flame at the tip of his finger and pressed it to the man's body. It burned cold, unnaturally slow. The assassin's eyes rolled back in agony as his skin began to blacken and bubble.

"I'll burn him to death," Rin said flatly, "unless you speak. Now."

The leader choked. His pride shattered. His eyes darted from his brother's broken body to Rin's emotionless stare.

"P-Please… please stop… they're in the Redmire Ravine, under the eastern cliffside near the ruins. Hidden in the caves. I swear!"

The fire vanished instantly. Rin stood up, brushing ash from his gauntlet. "Good."

The leader gasped in relief as Rin backed away.

"You're free to go," Rin said. "But your brother is hurt… I'll take him with me."

The leader froze. He understood.

That wasn't mercy. It was a leash.

He would be left behind to guide Rin's incoming men. And if anything about that location was a trap… if Rin sensed the slightest betrayal, the brother would die.

The leader clenched his fists and nodded. "I… understand."

Without another word, Rin spread his massive white wings and took to the sky, vanishing into the night with the body of the charred assassin in no arms.

As they flew through the wind, the dying man groaned, "We'll never follow you. Not after what you did. That… event. The screams. You're evil…"

Rin didn't even glance at him.

"So kidnapping an innocent family wasn't evil?" he replied with a chuckle. "Relax. I'm not asking you to follow me."

He tightened his grip on the broken body.

"After I'm done with Kaelion, I'll hang your heads on the palace gates. Yours, your brother's, and your entire bloodline's. Just to remind people what betraying me looks like."

The man tried to respond, but coughed up blood and fell silent. His body dangled like a broken doll.

Minutes later, Rin stormed into Varros' war chamber, throwing the burnt man down before him like discarded trash. His armor was still hot from battle.

"We've got a location. Redmire Ravine. Caves under the ruins."

Varros looked at the half-dead figure at his feet, then back at Rin. He smiled thinly, bowing with a hand to his chest.

"Well done, Your Highness. I will personally retrieve the hostages. You've done more than enough."

Rin turned without a word, the echo of his armored boots fading into the stone halls.

And in that silence, even Varros had to admit

This was no boy prince.

This was a white-scaled storm.

And Kaelion had no idea what was coming.