Eyes in the Smoke

LOCATION: HOLLOW CREED TERRITORY — JUST OUTSIDE THE SANC8TUM

They walked back like ghosts.

No one really said anything.

Lucan was at the front, not because he wanted to be, but because they expected him to. Behind him were the others. Rivenna, Jareth, Serin, Zekk. Some new people. Some faces he didn't even know.

And a lot of people didn't make it.

He kept seeing flashes of the fight in his head. The screams. The way the ground cracked. The look of defeat in the Creeds eyes.

He wanted to scream or break something.

But he didn't.

---

The Hollow Creed sanctum looked worse than usual. Maybe because they were tired, or maybe it had actually gotten worse. The big banners were burned, the lights flickered like they were about to go out.

Lucan walked inside. Everything felt heavy. Like the air didn't want them there anymore.

---

LOCATION: MAIN HALL — HOLLOW CREED

They all just… dropped wherever they could.

Jareth sat down near a broken table. Rivenna leaned against a wall and started sharpening her blade. She didn't say anything.

Lucan stood in the middle and looked around. It wasn't a victory. But they were alive.

Then he looked over at Serin.

She was smiling again. Sort of. That weird smile people wear when they're pretending they're okay. She waved at someone, gave them a thumbs-up.

But she was holding her side.

Like, too often.

Lucan squinted. She caught him watching, and her smile got a little more real.

"I'm fine," she said.

He didn't believe her. But he didn't push.

Everyone was tired. Maybe she just needed rest.

---

LOCATION: SERIN'S ROOM — SHORTLY AFTER

The second the door closed, Serin dropped to her knees.

Hard.

She gasped. Tried to breathe. Couldn't.

Her hand was wet. She looked down.

Blood.

A lot of it.

It had soaked through her robe. Her side was cut worse than she thought. Something sharp must've broken inside her armor during the fight. She didn't notice it before. Or she did, but ignored it.

She pressed her hand against it and leaned back against the wall.

No one could know.

Not now. Not yet.

Lucan and Nareth had too much on their plates already. Verrick was probably waiting to tear everything apart again. And the others… they needed to see her as strong.

She shut her eyes.

"Just a few hours," she whispered. "Then I'll get help."

The room was quiet.

Except for the sound of her breath… and the blood dripping slowly onto the floor.

---

LOCATION: ASHVALE — PLAZA OF CLEANSING

The square was packed. Ashvale citizens stood shoulder to shoulder, eyes up, mouths shut.

On the high steps of the Sanctum's temple, a priest read from a scroll. His voice was loud. Too loud. Like he wanted to convince the crowd something holy was happening.

Below him, five prisoners knelt. Heads down. Hoods covering their faces. Shackled in silver glyph-binds.

One of them twitched.

The crowd gasped and the executioner raised the blade.

---

Somewhere above the crowd, half-hidden in a bell tower's shadow...

Two figures stood watching. Cloaks dark. Armor glass-like. They didn't move.

They were Hollowguards — from Mirrorhold. Sent by Seraphine. Eyes like ice, hearts colder. They'd come for one reason:

Nyza Velloren.

But none of the hooded prisoners matched her height. Or her scars. Or her fire.

She wasn't here.

The taller of the two Hollowguards exhaled slow.

"She's not among them."

"Then why show this?" the other whispered.

A pause.

"Distraction."

---

Across the plaza, leaning against a wine merchant's cart...

Three men in grey leathers watched too. Face half-covered, but their eyes were sharp. Too sharp.

They were Nightbounds. From Shadereach. Three of Ezekar's scouts.

There weren't here for Nyza.

They were here to count who else was here.

They'd already spotted the Hollowguards.

---

At the rooftop opposite...

A woman in golden-brown silks lounged lazily on a sun-warmed tile. A jeweled scorpion crawled over her wrist.

She was Mirageborn. From the Veiled Reach. Sent by Lady Nyssra to watch, not fight.

But her smile said: I could do either.

When the blade fell and the prisoner's head rolled — she sat up.

"I wonder," she said to no one, "which one of you will break the rules first."

---

LOCATION: ASHVALE — BACK ALLEY NEAR THE PLAZA OF CLEANSING

Later. After the heads stopped falling.

After the crowd scattered like flies off a corpse.

After the smoke curled into nothing.

The alley was quiet.

Until it wasn't.

Footsteps. Slow. Purposeful.

Then three shadows came from the right.

And two more from the left.

The Nightbounds.

The Hollowguards.

They stopped in the middle. No words. Just watching each other.

The air was thick — like it knew a fight was waiting.

Finally, one of the Nightbounds spoke. His voice wasn't loud. Just sharp.

"You saw what we saw. That wasn't Nyza."

One of the Hollowguards stepped forward. Her armor glinted like broken stars.

"She's still here. We're taking her back."

The tallest Nightbound smirked. His eyes didn't blink.

"Taking? Sounds like you're forgetting whose walls you're in."

A pause.

The second Hollowguard tilted her head.

"We don't care."

That did it, no warning just movement.

---

The alley lit up with glyph sparks and blade arcs.

A flash of glass.

A punch that echoed off stone.

A Nightbound flipped over a crate, landing hard.

A Hollowguard ducked, rolled, sliced upward.

Blood hit the wall.

Nobody screamed.

One Nightbound struck with both hands — sigils glowing on his fists —

but the second Hollowguard vanished in a shimmer, reappearing behind him and slamming him into the wall.

Two-on-three.

No backup.

No exit.

But neither side backed down.

This wasn't about Nyza anymore.

It was about lines.

About who blinks first.

---

Far away, on a wind-swallowed dune…

The Mirageborn knelt in the sand. Opened a scroll and inked a single line.

> "Hollowglass has moved. Shadereach too. Ashvale bleeds — but not alone."

She let the paper burn in her hand.

Then vanished into the wind.