The Crow Market
It was never marked on a map.
You didn't find the Crow Market by searching.
You found it when you had nothing left to trade—except pieces of yourself.
It wasn't a building.
It wasn't even a place.
It was a time.
A moment between midnight and morning, when the city breathed differently, and the forgotten crept out of cracks to remember what they'd lost.
I got there just after 3:17 AM.
Not because I meant to.
Because that's when the street signs began to shift.
Because a crow landed on my shoulder and whispered,
"Come and see what's been buried in your name."
The alley twisted into a corridor of rotting fabric and lanterns made from cracked skulls.
Stalls stretched out in both directions, manned by figures in veils, masks, or no faces at all.
And on every table:
Bottled screams
Names written on skin
Teeth, still warm
Hearts that hadn't stopped beating
Behind it all, watching from high beams like gargoyles — the Crows.
Seven of them.
Black-plumed. Hooded. Human once.
Now, something else.
📍 [You have entered: The Crow Market]
▸ Barter requires sacrifice
▸ Lying here has consequences
▸ All debts are remembered
Current Value: 1 Bound Soul (Maren)
➤ Corruption: 23%
"Three heard the bell. Two have arrived."
They were already here.
The first Returner I saw stood beside a table of bone-etched rings.
She wore a red scarf, her black hair braided with teeth.
A jagged cut ran from the corner of her lip to her jaw—stitched shut with funeral thread.
But her eyes?
Kind. And tired.
She nodded at me once.
"You're him. The one who rang the bell."
"I'm not here to kill you. But the one behind me is."
I turned.
He was tall. Pale.
Eyes like burnt coal.
A black suit without a wrinkle.
He didn't walk around people.
They walked around him.
✅ [Returner Identified: Lorne Vale – Class: Echo Reaper]
History: Former undertaker. Failed to bind his twin brother. Now takes vengeance on all who ring the bell without license.
❌ Status: "You are marked for erasure."
He will not wait long.
Lorne stopped ten paces away.
No words.
He held up a lantern carved from bone and shattered it against the ground.
From the smoke, a figure crawled — hunched, faceless, weeping.
Bound to him.
His twin.
And then Lorne said only this:
"You're a walking grave. Let me bury you properly."
He raised his hand.
The ground split.
⚠️ [Combat Event Initiated – Soul Duel: "Reaper vs Echo Host"]
Rules: One bound soul. No outside interference.
Victory unlocks: Access to Reaper's Memory Shard
Loss: You will be buried alive. Literally.
Maren surged forward inside me.
"We can win this. But you'll have to let me in fully. No walls."
"You trust me?"
I didn't answer.
Instead, I reached inside.
Tore down the walls.
Let her burn.
My skin turned cold.
My heartbeat stuttered.
But my vision sharpened—like I could see between seconds.
Maren's voice layered over mine.
Together, we whispered:
"We are not alone in this grave."
Then we lunged.
TO BE CONTINUED...