Shadows In The Smoke

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The sun rose warm and gold over the village of Haldenreach, a quiet neutral haven nestled between the fractured realms. With its cobbled streets, modest homes, and open-air markets, it was the kind of place where travelers paused—where even war-battered souls dared to feel safe.

The group arrived in the late morning, dusty from travel but grateful for the break. No Queen's guards. No threats. Just soft wind, laughter from stalls, and the smell of roasted root and baked fruit.

Cain glanced around the market square. "No banners. No patrols. Looks clean."

"Feels too clean," Tarn muttered, eyes scanning rooftops.

Still, they needed supplies. Mira and Asteria volunteered to gather what they needed with the Nytherion currency they'd been gifted. The others stayed behind at a shaded bench near the fountain, watching the streets cautiously.

Haldenreach was a neutral village, protected by old treaties. Here, elemental abilities were forbidden—even blocked by enchantments woven into the stone roads and lantern flames. No fire would rise, no wind would whip, no water would obey command. It was the perfect place for enemies to hide in plain sight.

"So we keep low," Mira said as they walked between vendors. "No glowy hands, no floating pebbles, no catching falling apples midair."

Asteria smiled faintly. "Right. Just normal shopping."

They picked up dried meats, travel bread, a satchel of herbs, new boots for Tarn, and even a red scarf that Mira insisted looked better on Asteria than he admitted.

When the sun fell and the night lanterns were lit, the group settled at the edge of town in a quiet grove. A single campfire glowed at the center, the flames dancing gently.

For the first time in weeks, laughter rose freely.

Tarn told a story of the time he tried to wrestle a wild boar and ended up trapped in a barrel. Mira shared how she once faked a vision to scare a rival suitor away from her cousin. Even Cain cracked a rare smile when recounting the time he snuck into the Queen's outer court disguised as a courier and replaced the captain's boots with biscuits.

Asteria chuckled. "You're joking."

"Deadly serious," Cain said. "He didn't notice for ten minutes."

Valron nearly fell over laughing.

But not all were lighthearted.

Seri sat apart, quiet under a tree, her eyes distant. Asteria noticed and excused himself from the fire. He approached her slowly.

"You okay?"

She shook her head. "He used to sit with me like this. Darius. He'd never laugh loud but... he'd listen. When I couldn't sleep, he'd hum some old lullaby from the flame monks."

Asteria sat beside her, saying nothing at first.

"You know," he said softly, "I used to think strength was about standing tall. Not falling. But I think... it's also about letting someone miss you. And letting them go."

Her eyes shimmered. "I wasn't strong enough to protect him."

He met her gaze. "You carry him every time you choose to keep fighting. That's strength too."

She looked away, but her fingers brushed his lightly.

By the fire, Mira saw the exchange. Her laughter dimmed. Valron said something beside her, but she didn't catch it. Her gaze lingered on Asteria and Seri, and for the first time in a long while, something like jealousy curled tight in her chest.

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It was still dark when the muffled sounds came.

A yelp.

A crash.

Then Seri's voice—muffled, frightened.

The camp burst into action.

Cain rolled and grabbed his blades. Tarn and Valron rushed forward, Mira already flinging aside her blanket and leaping toward the scream.

They found her near the edge of the grove, struggling in the arms of three cloaked figures.

"Crimson Fang," Cain hissed.

No more hiding. No more balance.

They attacked.

Tarn slammed into the first one, shoulder-first, knocking the attacker back into a tree with bone-rattling force. Valron followed with a spinning kick that shattered a wooden club.

Cain ducked under a blade and swept low—earth cracked upward as he channeled power into the strike, toppling two more.

Mira summoned water from her canteen with a snap. The enchantments were weaker here—on the grove's edge. Water surged like a whip, wrapping around a fang's throat and slamming him to the dirt.

Asteria ignited his fists. Flame in one hand. Wind in the other. He danced between opponents—dodging a blade, then blasting a gust that hurled a Fang into the rocks.

Another lunged for Mira.

Valron intercepted, his fist colliding with the attacker's jaw. "Back off."

The fight raged.

One Fang hurled a net. Cain sliced it mid-air.

Tarn and Valron fought back-to-back, fending off multiple attackers with fists and elbows, their movements crisp and lethal.

Mira slipped through their ranks like flowing water, her strikes a mix of whip-fast lashes and freezing jolts.

Asteria turned in time to catch an incoming dagger with a flash of wind, then countered with fire that seared across two cloaks.

Cain took down a towering brute with a single precise strike to the throat.

The battle stretched for nearly an hour.

This time—they held their ground.

But the Fang kept coming, like waves of shadows.

And watching from the tree line… was Sevrik.

The Fang's leader.

His eyes never left the fight. He waited. Calculated.

When at last the last attacker fell—when the team was panting, bloodied, but victorious—he moved.

He flicked something into the clearing.

A glass orb.

It cracked.

A blast of dark smoke erupted. Asteria turned too late.

His vision blurred. The world tilted.

He hit the ground.

And through the smoke, he saw Seri—arms flailing, being pulled.

"ASTERIA!" she screamed.

Then the shadows took her.

The smoke cleared.

Sevrik was gone.

So was Seri.

Asteria lay still for a moment, stunned and breathless, fingers clawing into the dirt.

Then the others stumbled to his side.

Mira's voice was shaky. "Where is she?"

Cain's jaw clenched. "Taken."

Tarn punched the earth. "Damn it."

Asteria sat up, trembling with fury.

The fire around his shoulders sparked uncontrollably. The wind howled through the trees.

Mira touched his shoulder. "We'll get her back."

He nodded slowly.

Then stood.

"We leave at dawn. And this time..."

His eyes burned.

"We don't stop until she's safe. Or until he falls."

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