Doom labored through the night.The torches of Cellok burned low, their flames wavering against the cold wind that swept through the marble corridors of the Liroid Temple.Rhel paced outside the birthing chamber, hands clenched, sweat beading on his brow.Night stood beside him, quiet as frost, her gaze fixed on the sealed doors.When the infant’s first cry broke the silence, it was sharp, almost too sharp, like the strike of steel.A Liroid cry.The doors opened.High Priestess Moon emerged first, her face unreadable.“He is strong,” she said.“A winter-born son… and his eyes already watch the world as if he sees more than he should.”Rhel nearly collapsed with relief as Doom stepped out, swaddling a small, raven-haired, green-eyed infant in violet cloth.Night’s stern expression softened for half a heartbeat.But before the family could settle into joy, a shadow stepped into the corridor.Rebellion Liroid.Evilside’s most trusted artisan, the one who had served through six generatio

A century passed, and the boy raised in a goddess’s shadow grew into a force whispered about in every kingdom.Snake Liroid was now one hundred years old.In mortal years, it was impossibly long, but in Liroid blood, shaped by Evilside’s hand, he stood in the full strength of early adulthood, his power coiled like a silent storm beneath his skin.Doom had birthed two daughters since Snake’s offering:Dark, ten years old, already defiant enough to ignite fear and admiration.Glass, only two, gentle and radiant as her father Rhel, with his same warm eyes and calm breath.The gap between their ages gnawed at Rhel’s heart sometimes.“How can a century divide siblings?” he asked Doom once.She answered without emotion:“Time does not move the same for those born first to Evilside’s gaze.”And that was that.The Children of DoomDoom was merciless in their training.Even Snake, beloved of Evilside, bled under her instruction.Dark rebelled daily, refusing orders, questioning authority, shat

The halls of Cellok burned with violet fire as Evilside herself presided over the rarest of ceremonies:The wedding of a Hunting Dog turned Assassin, and a Cirax redhead.Dragon Liroid and Linx of Cirexxenia.Every guild attended.Priests lined the columns in silver.Assassins in shadowed armor.Cirax maidens with hair like ruby flame.Even the lilies grew brighter, scent flooding the air with divine electricity.Doom and Rhel stood at the front with their children.Venom arrived with Slad and Asin, now a full-grown woman.Rebellion, Heartless, Puma, Nonia, and the elders filled the lower tiers.Snake, already infamous at barely 150 years old, walked behind Evilside as her shadow and chosen blade.The BindingLinx wore a gown of crimson silk layered with midnight-black veils.Dragon wore ceremonial assassin leather marked with the symbol of flame and root.Evilside descended the steps, expression unreadable.The black thread of her own hair was brought forth.“From root and vow,” Evil

The Liroid Academy was carved into the bones of a dead mountain, its halls spiraling like veins through stone.Every corridor whispered with the footsteps of assassins, priestesses, hunters, and strategists in training.In one of the inner courtyards, beneath the ancient obsidian tree, Dark Liroid sat with her closest companion:Scream Liroid, the veiled one.Scream’s body was wrapped from head to toe in enchanted cloth, every inch sealed except for her eyes, two piercing silver mirrors.Beneath her veil, her skin bore Liroid tar-marks written in scribbles so lethal that a single glimpse could kill a mortal instantly.She was feared.And adored.And utterly loyal to only two people: Evilside… and Dark.Dark paced, fury radiating off her like heat.“I cannot understand her,” Dark hissed.“My mother…Doom kills without reason. My father loved her. He served Evilside. He deserved better.”Scream tilted her head gently, voice low and muffled through the layers of enchanted cloth.“Dark… so

Doom had never been a patient woman.Especially not when it came to her children.Especially not when rumors reached her ears, rumors of Dark spending time in Kiv with a young king.When Dark and Scream returned from one of their scouting missions, Doom stood waiting at the Academy’s entrance, a cold wind twisting around her like a warning.Her eyes, sharp as knives, took in Dark’s relaxed posture, the faint smell of Kiv’s market smoke still on her clothes.“Dark,” Doom said, voice clipped,“We need to talk.”Scream immediately stepped back; she knew the storm that brewed between mother and daughter.Beroot Learns the TruthEarlier that same day, before returning home, Dark had told Beroot the Liroid laws, the ones that snuffed out spouses like candle wicks.How a Liroid mate had five short years before the curse claimed them.How a spouse could only live longer if they kneeled before Evilside and pledged their life to her service.Beroot listened with growing horror.“So if I marry y