2025-11-20 07:10:33Miles away, deep in the heart of the Common Lands, there was a building that smelled of baking bread and old wood.
It was the “Sisters of Mercy” Orphanage.
A run-down, drafty sanctuary run by a group of tough-as-nails priestesses.
Pyralis Cinderfall sat on a small, wobbly wooden stool that was far too low for him. He was surrounded by children.
He wasn’t wearing his usual dark armor or his flirty, dangerous persona.
He wore a simple wool tunic, and his enchanted amulet softened his sharp features into something kind and approachable.
Across the room, Lyra Ashwood was helping the head priestess fold laundry.
She looked... different.
The haunting, emo demeanour was gone. The constant whispered conversations with the Echo were silent.
She was smiling. It was a small, shy smile, but it reached her eyes.
She looked peaceful here, among the orphans who had nothing, just like she once had.
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Chapter 41: A Noble's Grace
Kaelen was a true noble.Sure, he loved saving people’s lives and had established a clinic to help the helpless.He still disliked dirt and believed being poor does make up for a dirty mindset.The roar of the fight in the central ring seemed to dim as people noticed him.Men with scars and broken noses stared at the pretty noble boy who had clearly taken a wrong turn.Women in the crowd stopped watching the fighters to watch him, mesmerized by his cold, aristocratic beauty.Kaelen ignored them all.He walked straight to the bar."I require three ounces of Nightshade extract, a vial of refined mercury, and... let's say, two pounds of powdered Dragon-bone," Kaelen said to the bartender, a man with no neck and fewer teeth.The bartender laughed, wiping a dirty rag on the counter. "We don't sell baking supplies, princess. Get lost before someone decides you look pretty enough to keep."Kaelen sighed, a
Chapter 40: Aftershock
The walk back to the Yunis Estate was quiet.Pyralis moved through the shadows of the Industrial District with a mechanical rhythm, his metal feet making no sound on the cobblestones.He was covered in soot, dried blood, and the lingering, metallic smell of the foundry.He wasn't bleeding anymore—Kaelen’s potions were working their uncomfortable magic—but he felt lighter.Lighter, and infinitely colder.When he entered the wine cellar, the team was waiting.Bo looked up from his armor maintenance, his expression stoic.Elara stopped sharpening her knife.Lyra, who was playing cat's cradle with a string made of shadow, paused mid-weave.Elara was the first to move. She stood up from the crate she’d been sitting on, her eyes scanning him for new injuries."It's done," Pyralis said, his voice flat."Dead?" Elara asked softly."Buried," Pyralis corrected. "Deep."He walked past them to the map table.He picked up the dagger that pinned Fenris Bloodfang's sketch to the 'Target’ board.He s
Chapter 39: The Ghost of Grellin Pass
Pyralis was almost too late.But he had just enough time to duck, but the second claw came right after.It caught his shoulder, ripping through the leather and scoring the metal arm beneath.Pyralis grunted and slammed his metal fist into Fenris's ribs.It felt like hitting a brick wall.Fenris grabbed Pyralis by the throat and lifted him off the ground."Got you," Fenris growled.He squeezed.Pyralis gagged, kicking futilely. He clawed at the werewolf's arm.His vision began to spot.‘I can't breathe. I can't...’He needed a weapon.Any weapon.His hand brushed against something cold hanging from a chain nearby.A heavy, iron tong used for moving ingots.He grabbed it.He swung it with all his strength.CLANG.He hit Fenris directly on the ear—the one that wasn't missing.Fenris roared and dropped him, clutching his head.
Chapter 38: Fenris' Reason
Fenris didn't need to be told twice.With a roar that shook the rust from the rafters, he charged.Despite his injuries, the werewolf covered the distance in a blink.He launched himself into the air, claws extended, aiming not for a tactical strike but a sheer, overwhelming crush.He wanted to pin Pyralis to the grate and tear the truth out of him.Pyralis didn't block though. Blocking a charging werewolf on a suspended walkway was suicide.Instead, he dropped down, slamming his metal heel onto a rusted release pin he had identified hours ago.The section of grating beneath him swung open like a trapdoor.Fenris, mid-air and committed to the lunge, sailed right over Pyralis's head.But Fenris was a hunter.As he flew over the gap, his tail—a thick, muscular limb—lashed out, wrapping around a support beam. He swung, using his momentum to pivot in mid-air, and landed on the railing of the gantry with cat-like grace."Terrain traps?" Fenris growled, his eye narrowing. "You think falling
Chapter 37: No Distractions
The Industrial District stood as a skeletal reminder of the city's past ambition, a sprawling graveyard of brick and iron that the capital had chewed up and spat out decades ago.Massive industrial chimney stacks jutted into the smoggy sky like blackened ribs while the streets below were paved with rusted iron grates instead of stone.This forced the air to taste permanently of sulphur, wet ash, and the lingering memory of fire.It was abandoned now, mostly…The factories had moved closer to the mines in the north, leaving this district to rot in the cold shadow of the Wall.It was the perfect place for a ghost story.Pyralis Cinderfall stood at the gates of the Old Iron Foundry, the largest structure in the district and a labyrinthine complex of steel bars, blast furnaces, and cooling pits that plummeted deep into the earth.He uncorked the vial Kaelen had synthesized, and the scent of copper hit his nose instantly, sharp, and unmistakable."It really smells like... me," Pyralis mutt
Chapter 36: The Grellin Pass
Elara looked at the strange, beautiful woman and tilted her head a little.She was getting a sense of familiarity but then she lost it."Nice to meet you, Aris. So, what brings a girl with nice boots to the mud district? Running away from a husband?"Aris snorted, a surprisingly un-ladylike sound.She took a larger spoonful of soup, seemingly determined to conquer it."Running away from my family," Aris corrected. "They are... suffocating. Everyone expects me to be this... perfect, porcelain doll. To smile, to wave, to marry who they say, to rule what they say..." She trailed off, realizing she'd said too much. "To... run the family business."Elara nodded sympathetically. "Families are the worst. I don't have one anymore—lucky me—but I have a boss who thinks he's the centre of the universe. Silver-haired, arrogant, thinks he's a genius because he can read a map..."Aris's eyes lit up. "Oh, I know the type! My... cousin... is exactly
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