The Sinner's Banquet

Blood for Blood

The heavy broadsword swung down toward my skull before I could even explain myself.

I threw my hands up, activating my shadow hand to block the massive steel blade. The impact slammed me backward into the wooden gate posts, sending a wave of pain straight down my spine. The dark claws on my right wrist groaned under the weight of Commander Vane’s sheer physical strength.

"Commander, stop!" Lyra stepped directly between us, holding her curved daggers out. "He is the only void user we have found in five years! If you kill him, our entire attack plan against High Priest Malakai falls apart!"

Commander Vane did not lower his weapon. His face twisted with deep, raw grief, his eyes fixed entirely on the red crystal glowing in his left palm.

"This boy stole my son’s life in the lower tunnels," Vane said, his voice cold enough to freeze the air around us. "Julian was an idiot who served the palace, but he was still my blood. I placed that red soul-mark on Julian when he was a child so I would always know if he was in danger. The mark transferred to this killer the second Julian died."

Dozens of Nightshade rebels in the courtyard pulled their weapons, forming a tight ring around us. Four elite mages raised their wooden staffs, their blue magic casting long shadows against the fortress walls.

I wiped a trail of blood from my chin, keeping my shadow hand raised. "Your son was dragging a beaten slave down to the mushroom caves to feed him to the ghouls," I told Vane, my voice steady. "He was a tyrant who enjoyed hurting weak people. I killed him to save a life."

"I do not care why you did it!" Vane roared, stepping forward again. "You are standing in my stronghold, wearing the clothes of a murderer!"

"If you kill him now, you hand the city to Malakai forever!" Lyra shouted, turning her dagger to point straight at Vane’s chest.

The courtyard went dead silent. The rebel fighters looked at Lyra in complete shock.

"Are you threatening your own leader, Lyra?" one of the mages asked, his staff glowing brighter.

"I am protecting our cause," Lyra answered without backing down a single inch. "My father died fighting the holy army twenty years ago. We have lived in these dark woods like wild dogs while Malakai drains the energy from the slums to feed his nobles. Ethan has the void magic needed to dissolve the core barrier. Personal revenge can wait until the city is free."

Commander Vane stared at Lyra for five long seconds. The blade in his hand trembled slightly, but he slowly lowered the tip to the ground.

"He stays in chains," Vane commanded, turning his back to me. "If he tries to leave this fort, cut off his legs. We move on the city core in three days. Once the barrier is down, he answers to me for Julian’s death."

Two heavy-set rebel guards rushed forward, clamping heavy iron bindings onto my wrists. They did not use sun-stone dust, but the iron was thick enough to make movement difficult. They dragged me across the wooden courtyard, shoving me into a small stone cell built into the side of the mountain.

The iron door slammed shut, locking with a loud click.

I sat down on the cold stone floor, resting my back against the wall. The void energy in my stomach was moving fast, slowly healing the bruises on my spine.

[Player Status: Level 21.]

[Stored Essence: 580 Units.]

[Warning: Faction Tension High. Nightshade Faction Loyalty: Hostile.]

"That girl is sharper than I thought," Kaelen said in my head. "She used Vane's hatred to keep you alive, but she also locked you into their war. She is just like your sister, kid. She uses people like tools to get what she wants."

"No," I thought, looking at the iron locks on my wrists. "Lily acts out of pure ambition for herself. Lyra acts out of revenge for her faction. They are both dangerous, but at least I know what Lyra wants."

An hour passed in total silence before the heavy door latch lifted again.

Lyra slipped into the cell, holding a small wooden bowl of soup and a leather bag. She set the food on the floor and closed the door behind her, leaving it unlatched.

"Vane will not kill you before the raid," Lyra said, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. "He needs your void hand too much."

"And after the raid?" I asked, looking up at her. "He will cut my head off the second the barrier breaks."

"Not if you follow my instructions," Lyra said, her dark eyes locking onto mine. She reached into her leather bag and pulled out a small, rolled-up blueprint. "Vane thinks we are going to attack the main gate of the power spire. But that is a trap. He wants to use you as a distraction so his main force can steal the treasury."

I leaned forward, my chains clinking against the stone. "He is sacrificing me?"

"Yes," Lyra stated coldly. "He intends to let you die at the front barrier while he takes the gold to build a new army in the western lands. He does not care about freeing the slums. He only cares about replacing Malakai."

She unrolled the blueprint on the floor between us, showing a complex map of the central palace.

"There is a second entrance to the magic core," Lyra explained, pointing to a narrow red line on the paper. "It runs right beneath Malakai's personal private quarters. If we go through here, we can steal the core’s source crystal for ourselves before Vane even reaches the main gate."

I looked from the map up to her calm, sharp face. "You want to betray your own faction leader?"

"Vane lost his vision years ago," Lyra replied, her voice completely steady. "He is driven by old grudges. I want to build a new system where the upper city cannot bleed the slums dry. To do that, I need that source crystal. And you need a way to survive Vane's sword."

Suddenly, the ground beneath the fortress shook violently.

A loud, ear-splitting boom echoed from the forest outside, followed by the sound of wooden walls splintering apart. Shouts of panic erupted throughout the courtyard.

Lyra pulled her curved daggers instantly, looking toward the ceiling.

A heavy boot kicked the cell door wide open. A rebel guard stood there, his face covered in blood and his armor torn to pieces.

"They found us!" the guard shouted, coughing violently. "High Priest Malakai’s holy knights are breaching the main gate! And... and the girl is leading them!"

I stood up straight, my heart dropping to the floor.

Lily stood on top of the outer wooden wall, wearing high council robes of silver and gold. Behind her, fifty elite holy knights raised their glowing spears as fire rained down on the rebel camp. She looked down at the chaos with a cold, victorious smile.