We traveled beneath a sky stained with pale green clouds—an aurora that hadn't been there the day before. Cira said it was a reaction to Divin fluctuations, ripples in the boundary between thought and form.
In other words, reality was shifting again.
And the Mark was drawing attention.
We moved cautiously through the Ravenspire Ridge, following narrow mountain passes until the path dipped into a stone basin cradled by cliffs. There, nestled in the shadow of a broken peak, lay a small village carved into the canyon wall—Varn's Hollow.
It looked unassuming. No flags. No guards. Just scattered wooden buildings and cloth canopies. But as we passed beneath the worn arch marking its entrance, I noticed the faint hum beneath the ground.
Divin shielding. Hidden pathways. Surveillance glyphs masked as lanterns.
Cira wasn't lying—this was an Ouro Division outpost.
But something felt… off.
A Hollow Welcome
The villagers greeted us with nods and silence. Their eyes lingered a little too long on our faces. Their postures were relaxed, but never unaware.
We were taken to an inn carved into the stone itself. Clean. Sparse. Lit by everburn crystals that flickered with artificial steadiness.
Kieran stood near the window, eyes scanning every movement in the square. "They're watching us."
Elara placed a satchel on the table, undoing her cloak. "Of course they are. We're fugitives with a bounty higher than a city's treasury."
Darian flopped onto the only cot. "Maybe they're just uncomfortable sharing oxygen with the Marked One."
I didn't laugh. Neither did Cira.
She paced the room, frowning. "Something's wrong. There should've been a welcoming contact—an Operative or at least a data courier."
"You think it's been compromised?" I asked.
She looked at me grimly. "Or worse… turned."
The Silencers
It happened during the second night.
I couldn't sleep. The Mark on my arm was restless, the golden lines occasionally flickering with faint pulses of heat. I'd wrapped it in cloth, but the energy it gave off couldn't be hidden—not from those who knew how to feel for it.
I stepped outside for air.
The canyon walls loomed like giants in the starlight. Everything was still.
Too still.
Then I saw it—a shadow breaking formation across the rooftops. Then another.
A flicker of movement near the northern wall.
A whisper in a language I didn't recognize.
I turned—
And a blade passed where my throat had been a second ago.
The Ambush
The figure wore robes of black and gray, face hidden behind a featureless iron mask. No eye holes. No insignia. Just silence.
He struck again—faster than a normal human should move—but I was faster. I activated Temporal Dissonance, slowing the air around us, giving me just enough time to roll beneath the strike and draw my dagger.
A second attacker dropped behind me. Then a third.
They didn't speak. They didn't hesitate.
And they weren't here to capture. They were here to kill.
I reached out with the Mark, channeling Divin Force through the earth.
The ground rippled and surged, throwing one attacker backward into a stone wall.
The other lunged—
A flash of blue light erupted from the inn as Kieran blinked into the fray, slicing across the attacker's shoulder with precision.
"They're already inside!" he shouted.
The Hollow Burns
We moved quickly.
Darian burst out of the front door, flames swirling around his arms as he launched a blast of fire into a nearby rooftop. A masked attacker leapt through the inferno, landing hard beside me.
Elara followed, using pressure runes to launch herself skyward, then slamming down into two more enemies with enough force to crater the stone beneath them.
Screams filled the air—not from the villagers, but from the Silencers. Their mission was failing.
Cira fought with a staff that unfolded into a whip-blade, cutting through two enemies before pinning a third against the wall with a flick of her wrist.
"We need to move!" she shouted. "This settlement is compromised!"
I nodded, stepping forward to cover our retreat when one last attacker surged from the shadows.
He wasn't like the others.
He was bigger, covered in Divin-plated armor with a symbol carved into the chest: the upside-down eye of silence, black and gleaming.
He raised a two-handed hammer that distorted the air with every swing.
And he charged straight at me.
The Executioner
We clashed in the center of the square.
His hammer came down with enough force to shake the canyon floor. I barely sidestepped in time, using the Mark to displace into a nearby ripple in space. I reappeared behind him, slashing with my dagger—but the blade bounced off his armor like it hit a wall of steel and thought.
He turned, faster than he should've, and slammed the hammer into my side.
Pain exploded through my ribs.
I hit the ground hard, gasping for air.
"He is not ready," the Executioner said, voice metallic and low. "The Harbinger sees him… and finds him lacking."
"Then the Harbinger can come say it himself," I hissed.
I reached inward, deeper than before.
The Mark responded.
The crown symbol glowed brighter—and this time, it spread. Gold lines raced across my chest and down my other arm, branching into a network of light.
The world stilled.
And I moved.
The Rise of the Crown
I stepped forward, each motion bending space around me. The Executioner swung—missed—then staggered as I appeared above him, slamming a Divin-forged blade of pure will into his shoulder.
He roared.
I dropped low, twisting space around his legs and flipping him into the air.
He slammed down hard.
Darian caught the cue and unleashed a wall of fire, trapping the Executioner in a ring of burning heat.
Kieran blinked in and delivered three precision strikes into the weak points of the armor.
Finally, Elara slammed her gauntlet into the ground and shattered the stone beneath him, sending shards through the gaps in his plating.
The Executioner twitched—
Then stilled.
The Mark on his chest flickered once.
And vanished.
Aftermath
Cira scanned the bodies, grim-faced. "These weren't just Silencers. They were elite. Targeted strike team."
"They knew we were coming," Elara muttered. "They didn't just find us. They planned this."
I knelt beside the Executioner's broken form and looked at the blackened sigil burned into the ground where he fell.
It wasn't just a threat.
It was a message.
"You are not alone. But you are not safe."
The Mark on my arm pulsed again.
And in my mind, I heard the Harbinger whisper:
"You wear a crown now. Let's see how long before it breaks."