Astris City—vast, crowded, and restless—sprawled beneath a moonless sky. Nearly a hundred thousand souls were asleep within its walls, yet the city breathed like a living beast: fires flickered, wind whispered through alleys, and the faint toll of the midnight bell echoed from the temple quarter.
Up on the fifteen-ter-high city wall, two weary guards huddled by a brazier. Flas danced wildly in the wind, throwing long shadows against the stones.
"It’s colder than a grave tonight," one of them muttered, rubbing his hands together.
"Colder every night this week," the other replied. "Half the watch still to go. If I close my eyes, I’ll freeze where I stand."
"Then go on—sleep a bit. I’ll wake you if the captain cos."
"Ha! Not a chance. You just want to take the next shift too."
They chuckled quietly, the sound small against the roaring wind.
Then—a scrape.
Sothing—a whisper of motion—climbed the outer wall. Before either man could turn, a shadow vaulted over the parapet and landed between them. Two sharp blows cracked through the night. Both guards collapsed before they could cry out.
The intruder straightened.
A woman stood there—tall, lean, her cloak fluttering in the cold wind. Purple eyes glowed faintly in the firelight, cold and sharp as drawn blades.
"Back again," she murmured to herself. Her na was Yanlu.
She looked out over the dark expanse of Astris City, the heart of the Astris Kingdom—a place she once called ho, now the lair of her enemies. The wind tugged at her cloak as she exhaled, then leapt from the wall.
For an instant she fell like a shadow, then drew the long knife strapped across her back. Steel flashed—clang!—as the blade bit into the wall. The jolt slowed her fall, sparks scattering into the darkness. With a practiced twist, she flipped, wrenched the blade free, and landed silently on the cobblestones below.
Yanlu moved quickly, slipping through narrow alleys where lamplight never reached. Patrols passed within ters of her, their boots ringing against stone, but she was gone before their torches turned her way. She scaled walls, crossed roofs, and slipped through the open windows of sleeping houses like a ghost until she reached the inner district.
There, beneath a bare tree, stood a quiet courtyard. The house looked ordinary—shutters drawn, no light within. Perfect.
Yanlu pulled a folded piece of beast-hide from her cloak, tied it around a small stone, and tossed it lightly over the wall. The faint clack of stone on wood was lost in the night.
Her ssage had been sent.
Without waiting for a response, she turned and vanished down another street, heading for the outer quarter.
The house she entered looked lived-in—soone’s laundry still hung by the window—but it had once been a safehouse for her four-person team. They had abandoned it years ago, after the fall.
She’d knocked the current occupants unconscious with quiet precision and now stood alone in the dusty main room, cloak drawn tight, breathing slow.
The sll of the place—the dry rot of wood, the faint scent of oil lamps—felt achingly familiar.
This will do for the night.
Her mission had gone awry. She had ant to draw away a fifth-order specter, one of the monsters called "Strange Ghosts," but instead had been pursued by three fourth-tier ones. She’d slain them, but the fight had delayed her too long. Now she was behind schedule, and her allies—Alina, Elara, and the others—were waiting.
"They’ll be fine," she whispered to herself, though her brow furrowed.
If she wanted to survive this city, she needed information. And there was only one person left she could trust enough to ask.
Half an hour later, a faint sound broke the silence.
Crack.
Yanlu’s eyes snapped open. Her hand found the hilt of her knife.
A shadow moved past the window. Then, with the grace of a cat, a tall figure slipped inside.
Steel hissed from its sheath—Yanlu’s long knife slashed through the air toward the intruder.
The other woman’s leg rose in a fluid arc, boot eting steel with a ringing clang. Sparks scattered between them.
"You’re still as cold as ever," the newcor said, her tone calm but familiar.
Yanlu’s blade hovered for an instant before she drew back and slid it into its sheath. "You’re late, Nakisha."
Nakisha pushed back her hood, revealing a face both sharp and beautiful—a fox’s grace in human form, long waves of cyan hair glinting faintly in the dark.
"I was resting," she said with a half-smile. "But when a defector climbs my city wall, rest becos a luxury."
Yanlu lifted her own hood, revealing short, shoulder-length purple hair and the unyielding gaze that had once made her a legend among assassins.
"I ca to ask you sothing."
Nakisha’s smile faded. "Do you really think I’ll answer?"
"You know why I’m here," Yanlu said softly. "You know what I’m looking for."
Nakisha studied her in silence. Then, at length, she sighed. "Minnie told you, didn’t she?"
"Yes."
Minnie—another from their old team. A woman who had fled Astris and whispered the forbidden truth before vanishing.
"Is she dead?" Nakisha asked, voice trembling.
Yanlu shook her head. "No. I let her go."
Nakisha’s shoulders eased, though her eyes stayed shadowed. "Good. She deserved that rcy."
Then her gaze hardened again. "You’ve been gone for years, Yanlu. Why return now?"
"I need to know about the Strange Ghosts."
Nakisha stiffened. "You were hunted by them, weren’t you?"
Yanlu’s eyes flickered. "So you do know."
"I know enough," Nakisha said, stepping back, her hand brushing the dagger at her belt. "But I won’t tell you."
Yanlu’s expression cooled. "You don’t want revenge anymore?"
The question struck like a knife. Nakisha’s throat worked before she found her voice. "You don’t understand."
"Then make ."
Nakisha turned away, her shadow long against the wall. When she faced Yanlu again, her eyes glead—not with anger, but sorrow.
"Do you know what your return ans?" she said quietly. "You’ve given an opportunity."
Yanlu’s grip tightened on her blade. "What opportunity?"
"The kind that might buy a place inside the Council."
Yanlu’s eyes narrowed. "You sold out."
Nakisha’s jaw clenched. "The house is surrounded. You can’t escape."
The air thickened between them, charged with tension.
"Then fight ," Yanlu said.
Nakisha’s steps were light, deliberate, as she approached. "Listen to first."
She stopped an arm’s length away, close enough that Yanlu could sll the faint scent of iron and rain on her cloak. Nakisha leaned close, whispering sothing into her ear—words ant for her alone.
When she drew back, Yanlu’s face was unreadable. "That’s your plan?" she said finally.
Nakisha nodded once, her teeth sinking into her lip.
It was madness—but it made a cruel kind of sense. Nakisha intended to offer up a captured "defector" to regain the city’s trust. Once inside, she could get close to the real enemy—the ones who had ordered the massacre of her family.
Yanlu’s knife trembled slightly in her hand. Then she smiled, faintly, bitterly. "Do it, then. If it brings you closer to revenge."
Nakisha’s breath caught. "Damn you, Yanlu. Why did you co back?"
She moved before she could stop herself, kicking off the ground—her long leg snapped out like a whip.
Yanlu didn’t block. She only whispered, "As long as we can avenge them, it’s worth it."
The kick caught her shoulder with a brutal crack. She flew backward, smashed through the wooden wall, and hit the street outside.
Nakisha lunged after her, heart pounding.
Outside, her team was waiting. They’d already seized Yanlu, her arm hanging limp, blood streaking her face. She t Nakisha’s eyes and smiled faintly through the pain.
Her lips moved soundlessly:
No need to grieve for .
Nakisha froze. Tears burned her eyes. The torchlight blurred, and for a heartbeat she could see all of them—Ariel, Alina, Elara, Minnie—faces of comrades lost to the city’s lies.
All of them had burned with the sa fire: revenge. Even if it ant death.
Even if it ant becoming monsters themselves.
Yanlu’s gaze held hers one last ti before her captors dragged her away.
Nakisha turned sharply, pulling her hood back up to hide the tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Captain," one of her n asked softly, "what should we do with her?"
Nakisha swallowed hard. Her voice ca out low, hoarse. "Lock her up. The captain will return in a few days. I’ll... report it then."
The man hesitated, then nodded. "Yes, ma’am."
As they carried Yanlu into the dark, Nakisha stood motionless in the alley, fists clenched, staring into the shadows.
She had her chance now—her way back into the heart of Astris City.
But the cost of it bled out on the cobblestones behind her.
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