chapter 1: The fall

The wind whispered through the tall pines of the Tropwen mountain range, tugging at cloaks and stirring the dirt that clung to the boots of warriors. Blood stained the soil, still warm from the clash that had just torn through the heart of Clan Selaw. Smoke curled into the sky, blending with the thick fog that had rolled in after dusk. Among the scattered cries and the clash of steel, one voice was missing, the one Beynon longed to hear.

“Seren..” he whispered under his breath, pushing past and slashing the traitors that used to be part of their clan.

The betrayal had come fast and unexpected. Cearwynn, a member of the clan and once their mentor, he had turned against them traded in their clan secrets for money and power.

Beynon’s heart pounded not just from the adrenaline of the fighting, but also from fear. Seren had broken away from him when the fighting started. She always did things her own way, just as stubborn as ever. Once, that stubbornness had made her his rival. Now, it was one of the many things he loved about her.

They’d been rivals since the day they were old enough to hold a blade. Always wanting to be the best. Born into the same clan, trained in the same arts, always at each other’s throats during training. Every sparring match escalated. Every mission, a competition. They bickered like fire and ice, mocked and challenged one another endlessly. But in time, rivalry became respect. Respect became companionship. And somewhere along the path stained with steel and sweat, companionship became love. Love, he loved her so much. He could not imagine a world without. His soulmate.

But tonight... tonight that love was being tested by something far more sinister.

Beynon sprinted across the rocky pass, his boots crunching on loose gravel as the ground grew steeper. The mist thickened as he approached the edge of the high cliffs that overlooked the trashing sea. Lightning flickered across the horizon, illuminating the twisted silhouettes of trees that had grown crooked from years of wind. It started to rain. Showers from the sky. He couldn’t see properly in front of him, he looked around him searching for her, always searching for her.

Then he saw them.

Two figures stood at the edge of the cliff. her dark braid whipping in the wind, Seren. The other, a tall man with long silver hair, and an evil crooked grin on his face, Cearwynn.

Beynon froze.

Seren’s blade was at the ready, but even from this distance, he could see her breath falter. Cearwynn spoke, though Beynon couldn’t hear the words. He saw Seren’s posture stiffen, her head tilt slightly in confusion. A conversation between former student and master. A last chance for reason, perhaps. Beynon started to get a knot in his stomach and started walking- no running towards his love

And then, without warning, Cearwynn raised his arm.

“NO!” Beynon screamed, but his voice was lost to the wind.

A flash of silver. It sliced through the air, finding its mark with brutal precision.

Seren’s body jerked as the blade buried itself deep into her chest.

The impact forced her backward, and for one horrific heartbeat, time stood still.

And then she fell.

Over the edge.

Gone.

“SEREN!!” Beynon’s scream shattered the silence, raw and broken. He sprinted to the cliff’s edge, knees crashing into the stone as he looked down into the void. Nothing. Only the roar of waves far below and the swirling fog that swallowed everything.

He reached out, as if his hands could still catch her, but grasped only air.

“NO… NO, NO, NO…, no, no, no, no, please, no” His voice broke as he clutched the edge, his body shaking. She was gone, gone, gone, gone…..

Tears welled up in his eyes, blurring the world into a smear of grey and red.

And then rage. The kind that blazes brighter than pain.

He turned, blade in hand, ready to end Cearwynn. But he was gone. No trace, no sound only the faint imprint of his boots in the dirt.

“COWARD, FUCKING COWARD, I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!” Beynon roared into the night, his voice echoing off the cliffs like a curse.

He fell to his knees, chest heaving, his fingers curling into fists so tight they bled. The wind howled louder now, as if mourning with him. The fog clung to him like a shroud, damp and suffocating.

Seren was gone. And he had been too late.

His mind spiraled through memories: her sharp tongue, her sweet but menacing smile after she bested him in a sparring match, the way her hand fit into his like it was made for it. The way she’d teased him the night before this mission, calling him “slow and clumsy” only to kiss him before he could fight back.

A sob tore through him. Not here. Not like this.

He reached down and found a necklace, her necklace, the one she always wore around her neck, he always wanted to ask what it meant, but never got around to it.

It must have snapped as she fell.

Kaito gripped it tightly, the silver digging into his palm. He wouldn't let this be the end.

Cearwynn thought this was over.

But it had only just begun.