When the following morning arrived, the war between both sides resumed. Priscilla summoned forth her legion and commanded them to fight alongside the Volairen forces, taking up their arms on the bloodstained battlefields once again. Carmen, however, wisely stayed behind and spent the day sitting next to Sarah at the infirmary. As she watched her through the window of her healing pod, Rivell and Caleb walked into the room.

  “How’s she doing?” Caleb asked, pulling up a chair and taking a seat.

  “Good. The doctor said her Strand received extensive damage and that she might not be able to summon her Manifest anymore…” Carmen responded with a somber tone, feeling awful about the news.

  “What?? Oh no.. Sarah… I’m so sorry..”

  “I can’t wait for this stupid war to be over with..”

  Rivell clenched his fist together as he grit his teeth, feeling more anger than sadness in that moment. The trio sat in silence as they continued to watch over Sarah, patiently waiting for her to wake up.

  The war continued on day after day, showing very little signs of slowing down. Multiple weeks had now passed and the enemy numbers were beginning to thin, losing a significant portion of both Lumen and Arista soldiers. However, despite their lower numbers, the enemy alliance had forced an absolute stalemate. Neither side was making any progress against the other, essentially starting each day at square one.

  In the Lumen and Arista basecamp, the High Priest defiantly stood from his chair after getting yet another unfavorable debrief from their general.

  “Empress Ramos.. What are we even doing this for anymore?? We have more than lost our chance here...” He said, finding the war to be an incredible waste of time at this point.

  “What!? This isn’t over!! I will not be humiliated by these roaches, so we will continue our-”

  “ENOUGH!! I only agreed to this alliance because you assured me a victory, however we've accomplished nothing!! It’s been weeks and we’ve completely stalemated, literally no progress at all. I’m not throwing away the lives of my men any longer. It is done!”

  Leo was beyond fed up at this point and his harsh expression plainly spelled it out to the Empress. Before she could reply, Leo glanced over at his general and ordered a formal retreat, commanding him to pull back every single Lumen soldier from the battle. He then looked over his shoulder and glared at the Empress.

  “Empress Ramos, you are more than welcome to continue, but you will no longer have the Lumen Theocracy’s support. I bid you good luck with your decision...”

  The Empress scowled at him as he exited the room, followed by a group of Lumen soldiers. An Arista general stepped towards her and bowed his head, awaiting any kind of order.

  “Tch.. Useless.. Fine, call back our troops and head back to Arista…” She reluctantly said, leaning back in her chair with the look of absolute disappointment and annoyance on her face.

  The general bowed again and quickly bolted out of the tent. However, once he exited, Gabriella snapped her fingers.

  “Show yourselves..”

  Seconds later, multiple individuals appeared before her, kneeling down and bowing their heads. They wore all black robes and had red masks covering their eyes, perfectly hiding their tanned faces. There was a mysterious aura about them and they sat there in complete silence until the individual closest to the Empress spoke.

  “We, the Arista Shadow Infantry, await your commands.” She said with a heavy voice.

  “Go to Ariana City and assassinate Azhane Belouis… Castle de Belouis should be lightly guarded now and with her being out of commission, this is the perfect time to strike. Take the portal and get rid of her. Kill anyone that crosses your path. Go..”

  Gabriella motioned her hand and the robed individuals dashed out of the tent, leaving just as silently as they appeared.

  “I will have her head in the palm of my hands, this I swear…”

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  She squeezed together a fist as she smirked, thinking deeply about how great such a feat would feel.

  The halls were dim and eerily quiet at Castle de Belouis. Not a sound could be heard as the moonlight trickled through the windows, painting the tile floors with a subtle white. Besides the maids, butlers, and a few guards on duty, the castle was nearly empty. It was the perfect time for an enemy to strike.

  Multiple quick and shadowy figures silently dashed through the halls, not making a single noise as they skated across the air. They bolted up the stairs and eventually found themselves at Azhane Belouis’ sleeping quarters. The group looked around with great intent and focus, making sure the coast was completely clear. They slowly opened the door and entered the room one by one, their steps impossibly quiet.

  The group of assailants approached the center of the room as they saw Azhane’s fair and slim body sound asleep on a large bed. She still had not awoken from her battle against Varric and Von, leaving her completely defenseless at the moment. They gave each other a soft nod before preparing to eliminate their target swiftly.

  Each assailant split off in multiple directions and surrounded her bed, taking out incredibly sharp knives that dripped with poison. The tension was high until one of the assassins aimed his knife at her body, raising his hand up high. With great speed, he thrust it into Azhane’s chest, stabbing her perfectly in the heart. The others joined in and stabbed her all over, sending blood across the sheets and into the air.

  They pierced her body over and over, making sure it would be impossible for her to survive. However, they began to notice that something wasn’t quite right. Azhane’s body curiously shifted and faded, as though it were some kind of hologram or projection. She warped and flexed until eventually disappearing.

  The assassins looked surprised as they quickly stepped back from the bed, looking around the room with panicked glances. Suddenly, the pristine and clean walls of the Queen’s bedroom transitioned into a dingy and dark color, changing completely to that of a musty old dungeon. Confusion overcame the intruders as they quickly tried to rush for the door, hoping to escape before the situation got worse.

  The double doors of Azhane’s room flickered and disappeared, revealing a solid wall with no way out. They stopped in their tracks and they frantically looked around, scanning the room for any kind of escape route. Moments later, they heard footsteps approaching them from behind. The assassins turned around to see light blue eyes glowing in the darkness, growing closer and closer with each step.

  “You people sure are bold to step foot in this castle... Did you seriously think no one was guarding Her Majesty? I’ll be sure to make this quick, you absolute amateurs…” Said a deep voice coming from the darkness.

  The mysterious individual stepped into the light and there stood Graymoor of Two, his eyes glowing incredibly bright as he held his Manifest. The intruders flinched at the sight of him, completely caught off guard by his illusion. However, to Graymoor's surprise, the lead assailant shot him a simple smirk.

  With an agile quickness, the intruder tossed a flare high into the air. It popped loudly as it exploded into a blinding white light. The moment Graymoor’s eyes met with the piercing white, he grimaced intensely as he squinted his eyes. He frantically stumbled back in an absolute daze, as though the light had severely injured him.

  'Damn it, I was careless! Of course they know about my weakness now!'

  He rubbed his eyes deeply and backed away from the blinding light. The assassins slowly stepped forward as his illusion began to fade away. Graymoor Penult’s Manifest, Illusion Hand, had the unfortunate cost of severe light sensitivity to his eyes. Whenever he activated his illusory abilities, his eyes as well as his sword would glow a light blue color. The moment his opponents gazed upon the alluring color, they would immediately be captured by his illusions. However, while his ability was active, his eyes would become incredibly sensitive to light.

  Thanks to the leaked information from Briddle, Gabriella Ramos and all of her subordinates knew about this adverse weakness. The assassins she sent were more than prepared to take advantage of this newfound knowledge.

  Once the assailants surrounded him, Graymoor cautiously collected himself, breathing out slowly. His eyes remained closed as he entered his signature sword stance, pointing the blade upwards and sliding his feet apart with perfect balance. When his hand gripped the handle tightly, the intruders bolted forward. In an absolute flurry, they slashed and jabbed at Graymoor with incredibly quick movements.

  Graymoor effortlessly sidestepped and dodged every attack sent his way. Despite his eyes remaining closed, he navigated the battle with immaculate poise. It was as though he had a sixth sense directing him every inch of the way.

  He parried two dagger stabs from behind and immediately thrust his Manifest into their chests, stabbing the blade directly into their hearts. Once dispatched, he immediately dodged another strike coming from his left. Graymoor then proceeded to palm their arm while it was still extended, striking at the elbow and breaking it with relative ease.

  Graymoor's combat skills were impeccable and without breaking a single sweat, he made quick work of these skillful assassins. After a few short moments, only one of them remained. He looked around with a fearful expression as Graymoor slowly approached. Before he could prepare himself, Graymoor dashed forward and swung his sword with lightning quick agility. The last assailant’s head flew into the air and landed onto the floor, making a gruesome thud sound as it rolled over. The dungeon grew incredibly silent as blood dripped from his sword.

  “I knew it was only a matter of time before attempts at Azhane’s life would be made. No matter how many times they try to exploit me, I will protect Her Majesty with my life, this I swear..”

  Graymoor flung the blood off of his blade as he slowly opened his eyes. His vision wasn’t great, but it was good enough to make out where the exit was. He walked towards the wall and pressed on one of the cold bricks. The walls shook and a small opening revealed itself, sliding out of the way to make a doorway. He stepped through and headed down the hall, continuing his patrol of the castle to make sure no more intruders had come inside.