Eryshae

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Mira

Mira waited.

Not in the hallway, not near the door. But tucked into the shadowed alcove just around the bend from Ruwan's study, where torchlight dimmed and dust clung to corners like secrets too old to name.

She listened; every muscle drawn tight, every breath measured. There it was. The low click of the lock. The rustle of chains. The heavy drag of boots against polished stone. Ruwan's voice murmured something; too low to catch; and then Vael's chains gave a soft jingle. The sound twisted something in Mira's stomach. She hated it. They passed.

She waited three heartbeats more.

Then Mira moved, silent, swift. The assassin's rhythm embedded in her bones like a second heartbeat. She slipped to the study door and pressed her fingers to the intricate brass handle, muttering a soft unlocking spell she'd learned long ago in Ruwan's service; one he foolishly hadn't changed.

The door yielded with a click. Mira entered the study and shut the door behind her. The room was dim, lit only by a single oil lamp near the ledger table. Maps of the continent still fluttered faintly from the draft under the door. Runes pulsed in subtle corners of the bookshelves; old wards for protection and detection.

But she'd memorized the layout. She knew where he kept the Amber. She crossed to the far cabinet, beneath the shelves of Eldritch war histories and fractured prophecy scrolls. Her fingers worked quickly, opening the hidden locked compartment behind the bottom drawer. Her breath caught.

There it was. The Titan's Amber. Still wrapped in silk, pulsing with a sickly, golden heartbeat. Even through the layers of fabric, it exuded warmth; no, hunger; like a sun swallowed in the belly of the earth. It whispered to her blood. Called to her guilt.

If a sliver did that… imagine what the full piece could do. Ruwan's words echoed in her mind, sharp as broken glass. She could feel the ghost of Sam's collapse behind her eyes. The fear in Vael's scream. The fire in her own shame.vMira drew a slow breath. She would only have minutes. Maybe less. But now… now was the moment.

Mira froze, one hand wrapped around the silk bundle of the Titan's Amber, her pulse thudding like a drum against her ribs. Voices echoed down the hall. Two of them; low, muttering, dragging footsteps. Male.

"…said he wanted the lash handle. 'Ceremonial,' he says," one scoffed. "Nobles and their bloody sins. Bet he's halfway to strangling that poor girl already."

"Better her than us," the other muttered. "Least she's got the look of a fighter. Might give him a scar to remember her by." Their laughter was harsh, short, and cruel. Boots approached.

Damn. Mira pivoted soundlessly, scanning the room. Her eyes caught a curtained alcove in the corner; one of the reading nooks half-shrouded in a velvet drape. She slipped behind it just as the study door creaked open.

The guards entered. Heavy boots. Armor that clinked softly. One of them let out a low whistle. "Always gives me the creeps, this room."

"Because you're superstitious," the other replied. "Here. The handle's on the wall rack." A pause. "We're not even supposed to be in here, you know. Ruwan doesn't let anyone touch his things."

"He shouldn't leave his toys lying around, then." Mira held her breath. Every muscle coiled tight. She felt the Titan's Amber pulsing in her arms; still wrapped, but insistent. Like a living sun burning just beneath her skin.

The guards rustled through the shelves and implements on the far side of the room. One knocked something over.

"Shit."

"Quiet!"

"Who's going to hear us? The raccoons?"

"Just grab the thing and let's go. This place reeks of old gods and secrets." They fumbled a bit longer. Mira pressed her back into the nook, every heartbeat a countdown. She didn't dare shift. Not even to breathe.

Finally; "Got it."

"Then let's go before this place starts whispering." The door closed with a thud. Silence. Mira stayed frozen for several moments longer, counting. Only when she was sure they'd gone did she finally move, drawing a soft breath that felt like air after drowning. She slipped from behind the curtain and looked once more at the wrapped Amber. It glowed faintly through the fabric. Thirsting. Time to go.

Mira's boots barely made a sound on the estate's stone floors as she darted from shadow to shadow, each heartbeat a gamble, each turn a potential disaster. The wrapped Titan's Amber felt heavier with every step; as if aware of the danger, as if savoring it.

When she reached her quarters, she closed the door with aching care. Her breath hitched once in her throat before she let it out in a sharp exhale. Safe. For now.

She didn't waste time. Moving swiftly, she knelt beside her low cot and pulled aside the faded edge of her travel rug. Beneath the wooden slats was a small hollow she'd carved herself; lined with fabric, sealed with a false board.

She eased the Amber inside. Even veiled in cloth, it throbbed faintly, a golden heartbeat in the dark. Mira shut the compartment tight, pressed the rug back into place, and rose with a sharp pivot toward her weapons rack.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Twin blades. Throwing knives. Her smoke veil. A small vial of numbing poison. A hidden stiletto in her boot. One by one, she checked each item, fingers quick and exacting, the motion soothing like muscle memory from another life; one that had made her into what she was now.

But as her hands hovered over the last blade, something cracked beneath her calm. Where are you, Vael? They'd timed it. Planned it down to the second. Vael should've been back by now, slipping into the back hall with that quiet glint in her eyes and the kind of smile that said just try to stop me.

But the hall was silent. And Mira felt it again; that cold pull in her chest. Guilt. Dread. She grabbed her belt and strapped her knives in place. Slid the stiletto into her boot. Tucked the smoke veil into her collar. Every movement precise.

She stepped toward the door, her knuckles white on the hilt of her dagger. A breath. Then another. "I'm coming for you, Vael," she whispered into the stillness. Then Mira vanished into the hall, a shadow on the hunt.

The corridor leading to Ruwan's quarters was dimly lit, the sconces flickering low with that eerie blue glow favored by the Eberflame estate. Mira moved like a blade in the dark; silent, sharp, and fast. Her heartbeat was steady now. Focused. A predator's rhythm.

She reached the final turn and paused, pressing herself against the wall. Footsteps. Voices. She tilted her head slightly, just enough to catch the echo. "…said not to disturb him," a gruff voice muttered. "He was… very clear."

"Well, what if she screams?" another guard said, lower, uneasy. "What if; "

"Then she screams. That's not our concern. We don't question orders from him." Mira's jaw locked. She risked a glance. Two guards in front of Ruwan's chamber doors. Not idle; stationed. Alert. Armed with halberds and eyes trained forward.

No easy slip-by. She weighed her options. A full confrontation would give her away too early. Smoke veil? Maybe; if she timed it right. But that only gave her a few seconds.

She stepped back and pressed her knuckles to her lips, thinking. Then she reached slowly into her belt and withdrew one of her throwing knives. The hallway to the left led toward the old vestibule. Empty. If she could draw them there;

She turned, gritted her teeth, and hurled the knife. It embedded itself deep into an antique vase down the far hall with a loud crash. The guards cursed. "What the; ?"

"Check it out." Boots thundered on marble. Mira counted two heartbeats. Then three. She moved. Sprinted low, close to the ground, her black leathers nearly blending into the shadows. She slid into the side alcove just as the guards vanished around the bend.

The chamber doors loomed before her now. Tall. Heavy. Iron-banded. She pressed her palm to the surface. Cool. He thinks he's invincible. A mistake.

Mira drew her stiletto and slipped it between the hinges. With a slow click, the latch gave. She opened the door a fraction and peered inside; the bed was rumpled. Steam still coiled from a teacup on the nightstand.

And Ruwan was nowhere to be seen. But on the far side of the room, shackled to the wall by a decorative iron ring; Vael. Mira slipped inside, closing the door behind her like a whisper. Time was running out.

Mira moved quickly but silently, her boots making no sound on the plush carpets of Ruwan's chamber. The scent of old incense and crushed lavender clung to the air; an affectation meant to conceal power with luxury.

Vael's head was bowed, curls spilling over her shoulders, her wrists shackled above her in golden chain cuffs, now looped through an ornamental iron ring bolted to the wall. She wasn't unconscious; but her body sagged with exhaustion, her breath shallow.

"Vael," Mira whispered as she reached her side. "It's me." Vael's head lifted slowly. One eye swollen slightly from a bruise, but her gaze sharpened the moment she recognized Mira. "Mira…" Her voice cracked. "Took you long enough." Mira exhaled sharply. "Had to dodge half the estate to get here."

She dropped to one knee and pulled a slender hooked tool from her bracer. Ruwan's arrogance would never consider her escaping. A few deft twists and the cuffs clattered free. Vael collapsed forward, and Mira caught her. "Easy," Mira murmured, sliding an arm under her shoulder. "Can you walk?" Vael nodded faintly. "I can run."

"Good," Mira said. "We'll need to." She helped Vael to her feet. Vael swayed once, then steadied herself. Her chains still clinked faintly, so Mira moved to undo the ankle cuffs. "I got the Amber," Mira whispered. "It's hidden. But the guards are tighter than we planned."

Vael's eyes burned. "Then we improvise." Mira smirked. "Wouldn't be us if we didn't." As the last of the cuffs slipped free, Vael pressed her forehead briefly to Mira's. "Thank you," she murmured. Mira didn't let herself linger in the moment. "Let's finish this," she said, turning toward the door. They were both weaponed, angry, and silent. And Emberhold would not know what hit it.

The hallway outside Ruwan's quarters was dim and silent; until two guards turned the corner, talking idly and too late to react. Vael moved like lightning; one smooth, precise strike to the throat with a hidden blade.

Mira followed an instant later, her knife slicing across the second guard's neck before he could shout. Both bodies slumped quietly to the floor, twitching once before going still. Mira wiped her blade on the nearest tapestry, breathing hard. "Two fewer problems."

Vael grabbed the keyring from one guard's belt, pulled the bodies inside and locked the chamber door behind them with a satisfying click. The lock was heavy, iron-bolted. It would slow pursuit; maybe buy them minutes.

Mira turned to Vael. "Where is he?" Vael pressed a palm to the wall to steady herself. "He sent guards to fetch something. An 'implement,' he called it. They grabbed the wrong one." Mira's eyes narrowed. "So?"

"So he went to get it himself," Vael replied, voice grim. "From his study." Mira's hand shot to her side, checking her blade. "I just left there. We've got seconds, maybe." Vael's jaw tightened. "Then we get to the Amber and run before he realizes it's gone."

Mira gave her a look. "Or… we stay. Finish it here." Vael met her gaze. Her voice was low, feral. "If we get the Amber to Myrtle, we have a chance to bring Sam back."

A beat passed. Mira nodded once. "Then let's run like hell." They turned together, racing down the corridor; two shadows streaking toward the edge of something final.

The corridor stretched before them, dark and narrow, alive with the echo of distant footsteps. Vael's breath came sharp but steady, Mira's boots silent against the cold stone floor. Ahead, two guards appeared; one leaning against the wall, the other pacing. Neither expected visitors this late.

Vael didn't hesitate. With a sudden lunge, she swept a vine-like dagger from her belt and plunged it into the first guard's side. His eyes widened in shock, and Mira silenced the second guard with a swift strike to the back of the neck.

Their bodies hit the floor with muted thuds. "No time to waste," Mira whispered, eyes scanning for more threats. They pressed on, hearts pounding. A second pair of guards rounded the corner just as they reached the stairwell leading to the secret compartment beneath Mira's quarters.

Vael threw herself against one, spinning and using his momentum to slam him into the stone wall. Mira dispatched the other with a quick, clean cut across the throat.

The sharp scent of blood mingled with the damp air. Vael wiped her blade, a grim smile flickering. "Almost there." They hurried down the stairs, breath fogging in the chill. At the bottom, Mira moved a loose floorboard aside, revealing a small hidden cavity.

Carefully, she reached inside and pulled out the wrapped Titan's Amber, its surface glowing faintly with an inner fire. Vael's eyes locked onto it. "This is our chance." A muffled shout echoed from above. "Ruwan's coming."

Mira slid the floorboard back into place. "We need to move." Together, they vanished into the shadows, the weight of the Amber heavy in their hands; and the fate of Sam and Eryshae hanging in the balance.