The bells of Valdorne echoed into silence. Orders had been given. Shadows shifted. And as the war machine stirred beneath the moonlight, those at its heart began to feel the gravity of what lay ahead.
Yet before the banners could march, the past came calling.
Long Ago: The Memory of Fire and Snow
The wind howled over the frozen ruins of the First Soma Keep, buried beneath the ruin, the ice, and forgotten history. In the dreamscape of memory, Shin walked with eyes wide, not as a boy but as he was now—a man haunted by countless wars, bearing the Master crest on his left hand.
A spectral figure stood beside him, tall and noble, his features bearing a striking resemblance to Shin, yet older, more severe. His armor shimmered with patterns of the sun and the crescent moon.
"Do you remember this place?" the man asked. His voice was calm, ancient.
"I've never been here," Shin replied, though the pull in his chest said otherwise.
"You were born here. Beneath this very sky."
Lightning cracked through the clouds. In its flash, the once-proud Soma banners were revealed, torn and ablaze. Screams echoed as soldiers loyal to the crown turned on their own.
The man knelt before a stone basin filled with runes. As blood trickled from his palm, they lit with blue fire.
"The Crest of Elders was not just a mark of command. It was a covenant. The Soma Clan, who bore it, was not simply a leader, but a shield against betrayal. It flared in the presence of lies and shimmered when truth was spoken. But when your uncle took it... It blackened."
"Kaito," Shin whispered.
The name carried weight now, more than a traitor's brand. It was a thread to everything—the fall of Soma, the rise of the Crown's tyranny, the scattering of bloodlines.
"You are the last bearer," the spirit continued. "And your bloodline holds what Kaito failed to destroy. The last ember of the ancient pact."
Shin stepped forward. His orb flickered.
"What do I do with this?"
The vision of the elder Soma extended his hand.
"Forgive the past. But do not forget it. The truth lies in fire and sacrifice."
As Shin reached out, the memory crumbled like ash.
Present: War Room, Valdorne Keep
Shin's eyes snapped open. He sat in a quiet corner of the war room, a scroll of old Soma script laid across his lap. The runes matched what he had just seen in his vision.
Across the room, Maika stood beside Tessara, both women examining their ancestral relics. Maika held the Taiyo no Men, the ceremonial Sunfire Mask, its golden hue flickering in the light of the planning torches. Tessara cradled the Kagetsu no Men, the Moonflower Mask, pale and etched with silver crescents that shimmered like frost.
"These masks were once used by high strategists and scouts of the old Kitsune courts," Maika said softly. "Mine reveals what is hidden—movements cloaked by magic or shadow. "
"And mine," Tessara added, lifting the mask to her face, "shows possibilities—futures glimpsed through the light of the moon."
The two donned their masks in unison. Their bodies stilled.
Moments later, they both lowered them, breathless.
"There are two Renegade camps," Tessara said, voice grave. "One on the northern ridge, watching."
"And another farther east," Maika added. "Hidden beneath the trees, masked by illusion."
Shin rose, rolling the scroll. "We move now, then. Quietly. We flush them before the strike teams lose the element of surprise."
Laverna appeared at his side without a sound. "Tove's already moving. She caught wind of something."
Shin nodded. "We follow her lead."
Forest Beyond the Walls
The silverwoods beyond Valdorne rustled softly. Snow blanketed the ground in patches, muffling the footfalls of those who dared trespass. Tove moved like a shadow, bow drawn, every muscle tuned to her surroundings.
She paused, crouched low behind a ridge. A Renegade in gray camo knelt by a tree, holding a spyglass toward the city.
Tove didn't hesitate.
She drew her arrow back until the string trembled. Her breath steadied. Her eyes narrowed, not with hatred, but with resolve.
The shot was silent.
The arrow struck the spy's shoulder, knocking him back and pinning him to the trunk. Another followed through his knee before he could scream. He writhed, cursing, until her blade met his throat.
"Names," she demanded. "Movements. Camps."
"Go to hell, Fox-bitch," he spat.
Tove leaned close, her eyes glowing with a calm fire. "He saved me. I owe him more than your life is worth."
The spy hesitated. His eyes searched hers and found no mercy.
"They're digging under the East Gate. Tunnel. Collapse it and you stall them for days."
She silenced him quickly, then turned to signal. Moments later, Shin arrived with Laverna and Maika at his sides.
"East Gate," she said simply.
Shin's eyes lingered on her a moment longer than usual.
"You did well, Tove."
Those words struck deeper than she expected. She nodded, trying to contain the flutter in her chest. It wasn't love—not the kind Zera, Laverna, or the rest of Shin's party carried. It was reverence. She saw in him the ideal she had searched for in every forgotten legend. A leader who led not by bloodline, but by burden.
And he carried it all.
Valdorne Keep: Map Room
The council reconvened. Plans adjusted swiftly with Tove's intelligence. Davis barked new orders. Zera reviewed siege equipment placements. Mira organized the Talon squads.
Tessara opened her palm on the table.
"It's reacting to something," she said.
Her eyes flared in silver light, then she used her power of illusion making, illuminating a hidden portion of the map.
A tunnel.
Zera's voice was sharp. "They planned to strike before the siege began. Sabotage from below."
Shin's eyes didn't leave the light.
"Then we show them the Crest of Elders still lives."
All eyes turned to him.
He drew the scroll and unfurled it.
"This," he said, "is a record of the pact made by the first Soma. It binds our bloodline not to power, but to protection. It was meant to be a warning system, an oath of truth. And it still answers to me."
He turned the scroll. The runes shimmered where his hand had touched earlier.
"This is our signal. The traitors will understand what they tried to bury is alive again."
Nightfall: East Gate Tunnels
The strike team moved swiftly. Tove led the archers. Maika and Tessara infiltrated the outer trenches. Laverna and Shin descended through a breach revealed by the masks' vision.
Torches flickered below, revealing the burrowed path.
"We need to collapse it," Laverna whispered. "Without alerting their main forces."
Shin stepped forward. "Leave that to me."
He raised his orb.
It flared, transforming instantly into a massive warhammer.
With one swing, the ground quaked.
The ceiling cracked. Rocks tumbled.
Renegades within screamed as the collapse began. Dust and earth swallowed them in silence.
The tunnel died.
Back at the Keep
The mood had shifted. Where there had been doubt, there now stood purpose. The name Soma was no longer a whisper of betrayal, but a cry of defiance.
Zera stood by Shin as the banners were raised.
"The past no longer defines us," she said.
"No," Shin replied. "We define it."
Tove watched from afar, bow at her back, admiration in her heart.
He was more than a legend.
He was the Master.
And she would follow him, through fire, through shadow.
Until the last arrow fell.