Echoes in the Dark

The tavern at the city’s edge was alive with drunken laughter, the smell of stale wine, and the faint crackle of a hearth. Merchants boasted of their profits, mercenaries of their kills, and thieves whispered about their latest plunder. Yet, in one corner, the cloaked traveler sat in silence.

Their cup remained untouched. Their ears, however, caught everything.

“Another official dead, I heard,” a man slurred, slamming his mug down.

“Aye. Blood drained from his body like some demon took him,” another whispered, lowering his voice. “They say the Shadows are behind it.”

The name rippled through the tavern. Some scoffed. Others paled.

“Shadows? A children’s tale,” spat a scarred mercenary. “I fought in the purge. Saw their bodies burn myself.”

“And yet,” murmured a hooded woman by the fire, “you still flinch when the wind moves too quickly.”

The mercenary’s jaw tightened. He said nothing more.

The traveler’s lips curved beneath the mask. Fear was alive. Fear was useful.

Outside, the night deepened. The traveler left the tavern unnoticed, their footsteps vanishing into the misty alleys. But they weren’t alone. A group of armored men emerged from the shadows, circling with drawn blades.

“Finally caught you, rat,” sneered their leader, a captain of the city guard. “Been following your trail since the gates. You reek of the old ways.”

The traveler tilted their head, silent.

“Take off the mask,” the captain barked, “or I’ll cut it off myself.”

Steel hissed as the guards tightened the circle.

The traveler’s hand brushed the hilt of their blade, the black fang glinting faintly. A whisper, soft as falling ash, slipped from their lips—words of the clan’s oath.

“The Shadows do not bow.”

Then the alley filled with motion.

A flicker of steel. A blur in the dark. Screams cut short as shadows danced faster than the eye could follow. By the time the moonlight returned, five bodies lay on the cobblestones, their throats slit with surgical precision. Only the captain remained, trembling, his sword clattering from his grip.

The traveler pressed the blade against his throat, their masked face inches away.

“Run,” the heir murmured. “And tell them… the Shadows have returned.”

The captain stumbled back, fleeing into the night, terror etched into every step.

The heir wiped the blade clean and sheathed it beneath the cloak. For the first time in years, the shadows whispered across the empire not as memory—but as truth.

Far away, in the Imperial Palace, the Emperor sat alone. A black feather rested on the table before him—a symbol of the clan’s vengeance, left by unseen hands.

His eyes narrowed, voice cold as iron.

“So… they live.”

The empire shivered as destiny stirred awake.

The fate of the empire couldn't be determined.

A single mistake could wipe them out in the near future. Struck with what may be a potential calamity, the future may no longer hold the light and brightness it had radiated. what will become of it...?

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***