In a dimly lit room, cold crimson flames flickered atop several antique candles positioned in delicate corners, mounted against the walls to illuminate the space.
Yet all they accomplished was making the place more sinister. The entire darkness was bathed in red glow, as if a ghost of crimson stalked through the shadows.
A single bed stood with a side table beside it. On the flat surface, a small lantern shaped like a floating sphere perched on a thin stem, but the crimson light cascaded down and around, obscuring the stem from view.
The scene was darker still because of the disaster raging outside. But usually, almost everywhere in the Kageyama Clan remained shrouded in darkness, as most of their buildings were carved into the mountains.
On the bed, a blonde woman sat cross-legged, a newborn sleeping peacefully beside her.
Eisha’s hair stirred softly in the absence of wind. Her eyes were closed, and she murmured something beneath her breath—words too faint for even the air to carry.
Suddenly, her eyes snapped open, their golden radiance blazing with alarm.
Something was wrong with the atmosphere. It felt tense, though the air seemed perfectly still.
Eisha reached for her child, but her hand swept through empty space. Her eyes widened and darted to her side—empty. She whipped her gaze forward with a razor glare.
A voice emerged, calm and cutting.
"Careful now, Princess..."
Before her stood a man shrouded in a dark hooded cloak that flowed like liquid shadow over him. He wore layers of the garment, resembling a traditional ceremonial leader.
His hood revealed only his mouth, where a large silver ring pierced his bottom lip.
His lips curved into a smile.
"Oh... how long has it been? Three hundred years?"
Eisha remained silent, her glare fixed on the man’s hands with blade-like intensity.
The man gazed at the child in his grasp. The baby slept soundly still. He chuckled softly.
"She is beautiful, Aureisha."
Eisha bristled with hostility.
"Peacemaker. Return my child."
The man—Peacemaker—fell silent. A somber smile played across his face as he studied the child.
Then he tilted his head slightly, regarding the baby with momentary irritation before meeting Eisha’s eyes.
"This child is an abomination, my dear Aureisha."
Eisha’s glare erupted like flames from a furnace. The room’s temperature spiked.
The man chuckled dryly.
"You still possess a child’s temper. Reckless, uncomprehending, lacking control and foresight. Aureisha... you exist for a greater purpose, a higher calling. I am struck with shame and bewilderment that you would abandon such destiny for..."
He looked down at the child with revulsion.
"...this."
In that instant, Eisha’s golden eyes became twin furnaces. Rings of fire suddenly materialized around the man’s hands, but he moved swiftly, dropping the baby and dissolving into the air like vapor.
Eisha dove low and caught Silver before she could hit the ground. She rolled with the baby in her arms and sprang to her feet.
As she moved, more circles of flame manifested around her, barring the man from approaching during that vulnerable second.
Peacemaker had no choice but to retreat from the blazing rings. They spun like wheels and intersected each other. As Eisha sprang upright, she lunged toward the window, the wheels of flame trailing her. Peacemaker pursued.
Eisha twisted mid-air and crashed through the glass with her back, shielding her child. The wheels merged into two separate discs and flew after her, rolling beneath her feet as she plummeted. As they spun under her, her trajectory shifted. Eisha pivoted and soared through the air with sharp velocity before landing on her own terms.
The moment she touched down, however, she found herself surrounded.
Knights of the Kageyama clan marched around her as though they were expecting her—more figures in hooded robes, dangerous violet eyes blazing beneath their cowls.
Eisha surveyed her captors. She understood the hooded figures, but the Knights as well?
A frown creased her brow.
"We’ve been betrayed."
"Oh yes, you have..."
Peacemaker descended like a falling storm cloud before materializing once more.
He clasped his hands behind his back, smiling.
"You have abandoned us all, Aureisha, but you remain our salvation. You are a princess, and you belong to Stuart. Please, little one... return home."
The man’s voice was grating and unsettling, yet laced with feigned care and compassion.
Eisha suddenly laughed, then shook her head.
"Listening to you now, one might think—what? Peacemaker truly loves the princess. He’s trying to bring her back. Peacemaker is a worthy Servant of Stuart."
Her gaze sharpened, darkening with hatred.
"Not realizing you’re a treacherous, bastard."
The man circled her slowly, both enclosed within the ring of Knights and hooded figures.
"Aureisha, you remain naive... four hundred years after that event, and still a baby lost in the woods."
Eisha chuckled mockingly.
"Of course I am, Peacemaker. Naive—that’s the word you perfidious hounds use for subjects who refuse to acknowledge your arrogant motives. Reviving Vitan? Spare me such lies! All of you—including my detestable father—are ruthless puppet masters."
Eisha drew a breath, her voice growing sharp.
"Escaping your manipulation was merely the first step in my plan."
She laughed.
"Did you think I wouldn’t come hunting for you eventually? That I wouldn’t repay what you did to me and my sister?"
She placed one hand on her chest, meeting Peacemaker’s gaze.
"Have patience, old fool. Exercise just a little patience. I’ll be with you shortly."
Peacemaker’s smile had vanished during Eisha’s declaration. Now he wore a dark, hostile expression.
He lifted his chin.ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ Novᴇl_Firenet
"My orders were to retrieve the princess unharmed. But I’m certain the Lord of Air would understand if a scratch or two were found on you... after all, he knows how insufferable you can be."
He stepped back and waved one hand forward. Immediately, the Knights of Kageyama clan unsheathed their swords and surged forward. The robed figures followed suit, flowing as if the air itself were their ally.
The wheels of flame materialized again—six this time. All of them whirled around her with blistering speed, interlocking and leaving no opening for any attack to penetrate.
As they thrust weapons at her, she weaved between their edges like a ballet dancer. She somersaulted with ethereal grace, rolled through the air, landed on the tip of a spear and vaulted skyward, spinning like a dancer embraced by the dark heavens.
She touched down gracefully, the wheels spinning around her, her baby still cradled in one arm, her gaze sharp with lethal intent.
She halted the rolling circles and seized one in her free hand, then placed her baby upon another. As she did, the remaining five wheels encircled the child, spinning rapidly and forming a shield of swirling flames around Silver.
Eisha left the child floating and tightened her grip on the wheel she held.
The wheel’s diameter expanded until it was large enough to use as a hula hoop, blazing with vicious, merciless flames.
Eisha extended her arm and leaned forward, death gleaming in her eyes as she fixed her stare on Peacemaker behind the ranks of Knights and robed figures.
"Don’t say I didn’t warn you."