They came at night.
No sound, no warning just silence thick enough to choke.
Ethan stood at the edge of the courtyard, breath misting in the cold. The pain in his chest had dulled, replaced by something strange heat crawling beneath his skin, like a second heartbeat. He didn't need Vane to tell him the first meridian had changed him.
But it was Elena's voice, low and sharp, that sent a chill through him.
They're here.
She moved like a shadow, hand on her needle case. Vane stepped from the shadows behind her, holding a palmful of silver pins, each etched with sigils too old to be written in books.
The wind shifted.
Three men in crimson robes stepped into the open. Their faces were painted white like dolls, lips sewn shut with dark thread. But their eyes burned. Not with hate. Not with madness. With purpose.
They've sent silencers, Vane muttered. Assassins. No voice. No mercy.
Ethan's heart pounded.
What do they want?
Elena glanced at him and said
You.
The first attacker lunged faster than any human had a right to move. Vane threw a needle mid-air, embedding it in the man's forehead. He crumpled, but didn't die. He writhed.
They're bound by blood seals, Vane growled. Pain won't stop them. We need to burn them.
Another one leapt, this time toward Ethan.
Ethan moved without thinking. His body reacted guided by instinct or something deeper. A spectral thread of energy shot from his fingertips, slicing into the attacker's side. The man spun and landed hard, twitching.
Ethan blinked and asked What was that?
The start of your second meridian awakening, Elena said breathlessly. Your body's responding to threat. It's opening under pressure.
The third silencer clapped his palms together, and black smoke billowed from his robes, filling the courtyard with the smell of burnt copper.
Elena threw six needles in a single motion, all glowing faintly blue. The smoke parted just long enough to see the man stagger, then collapse into ash.
Why are they sending killers?
Ethan asked, panting. I've opened one meridian!
Vane lifted the lifeless scroll that had guided them so far. It was glowing again brighter than before.
They don't fear your power now, he said.
They fear your potential.
Ethan's hands trembled. Blood stained his shirt from a shallow gash he hadn't noticed. He looked at Elena.
You said I wasn't ready. You were right.
She walked to him, pressed two fingers to his neck, checking his pulse. Then she leaned in close, whispering words meant only for him.
Then let's make you ready.
Behind her, the first assassin stirred his lips splitting at the stitches, mouth opening far too wide.
From his throat, a voice hissed.
He is marked. The Eye is watching.
Then he burst into flame.
Ethan stood frozen, the heat crawling his skin, the fire casting shadows that danced like ghosts.
For the first time,
he understood.
This was no initiation.
It was a war.