Selene's gaze locked onto the dagger.
Its obsidian blade gleamed in the dim torchlight, the faint glow casting an eerie sheen across the room. A single choice lay before her, its weight pressing down on her chest, making it difficult to breathe.
Kael stood beside her, silent but expectant, the heat of his presence a constant reminder that the decision was hers to make—and his eyes never left her.
The Grandmaster—her former mentor, the man who had betrayed her trust—lay weak and trembling before her, a broken figure on the cold stone floor.
The air was thick with tension, as if the room itself held its breath. The dagger gleamed, waiting to be driven into flesh or thrown aside.
Would she take it? Would she end the life of the man who had once guided her, only to abandon her when the time mattered most?
Selene's fingers twitched.
She had trusted him—believed in him. He had been the foundation of her life, the one who had molded her, trained her, shaped her. And he had sold her out.
Her heart pounded painfully, every beat like a hammer against her ribs. She could feel Kael's presence beside her, his silent gaze drilling into her like a blade, watching her every move. His power lingered in the air, subtle yet undeniable. He was patient. He was always patient. But in that moment, the weight of his expectation was unbearable.
"This is your chance," Kael murmured, his voice barely a whisper, as if the mere sound of it could unravel everything. His tone was not demanding, but inviting—a challenge without words.
Selene swallowed hard. She could feel her throat tighten, the knife in her hand seeming to grow heavier with each passing second.
Her hand closed around the hilt, her fingers cool against the obsidian. The blade was cold and unforgiving, like the choices that lay ahead.
The Grandmaster's eyes widened, his gaze flicking to the dagger and then back to her. "S-Selene—please—"
She took a slow, deliberate step forward, closing the distance between them. Her mind raced, but her body moved with precision, her muscles taut with the effort of maintaining control.
The metal was cold against her palm, but the chill of the blade did not compare to the coldness inside her chest, the emptiness that had been there ever since she'd realized how easily they had all abandoned her.
This was justice.
This was what he deserved.
Selene's mind whirled. She had spent years fighting for the Veiled Order, sacrificing everything she had—her identity, her freedom, her life—believing in their cause, trusting in the lies they had fed her.
And yet, when the moment came, they had abandoned her without a second thought.
Kael, in his quiet power, had only needed to whisper—and the entire Order had crumbled beneath his influence.
No one had come for her. No one but him.
Her grip tightened on the dagger, her knuckles turning white.
The Grandmaster coughed, blood staining his lips. His voice, now weak and cracked, trembled with desperation. "Selene… you don't have to do this."
She took another step forward, each movement a battle against her own hesitation, the weight of her past pulling at her like chains. But she had made her choice. She had moved beyond the fear of retribution, beyond the need for validation.
"You didn't hesitate when you betrayed me," she said, her voice cold and sharp, a knife of its own.
The Grandmaster's face twisted with guilt, the remorse now evident in his eyes. "I had to… Kael—he—he's a monster."
Kael chuckled softly, the sound dark and knowing, like a predator testing its prey. "And yet, I am the one offering her a choice."
Selene exhaled slowly, the air thick in her lungs.
Her choice.
It wasn't between loyalty and vengeance, as the Grandmaster might have believed.
It was between her past and her future.
Her hand moved, swift and sure.
The dagger sliced through the air with a soft hiss. The Grandmaster gasped, his eyes bulging in surprise—but not from the sting of the blade.
The dagger missed his throat.
Instead, Selene drove it into the stone floor beside him, the tip embedding itself deep into the ancient rock, with a sickening thud that reverberated through the room.
Silence.
The Grandmaster stared at her, stunned, as the realization washed over him like a cold tide. She had spared him. She had chosen to let him live.
Selene's expression remained emotionless, her face a mask of cold resolve. She had made her choice.
"I don't kill weak men," she said, her words punctuated by the finality in her tone.
Kael's golden eyes gleamed, his gaze sharp and calculating, though a smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "Interesting."
He stepped closer to her, his movements slow and deliberate, his presence pressing against her like the weight of a thousand storms.
"I am not yours," Selene said, her voice cold, the words steady and full of defiance.
Kael raised a brow, the amusement in his expression unshaken. "Oh?"
Selene's gaze hardened, a flicker of fire behind her ice-cold demeanor. "Not yet."
Kael chuckled, a dark sound that resonated with quiet approval.
With a final, lingering look at the Grandmaster, Kael walked to the wall, his hands reaching for the enchanted chains that held Selene in place.
The heavy metal clattered to the floor, echoing in the quiet chamber. Selene stretched her wrists, the skin raw from the weight of her captivity, but she ignored the pain. Her focus was unyielding.
Kael's voice, calm and steady, broke the silence.
"You spared him. Why?"
Selene exhaled, the sound filled with a cold finality. "Because I am not like him."
Kael studied her for a long moment, his gaze weighing her, measuring her with the precision of a hawk sizing up its prey. Then he nodded. "Good answer."
The door opened behind him.
Kael turned, his eyes never leaving Selene. "Come."
She hesitated for just a heartbeat. The unknown stretched before her, dark and uncertain. But something in her had shifted.
The past was behind her. Her future—her true future—lay before her.
With that thought, she stepped forward, her boots clicking softly against the stone floor.
Through the doorway.
Into Kael's world.
Into the unknown.
And she did not look back.
To be continued...