The street froze. People looked up, unmoving.
A ship... flying overhead. No one had seen anything like it.
A little girl held her mother's hand, looking up: "Mommy... do ships fly?"
The mother was silent, eyes wide, clutching her child. She couldn't speak.
In the palace, King Victor's eyes shot up to the sky. He shook in terror. His crown hit the floor, the sound echoing as his heart raced.
The street was silent. Everyone stood still, stunned.
Sereen stood on the ship's edge. Her blonde hair whipped in the cold wind. Her sharp eyes quickly scanned the wall, looking for the cannons Cyrus had set.
She crouched, ready to leap... and instantly became a streak of mist.
Cyrus was above, grip tight on his bow, eyes locked on the spot she was. He caught it—only for a heartbeat. A blur. A distortion ripping through the air as something dropped toward the wall."
Before he could process what happened, a muffled scream echoed from the cannon port, followed by a sound of impact and short, sharp cries.
Cyrus ran to the edge, worried: "What is happening to them?!" "What... What just flew past?!"
He rushed to the wooden stairs on the wall, needing to check the soldiers... one step away from the ladder.
Suddenly, Sereen was there.
A few feet away, her sword dripped blood on the stone. Her cold eyes stared right at him.
Cyrus froze, shivering. Sweat covered his face; his breath hitched.
The past hit him: her killing his father, dragging his hair over a cliff. He was ten, begging... she showed no mercy. The panic slammed into his heart.
He fell to the ground, his legs useless. The world blurred.
"It... it's her!" his mind screamed.
Nine years passed, but why... why was she still a child?
Sereen slowly walked toward him, her stare fixed on his shaking body. Cyrus tried to crawl, his mind screaming to stand, but his legs failed.
She suddenly placed her sword on his neck.
"I didn't expect you to be that boy..." she said, icy cold.
"So you remember..." Cyrus whispered, voice shaking.
"Yes... I remember."
His fear became pure rage. He stood fast, jumping at her, trying to stab with his arrow.
She was lightning fast. She struck his shoulder with her sword without blinking.
She drove the sword into him violently. Blood poured out as he screamed in pain, his body thrashing uncontrollably.
Sereen stared at him coldly: "Did you know? This is the first time I've personally come to destroy a kingdom in nine years."
"Your father was the deadliest human I've ever faced—brilliant and insane. He flooded the city to try to destroy me, just as you did beneath the kingdom."
She moved closer. Her face near his, her breath cold. She whispered: "Don't worry... I'll make your past repeat itself."
She grabbed his collar and dragged him to the rampart edge. Before he knew it, she grabbed his neck with one hand and lifted him. His feet hung in the air; he choked, unable to scream.
She looked at him blankly.
"Goodbye."
Then she released him. He fell from the rampart.
Sereen turned to the other side of the wall, eyes narrowed. Her followers were flooding the kingdom like a tide, taking the streets and crushing the last resistance.
She jumped from the rampart, her landing kicking up a wave of dust around her feet.
She walked steadily toward the square near the castle—where the forced population gathered.
Her men had sealed the square, weapons circling the hundreds of people. The King was on the ground, a thrown chunk of meat, his face beaten.
Sereen approached him, but spoke to Rick. She asked with chilling neutrality:
"How many of your men remain? And how many fell here?"
Rick bowed, voice rough: "Five hundred twenty-eight left. Enemy casualties... one thousand fifty dead."
Sereen muttered: "So be it..."
She turned to face the crowd. As she took a single step, the screaming began. People scattered, falling over each other, desperately fighting to escape.
Sereen raised her sword and struck the first person. The blow was so violent that blood sprayed in a wide arc. She struck non-stop, without mercy, without choice, intending to leave no one alive.
The ring tightened. Her followers sealed every exit. People screamed, pushing and falling as swords rained down from everywhere.
Sereen walked through the chaos like it was burning wood, not people. No one could reach her... no one could escape. She was a disaster, crushing everything ahead.
She suddenly stopped. Blood covered the ground.
Coldly, she said: "The number matches our losses now."
She walked slowly to King Victor, her sword still bloody, eyes fixed on him.
She looked at everyone and said in an icy voice:
"Rajwak will stand. Not by your choice... but by mine.
In exchange for protection and the continued existence of your walls, half of your revenues will be supplied every three months.
Every young male between sixteen and twenty-five will serve in my army for three years.
This contract is the right to exist. Refuse... and you cease to exist immediately."
The whispers stopped. Hearts froze. No one moved.
At the square edge, Cyrus appeared, bloody, holding his wounded shoulder, falling to his knees. His head snapped back, eyes wide in horror at the slaughter. He vomited, then burst into bitter, broken tears.
Sereen turned. Her eyes widened.
She whispered: "How… is he still alive?"
She walked slowly. She raised her sword to his neck, standing silent for minutes, staring without blinking.
She said coldly: "You resemble me… far more than you realize. But fate chose its victor. I am the strong one. You are the weak one. You are the one who will die… and I am the one who will remain."
She raised her sword to cleave him—
Suddenly, a swift arrow hit her sword, making her hand recoil hard.
A tall shadow appeared far off, between the ruins, holding a strange bow and a cryptic smile.
"Find yourself another prey... little girl."