The bell continued ringing.
Once.
Twice.
Again and again.
Its sound rolled across Velmora's burning streets long after midnight.
A warning.
A signal.
Or perhaps a declaration.
Kaelan Var stood motionless beneath falling snow.
The messenger's words still echoed in his mind.
"Someone tried to assassinate Corven."
Dren was the first to speak.
"That's bad."
Kaelan glanced toward him.
"Bad?"
Dren nodded.
"Because it wasn't us."
Silence followed.
Both men immediately understood the problem.
If someone else was moving pieces across the board—
Then neither commander knew the full battlefield anymore.
And unknown enemies were always the most dangerous.
"Where?" Kaelan asked.
"The palace's eastern wing."
The messenger swallowed nervously.
"Three guards dead."
"Two officers wounded."
"The assassin escaped."
No name.
No banner.
No witnesses.
Too clean.
Kaelan looked toward the palace rising above the city.
Its towers stood against the snowy sky like dark spears piercing the night.
Then he made a decision.
"We're going there."
Dren groaned immediately.
"Of course we are."
An hour later—
The streets around the palace had become a fortress.
Black banner soldiers guarded every entrance.
Patrols doubled.
Archers watched every rooftop.
The assassination attempt had shaken them.
Good soldiers feared what they could not see.
Kaelan moved through side streets with a small group of resistance scouts.
Hidden.
Silent.
Watching.
Then he noticed something strange.
The soldiers weren't looking outward.
They were watching each other.
Suspicion.
Distrust.
The assassination had done more damage than any blade.
It had planted doubt.
Dren noticed it too.
"They think it was someone inside."
Kaelan nodded slowly.
The realization troubled him.
Because if Corven's own forces were fracturing—
The city was closer to collapse than anyone realized.
Suddenly—
Movement appeared atop a nearby roof.
A figure.
Black cloak.
Fast.
Gone an instant later.
Kaelan's eyes narrowed.
"Did you see that?"
Dren nodded.
"Yep."
The figure appeared again farther ahead.
Moving across rooftops.
Not running from them.
Leading them.
That was somehow worse.
Without another word—
Kaelan followed.
The chase carried them through abandoned streets and ruined districts covered in snow.
The mysterious figure never fully disappeared.
Always visible for a moment.
Always just ahead.
Like a ghost guiding them somewhere.
Finally—
The figure stopped.
At an old watchtower overlooking the northern district.
The tower had been abandoned since the siege began.
Kaelan entered cautiously.
Sword already drawn.
The spiral staircase climbed upward through darkness.
Step.
By step.
By step.
Until he reached the top.
The wind struck immediately.
Cold.
Sharp.
Relentless.
And there—
Standing beside the broken windows—
Waited the cloaked figure.
Motionless.
Watching the city below.
Kaelan stepped forward carefully.
"Who are you?"
For several moments—
No answer came.
Then the figure removed the hood.
Dren froze.
"...No way."
Kaelan's eyes narrowed.
The face was familiar.
Not because he had met the man.
Because he had seen portraits.
Military records.
Old banners.
A legend.
A commander thought dead years ago.
General Arcturus Vale.
The Lion of the North.
Hero of the Third Border War.
The same war Corven had mentioned beneath the archive.
The older man studied Kaelan silently.
Gray hair.
Scarred face.
Eyes that looked just as dangerous as Corven's.
Then finally—
He spoke.
"You are younger than I expected."
Kaelan's grip tightened slightly.
"You were declared dead."
A faint smile appeared.
"So was the empire."
Silence.
Snow drifted through the broken tower.
Dren looked between them.
"Okay."
He pointed dramatically.
"Legendary dead general appears in the middle of a revolution."
Then toward Kaelan.
"Please tell me this makes sense to you."
"It doesn't."
"Good."
Arcturus chuckled quietly.
The first hint of warmth from him.
Then his expression hardened.
"Corven still lives."
The statement felt less like a question.
More like disappointment.
Kaelan studied him carefully.
"You sent the assassin."
"No."
The answer came immediately.
Then Arcturus looked toward the palace.
"But I know who did."
The wind howled outside.
And suddenly—
The city felt much larger than before.
Because another layer of history had appeared.
Another player.
Another secret.
Kaelan stepped forward.
"Then tell me."
Arcturus remained silent for several moments.
Long enough for tension to build.
Long enough for the snow to continue falling beyond the shattered windows.
Finally—
He spoke.
"The man who attacked Corven..."
His eyes darkened.
"...was Corven's son."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Even Dren forgot how to speak.
Far below—
Velmora burned beneath the winter night.
And for the first time since the war began—
Kaelan realized he understood almost nothing about the man behind the black banners.
The war was changing again.
And the next revelation might destroy everything.
...
"History never truly dies. It waits in the shadows until the right moment to return." ⚔️
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What do you think happened between Corven, his son, and General Arcturus Vale? Comment your theory!