Location: Tavara – Mountainside Private Estate
The wind howled over the ridge, brushing through Damien's coat as he stood at the edge of the cliff. Below, the shimmering lake reflected the orange-pink sky, a rare moment of peace that belied the storm brewing beneath the surface. His phone vibrated again—another encrypted message, this one bearing only three words: "They found her."
He turned slowly, eyes narrowing. If what he suspected was true, then the veiled woman—the elusive figure from his mother's fractured memories—wasn't just a ghost of the past. She was alive. And worse, she was in Tavara.
Inside the estate, Nora and her mother sat side by side, the fireplace crackling gently. Though much of her memory was still locked away behind shadows, a name had returned to her lips that afternoon: "Selena." Not a name they had come across in any files or records—until now.
Damien entered quietly, giving Nora a gentle nod. Her eyes met his, filled with the same mixture of hope and dread that had plagued them since the coded trail began.
"She's been spotted?" Nora asked, her voice low.
He nodded. "In the southern valley. Near the Crimson Veil Monastery."
A gasp escaped Nora's mother. "No… not there. That place is cursed. It's where it all began."
Damien crouched beside her, steady and composed. "Tell us everything."
The woman's fingers trembled as she reached into her coat pocket and retrieved a cracked photograph. Three children stood smiling in front of the monastery gate. She pointed to the girl in the center—icy eyes, a red ribbon in her hair.
"That's Selena… and that's me."
Nora blinked. "You knew her?"
"We were raised together," her mother whispered. "Before… before the Order began using us."
Damien tensed. The Order again. Every time they uncovered a new truth, it led back to the same ancient, hidden organization pulling the strings behind global empires and familial betrayals.
"She disappeared one night. They said she died. But I saw the signs—the silence, the symbols carved into our beds. They made her into something else. Something they couldn't control."
A beat of silence fell over the room.
"She's the one Archer fears," Damien said quietly.
"Yes," Nora's mother replied. "Because she knows what even he doesn't."
Damien stood. "Then it's time we paid a visit to the Crimson Veil."
---
Location: Crimson Veil Monastery – Southern Tavara
The monastery loomed like a specter from another time, half-swallowed by the mountainside. Vines snaked over ancient stones, and silence ruled like a tyrant. Damien, Nora, and two of Damien's elite guards—Marcus and Elira—approached in a tight formation.
"Scanners pick up at least five heat signatures inside," Elira reported. "But they're not moving. Could be a trap."
Damien drew his silenced firearm and gestured toward the side entrance. "We go in silent. No casualties unless provoked."
Inside, candlelight flickered in narrow corridors. The air smelled of wax, stone, and something metallic. As they moved deeper, they found the first signature—a mannequin dressed in robes, with a voice recorder tied to its neck.
A tinny voice played: "I see you, Damien Kane. You followed the breadcrumbs well. But can you face the truth?"
Suddenly, the corridor burst into red strobe lights, and gas hissed from the walls.
"MASKS!" Damien roared, shoving one into Nora's hands.
But it was too late. Her eyes fluttered as the sedative took hold. Damien caught her before she hit the floor, cradling her in his arms. The world twisted, blurring at the edges.
Then… a laugh. Soft, lilting. Feminine.
From the shadows stepped a woman in red, her face veiled but her voice unmistakable. "You came for answers. Now you'll get them… but only if you're ready to lose everything."
Damien's heart pounded. Even with the fog in his mind, one thing was clear: Selena wasn't just a memory or a mystery. She was the reckoning.