Chapter 16 – The Vow Beneath the Blood Moon
The forest lay still, its silence broken only by the occasional rustle of wind through dead leaves. Somewhere amidst the undergrowth, hidden beneath a veil of moonlight and shadow, a body lay broken.
Jin.
His breath was ragged, shallow. His robes were in tatters, soaked with blood—his own. Bones jutted out at grotesque angles, twisted by brutal force. Every heartbeat was agony, every blink a battle against the darkness that crept in at the edges of his vision.
He didn't know how long he had been lying there. Minutes? Hours? Days?
His once determined spirit now teetered on the edge of oblivion.
"…Why?" His voice was barely a whisper.
He couldn't move. Could barely think. But the memory was sharp—his teammates had abandoned him mid-mission. He had sensed them falter before the assassins arrived. Their absence hadn't been coincidence.
Then came the hooded figures, their attacks swift and merciless. He remembered the moment one of them whispered Elder Varek's name while driving a blade into his abdomen. The betrayal burned deeper than the wound.
This wasn't a random attack. This was a message.
His fingers twitched. Rage pooled in his gut, thick and heavy. He was going to die here. Alone. Forgotten. Cast away like trash simply because he showed potential.
His lips curled in a bitter smile, tears mingling with the blood on his cheeks. "Am I really… going to die like this?"
A crow cried in the distance, as if mourning.
He couldn't accept it.
Jin gritted his teeth. No. Not like this. He was not born with great talent. He wasn't blessed with rare affinities. He clawed for every inch forward. And now, when he finally stepped into the light, someone sought to snuff it out.
"I… won't… die… here…" he croaked.
Every fiber of his being screamed in defiance. He wasn't ready to die—not while Elder Varek stood unpunished. Not while his path remained unfinished.
Blood bubbled at his lips as he clenched what little strength remained in his shattered frame.
"I swear," he whispered, his voice barely audible above the wind. "Even if… it takes my next life… I'll kill you, Varek."
It wasn't a plea. It was a vow etched into the very marrow of his soul, branded in hatred and pain.
Above him, the moon dimmed, slipping behind a veil of clouds, casting the forest in darkness.
Then—nothing.
His eyes closed as the chill of death crawled in. His consciousness began to fade, pulled into a deep, dreamless void.
But fate… was not finished with him yet.