Kapitel 2: Shadows Of The Past

Blood.

The metallic scent filled Selene Draven's nostrils, mingling with the fading warmth of the sun on her skin.

Her knees pressed into the cold, unforgiving stone floor, her hands slick with crimson.

Her entire family, gone.

Dead.

Ripped apart.

Her mother's eyes, once full of life and strength, stared blankly at the ceiling, unseeing. Selene knelt beside her, barely able to breathe as she reached out with trembling fingers.

"M-Mother…" she whispered, her voice cracking.

Her hand hovered over her mother's still chest, unable to bring herself to touch the cold flesh. Her heart felt as if it had been cleaved in two. Her father lay sprawled across the threshold of the room, his sword inches from his outstretched hand.

Her younger brother, barely seventeen, was slumped against the wall, his blood staining the family crest on his tunic.

"Why…" Selene's voice broke. She curled her hands into fists, her nails biting into her palms. "Why didn't I stop this? Why didn't I see it coming?"

Footsteps echoed in the hall behind her. The sound was distant, almost hollow, but it snapped her back to reality. She turned slowly, her body stiff, and saw the royal guard flooding the room, their swords drawn.

"Selene Draven!" a voice boomed from the doorway.

She didn't flinch. Didn't move. Her mind was frozen in shock, her gaze locked on the bloodied bodies of her family.

"Selene Draven, you are hereby under arrest for the murder of the Draven family and for conspiracy against the crown."

Selene blinked, her vision blurring as her brain tried to make sense of the words.

"Murder?" she whispered, her voice barely audible. "No... no, I didn't—"

Before she could finish, rough hands yanked her up by the arms, dragging her away from her mother's body. She struggled, her feet slipping in the blood, but the guards were unrelenting. Panic surged through her chest.

"Let go of me!" she snarled, twisting in their grip. "I didn't do this! You have to listen—"

"You'll speak when spoken to, assassin," one of the guards hissed in her ear. "No more lies."

"Lies?" Selene's heart pounded in her chest. "Why would I lie about this? Why would I murder my own family?"

The captain of the guard stepped forward, his face cold and impassive beneath his iron helmet.

He held up a small, silver designed dagger—the dagger of the Nightshade Guild, her dagger—gleaming with fresh blood.

"This was found beside your father's body," he said, his voice as hard as the metal in his hand. "There's no use denying it. Everyone said you never allowed anyone else to touch that dagger."

Selene's eyes widened as she stared at the blood covered dagger.

Her lips trembled.

Her own weapon, the one she had used countless times in service to the crown, now turned against her. Planted at the scene of her family's murder.

"I've been framed!" she shouted, her voice rising in desperation. "The Nightshade Guild, they did this! They wanted my family dead, not me! You have to believe me!"

"Silence," the captain barked, his eyes narrowing. "You've spilled enough blood for one night, assassin. Take her to the Ironkeep."

The guards tightened their grip on her arms, and despite her struggles, they began dragging her out of the room. Her heart hammered in her chest, panic clouding her thoughts.

"No! You can't do this!" she cried, thrashing against them. "I didn't kill them! My mother, my father—my brother—they're all dead because of the Guild! Please!"

The captain sneered down at her. "Save your breath. You'll have plenty of time to scream in the dungeons."

Tears blurred Selene's vision, but she refused to let them fall. She couldn't break—not here, not now. She needed to think, needed to find a way out of this. Her mind raced, searching for any possibility, any sliver of hope.

But there was nothing.

As they hauled her into the night, the once-grand estate that had been her home now lay in ruins behind her. The moonlight cast long shadows over the stone walls, and Selene knew with a sickening certainty that she would never see this place again.

The people outside whispered as the guards dragged her past.

"There she is. The traitor."

"She murdered them, they say. The entire Draven family."

"She's the best assassin in the kingdom. What made her snap?"

Selene's throat tightened, her body slack with exhaustion.

She knew how this would play out—the perfect scapegoat for a kingdom desperate for answers.

No trial.

No justice.

The Nightshade Guild had covered their tracks too well. The soldiers wouldn't listen, and the people wouldn't care.

They shoved her into the iron cell of a transport wagon, the clanging of the bars ringing in her ears. Her hands shook as she curled her fingers around them, staring blankly at the darkened horizon.

Every breath she took felt shallow, too painful, her heart had broken into a million pieces.

By the time they reached the prison transport, her wrists were bound in iron shackles, cutting into her skin.

The wagon's iron bars shone under the moon, a cage for the damned.

The guards shoved her inside, slamming the door shut behind her with a resounding clang.

For the first time in her life, Selene felt truly helpless. Trapped. Betrayed.

She sat in the corner of the wagon, her back pressed against the cold iron, her breathing shallow and ragged.

She kept on seeing her family dead bodies. They killed them and framed her.

A nineteen years old girl who came from nothing. Who worked her way up to being the best in the king assassin guild.

Their jealousy and her greatness now brought her back to nothing. But this time without the love of her family.

Her family—her entire world—had been ripped away in an instant. And now, they wanted her to pay for it.

She lowered her head into her hands, her grief crashing over her like a wave. As she let out sobs.

Hours passed, her tears dried against her muddy cheeks. The wheels of the wagon groaned over rocky terrain as the soldiers rode in silence. The stars above faded, replaced by the dim light of dawn. Selene didn't move, barely breathed, as they crossed the border into the mountains.

Ironkeep.

The very name sent a chill down her spine. The fortress loomed ahead, its dark towers jutting out from the jagged cliffs like a cursed beacon. It was said that no one who entered Ironkeep ever left. The prison where magic was suppressed, where even the strongest warriors broke under their confinement.

The wagon stopped with a jolt, snapping Selene from her haze. The doors creaked open, and the guards grabbed her by the arms again, pulling her out into the biting mountain air.

"Ironkeep awaits you, assassin," one of them sneered.

She didn't respond. Her eyes were fixed on the towering gates before her, the black iron seemingly absorbing the light around it. A fitting place for the likes of her.

As they marched her toward the gates, a familiar voice whispered through her mind, mocking her.

You're nothing now.

The gates opened with a low groan, and they pushed her inside. The dark, damp walls of the fortress closed in around her like a tomb. She barely felt it when they dragged her down the winding stairs, deeper into the heart of the prison, and threw her into a cell.

The heavy iron door slammed shut, the sound reverberating through the small, stone chamber.

Selene didn't move. She sat on the cold floor, her arms wrapped around her knees, staring at the wall.

She had nothing left. Her family was dead, her honor destroyed, her life taken.

A murderer. A traitor.

A hollow laugh escaped her lips, bitterness staining the sound.

She had been an assassin, a weapon of the guild, but nothing could have prepared her for this.

They had turned on her, framed her, and left her to rot. She had always known the life she chose was a dangerous one, but she never imagined the betrayal would come from within her own people.

And now, as she sat in the shadows of her prison, she could only think of one thing: vengeance.

Selene closed her eyes, the faces of her family imprinted into her mind.

She would survive this.

She would escape.

And when she did, she would make them pay.

Every last one of them.