Part I: The Screams

  Bram woke to darkness and noise.

  For a moment, he didn't know where he was. The room was black, the air cold, and his heart was already pounding before his mind caught up with his body.

  Then the screams reached him.

  Not one scream. Dozens. Hundreds. Coming from every direction—outside the window, down the hall, from the streets below. Screams of terror, screams of pain, screams that cut off suddenly and never resumed.

  "Wake up!" he shouted, shaking Theron beside him. "Wake up, wake up, wake UP!"

  Theron was on his feet in an instant, knife in hand. Lena was already awake, her eyes wide in the darkness. Doran stumbled out of the other room, Amira behind him, both pale and confused.

  Finn was last, rubbing his eyes. "What's happening? Is that—"

  "Screams," Kael said, his voice tight. "Hundreds of screams."

  They ran to the window and threw open the shutters.

  The fog was still there—thicker than before, pressing against the glass like something alive. But now, through the white, they could see other things. Flickers of orange light that had to be flames. Shadows moving too fast, too deliberately. And always, always, the screams.

  "Fire," Doran breathed. "The city's on fire."

  As if to confirm his words, a building across the street exploded into flames—a bright burst of orange that lit up the fog from within. In that instant of light, they saw them.

  Figures. Dozens of them. Hundreds. Moving through the streets in perfect silence, their black robes blending with the darkness, their heads shaped like birds.

  "Ravens," Lena whispered. "They're here."

  ---

  Part II: The Decision

  For one terrible moment, no one moved. They stood frozen at the window, watching death walk through the streets below.

  Then Kael grabbed his sword.

  "We have to go. Now."

  "Go where?" Doran demanded. "The streets are full of them!"

  "Anywhere but here. If they're setting fires, this building won't last. We need to move, find shelter, find a way out—"

  Another scream, this one from inside the inn. Close. Too close. Followed by the crash of breaking wood.

  "They're in the building," Theron said quietly. "We have seconds."

  Kael looked at his friends—six faces lit by the distant flames, each one terrified, each one waiting for him to lead.

  "Stay together. Don't stop for anything. If we get separated, meet at the city's north gate at dawn. Understood?"

  Nods. Quick, desperate nods.

  Kael opened the door.

  ---

  Part III: The Hallway

  The hallway was filled with smoke.

  Bram coughed, covering his mouth with his sleeve, trying to see through the haze. Shapes moved in the distance—some fleeing guests, some things in black robes that moved with terrible purpose.

  "This way!" Lena grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the stairs.

  They ran. Seven people, stumbling through smoke and darkness, past open doors that revealed horrors they couldn't look at. A body here, sprawled across a bed. Another there, half in and half out of a room. Blood. So much blood.

  The stairs were chaos. Guests pushing, screaming, falling. At the bottom, the inn's front door stood open, revealing the fog-choked street beyond.

  And in that open doorway, a figure in black. Watching. Waiting.

  Theron didn't hesitate. He threw his knife—a single, perfect motion—and the figure crumpled. They ran past it without looking back.

  ---

  Part IV: The Streets

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  Outside was hell.

  The fog was so thick they could barely see three feet in any direction. But they could hear everything—the screams, the crackle of flames, the strange, silent movement of the ravens as they passed.

  And the bodies. Everywhere, bodies.

  A woman lay in the street, her hand still reaching toward a child who would never reach back. A man sat against a wall, his eyes open, his throat a dark wound. An old couple, still holding hands, dead together.

  Bram stumbled, his foot catching on something. He looked down and wished he hadn't.

  "Don't stop!" Kael's voice, fierce and desperate. "Keep moving!"

  They ran. Through streets that had been alive with merchants just hours ago. Past burning buildings and fallen bodies. Always following Theron, who moved through the fog with an instinct that seemed almost supernatural.

  A shape emerged from the fog ahead. Raven mask. Black robes. Sword in hand.

  Theron met it before anyone could react. His knife flashed, once, twice, and the raven fell. But more were coming—they could hear them, moving through the fog, surrounding them.

  "This way!" Amira grabbed Bram and pulled him down an alley.

  The others followed. Behind them, the ravens passed, missing them by seconds.

  ---

  Part V: Separated

  The alley led to a small square—a market, by the look of it, with stalls still standing, their goods scattered across the ground. For a moment, they paused, catching their breath, counting heads.

  Kael. Lena. Doran. Theron. Finn. Amira. Bram.

  Seven. Still seven.

  "We can't stay here," Doran gasped. "They're everywhere."

  "We need to find the north gate," Kael said. "Theron, can you—"

  A crash behind them. They spun.

  Five ravens had emerged from the alley, blocking their retreat. More were coming from the other side of the square. They were trapped.

  "Fight!" Kael shouted.

  And they did.

  Doran met the first raven with his axe, the blow sending the figure staggering. Theron moved like water between two others, his knives finding gaps in their armor. Lena grabbed a fallen sword and stood back to back with Amira, the two women holding their own.

  Bram fought too. He didn't remember learning how. He just moved, his body finding strength he didn't know he had.

  But there were too many. For every raven they cut down, two more appeared.

  "We have to break through!" Finn shouted, his voice barely audible over the clash of steel.

  Kael looked around desperately. The square had multiple exits. If they could reach one—

  A raven appeared directly behind Bram. Kael saw it. Saw the sword rising. Saw Bram, too focused on the fight in front of him, completely unaware.

  Kael moved without thinking.

  He ran. He pushed. He took Bram's place.

  The sword entered his back and exited through his chest.

  ---

  Part VI: The Fall

  Time stopped.

  Bram felt something hit him—not a sword, but Kael's body, slamming into him, pushing him aside. He stumbled, caught himself, turned—

  And saw Kael falling.

  The sword was still in him. The raven who held it stood frozen for a moment, as if surprised by its own success. Then it pulled the blade free, and Kael crumpled to the ground.

  "NO!" Bram's scream tore through the night.

  He ran to Kael, falling to his knees beside him. The blood was everywhere—too much blood, spreading across the stones, soaking into his clothes.

  Kael's eyes were open. He was looking at Bram. Trying to speak.

  "Bram..." A whisper. A breath. "Run..."

  "I'm not leaving you! I'm not—"

  The raven approached. Bram looked up, ready to die, ready to fight—

  The raven stopped. Reached up. Removed its mask.

  And Bram's world shattered again.

  Young face. Dark hair. Grey eyes. Not old. Not a stranger. Someone he had seen before. Someone he had sat with in a tavern, listened to, almost trusted.

  "You," Bram whispered. "The old man... but you're..."

  "Young?" The raven smiled. Cold. Empty. "The old man was a mask. Like this one." He gestured at the raven mask in his hand. "You see what you expect to see. It's not my fault you expected an old man."

  Kael's breathing was getting weaker. Bram could feel it—could feel his friend slipping away.

  The raven looked down at Kael, then back at Bram. His expression didn't change.

  "I told you in the tavern," he said quietly. "The ravens don't like the curious."

  Bram couldn't speak. Couldn't move. Couldn't do anything but hold Kael's hand as it grew cold.

  The raven put his mask back on. Turned to leave. Then stopped.

  "Your friend was brave. Foolish, but brave. I'll remember him when I go home." A pause. "Most of you will survive tonight. Not because we're merciful. Because we weren't hired to kill you. This city was our target. And we've finished our work."

  "Who hired you?" Bram's voice was barely a whisper, thick with tears and rage.

  The raven looked back. Even through the mask, Bram could feel his smile.

  "A neighboring kingdom. The name doesn't matter now. What matters is that Fellidor won't see the dawn."

  He vanished into the fog.

  ---

  Part VII: The Last Moments

  Bram held Kael as the life left him.

  "Stay with me," he begged. "Please, stay with me. Don't leave. Don't—"

  Kael's hand moved, finding Bram's. Squeezing weakly.

  "Remember..." His voice was barely audible. "The city... find it... live..."

  "I will. I promise. I'll find it. I'll make them pay. Just don't—"

  Kael smiled. That same smile he'd always had—full of life and adventure and beautiful stupidity.

  "I was... lucky... to have you..."

  His eyes stayed open. But he stopped breathing.

  Bram sat there, holding his friend, as the battle raged around them. As the fires burned. As the screams slowly faded. As dawn began to break over a city of the dead.

  ---

  Part VIII: Dawn

  The fog lifted with the sun, as if it had never been.

  Bram was still sitting in the square, Kael's head in his lap, when the others found him. Lena fell to her knees beside them, her face crumpling. Doran turned away, his shoulders shaking. Theron stood silent, his eyes on the horizon.

  Amira sat beside Bram. Put her hand on his shoulder.

  "Finn?" Bram asked, his voice hollow.

  No one answered. But the look on their faces told him everything.

  Two. They had lost two.

  Bram looked down at Kael's face—peaceful now, the pain gone. He thought of the raven's words. The mask. The old man who wasn't old.

  Corvus.

  "His name is Corvus," Bram said quietly. "And he's not old. He's our age. He was in the tavern with us. He's been watching us the whole time."

  The others stared at him.

  "He killed Kael. And he told me why they're here. Someone hired them. A neighboring kingdom. Fellidor was the target."

  Doran's face hardened. "Then we find out who. And we make them pay."

  "We continue," Lena said, her voice fierce despite her tears. "We find the city. We find the truth. For Kael. For Finn."

  One by one, they nodded.

  Bram gently closed Kael's eyes. Stood up. Looked at the city around them—the smoke, the bodies, the death.

  "We go north," he said. "We find the city. And we find Corvus."

  He started walking. The others followed.

  Behind them, Fellidor burned.

  ---

  End of Chapter 7