Hellion's Reckoning

With Inias busy training, Ashryn sat out on the forest’s edge, looking out at the city’s towering walls beyond the rolling hills outside the forest. She sat high upon a branch, watching the expanse. Spying on the city, that was the excuse she used to come out here. They had all agreed to take rounds for the watch, except Inias, whose training kept him busy and too tired to serve as a proper sentry. There was no army massing outside the city, no sign that Ailog planned to attack the forest soon.

She thought about her chat with Ruvyn. It made her feel a little better to have someone else to talk to. However, she felt she couldn’t just accept Ruvyn’s affections while she was getting close to Inias. They had rarely spoken before that day, but his flirting and charming smiles lifted her spirits at that moment. He was a renowned warrior in his own right, famed for his service in the borderlands, repelling redcap, and goblin raids.

Get close to Inias, soften him with affection and mold him into Ivaran’s tool. That was the plan the king and the Magistrate had laid out for her. So long as he remained conflicted, his power was useful. If he strayed, joined with the Ravenmoons, she knew what they would ask her. Never. She would never let them use her to kill Inias. He had crossed the Vale to find her when Caelan betrayed them to the Crescent.

Ashryn’s affection wasn’t all an act. That’s what made the deception so hard. His fiery red eyes held a hint of danger in them she found alluring, but they were friends. He was a friend that came once in a lifetime, the kind you didn’t wish to ruin or complicate.

Her heart pounded with conflicting emotions as she grappled with the weight of her mission. The dark shadows of deception loomed over her, threatening to engulf her in a web of lies and manipulation. She glanced back at the city walls, a reminder of the powers at play, each stone a testament to the Magistrate’s strength and ruthlessness. They loomed in the distance, casting long shadows that seemed to stretch towards her like fingers of fate.

Ashryn’s thoughts drifted back to Ruvyn, his light-hearted presence pulling at her resolve like a relentless tide. The memory of his affections ignited a flicker of warmth within her, a dangerous spark during icy treachery. The lure of his charm had tugged at her like invisible hands, beckoning her toward a path fraught with betrayal and broken promises. She was used to attention from others. The court boys, sons of powerful nobles, had surrounded her at almost every gathering.

A distraction, that’s what Ruvyn offered her, that’s what appealed to her most. A distraction from the web of political madness that had killed her clan and driven her to betray her friend. A glimmer of hope sparked within her as she thought of her goal: to avenge her clan’s slaughter by Ivaran and the ruthless magistrate. They could not break her resolve; she couldn’t let her conflicting feelings get in the way.

With a steely look in her eyes, Ashryn’s thoughts turned to Ruvyn once more. His charming presence had stirred something within her, a glimmer of warmth amidst the cold calculations of her mission. But she knew she couldn’t afford to be swayed by distractions, no matter how tempting. She would play her part in Ivaran’s twisted game, dancing along his strings with elegant grace. Every smile, every gesture, every whispered word of false affection would serve as a steppingstone towards her end game - vengeance for her clan.

The shadows of the city walls may loom large, but Ashryn’s spirit burned bright with the fire of determination. She was a warrior, a survivor, and a seeker of justice in a world shrouded in darkness. And with each passing moment, she edged closer to the day when she would bring Ivaran and the Magistrate to their knees, avenging her fallen clan with a heart as fierce as the forest that cradled her.

Ashryn shook her head and sighed. Why should she let herself remain miserable when there was a friend willing to make her smile? What was so wrong with having something or someone for herself? Inias had Keira. She needed someone to remind her that there was some light in this world. Ruvyn’s smile and lighthearted flirting may be just the spark she needed to keep her flames burning strong. Sliding off her perch she decided to see if Ruvyn wouldn’t mind a little sparring match of their own.