Chapter Eight: The Five Blades That Remain

The day before the Second Trial, tension wound tight through the challenger’s compound. Five contenders remained. Each one a survivor. Each one a potential enemy or a hidden ally.

Kaede and Ren kept to the shadows of the garden court, watching, listening, judging. They weren’t alone in suspecting betrayal now.

The prophecy whispered in everyone’s minds.

One twin shall rise. The other shall fall.

But which of the five would ensure it?

1. Arashi of House Kazenari - The Storm Dancer

A graceful boy with wind tattoos along his arms and white-gold hair tied in loose braids. Arashi was a crowd favorite handsome, charming, and unnervingly fast. He wielded twin fans edged with razors, able to manipulate wind currents to strike from impossible angles.

Kaede had seen him fight. He didn’t kill his beast he dismantled it, slowly, like wind eroding stone. Precise. Merciless beneath the smile.

He bowed to the twins that morning. “I look forward to seeing how you dance through the next trial.”

Kaede smiled tightly. “We don’t dance. We cut.”

2. Sora of House Yurei - The Whisperblade

The silver-haired fox-spirit girl who had been accused of consorting with the cult. Now under watch, she remained quiet, meditating among her illusion spirits. Her eyes, however, never stopped moving.

She and Kaede met briefly by the moonwater fountain.

“You were right to doubt me,” Sora said, without looking up. “But not all secrets serve evil. Some protect you from it.”

Kaede studied her. “If you’re hiding something, I’ll find out.”

Sora nodded. “You should. Because they already know who the traitor is. The cult isn’t after your life. It’s after your soul.”

3. Daigo of the Northern Blood - The Earthborn Titan

Nearly seven feet tall, carved from muscle and silence. Daigo wore no shirt, only iron prayer beads and a greatclub slung across his back. He had said no more than ten words since the trials began, but when he fought, the ground shook.

Ren watched him from afar. “He doesn’t seem like the cult’s type.”

“Too obvious,” Kaede agreed.

But then again what better disguise?

That night, Ren caught Daigo staring at him, unmoving, from across the courtyard. It was not a look of challenge.

It was… pity.

4. Aimi of House Shikari – The Veiled Flame

She wore crimson silks and a porcelain mask shaped like a smiling fox. Her weapon of choice was a kusarigama chain and sickle and every movement she made dripped with precision and deception.

Kaede had once read about House Shikari. An order of spies and poisoners once exiled from the capital, only recently reinstated.

Aimi approached Ren alone.

“You fought beautifully,” she said, voice muffled by the mask.

Ren replied, “Beauty wasn’t the goal.”

Aimi tilted her head. “That’s what makes it beautiful.”

Later that evening, Kaede found a note pinned to their quarters.

She plays both sides. Her loyalty is smoke. Beware the one who smiles too much.

5. Ren Hoshizora – The Twin Flame

Of course, there was one more name in play.

The prophecy didn’t specify which twin would fall. Or how. Kaede now felt eyes on her brother in every corner. Whispers from nobles. Glances from guards. Even Masaru had grown quiet.

Ren carried himself differently since his duel. Sharper. Darker. As if something had awakened.

And in his dreams… he began to hear the voice again.

 “Only one twin shall ascend.”

That night…

Kaede sat at the edge of their room, polishing her blade. Ren lay nearby, silent.

“We have to be ready,” she said.

“For the Trial?” he asked.

“For betrayal.”

Ren stared at the ceiling. “What if it’s me, Kaede?”

She froze.

“I’ve felt… something. Since the fight. Like a hunger. Like I liked it too much.”

Kaede turned to him, firm.

“If the prophecy wants us to turn on each other, we give it nothing. Not doubt. Not fear. We cut our own path.”

Ren didn’t answer for a while.

Then, finally

“Then I’ll follow your sword. Until the end.”

Far above them, in a tower of crows and shadow…

A cultist watched the twins through a bloodmirror. Around him, the other masked figures chanted in the forgotten tongue.

“Let the Second Trial begin,” he hissed. “And let the seed of betrayal bloom.”