The Mask of the Bridegroom
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Wind howled through the lower cliffs of Mount Veylan. Hidden beneath its jagged shadows lay the sanctuary of the Wraith Cloister—an ancient refuge for those who no longer belonged anywhere.
Kael and Lireen arrived just before dawn. Exhausted. Bloody. Free.
Lireen collapsed onto the stone bench near the gate, her breaths shallow. Kael kept watch, blade in hand, senses on fire.
> "We won't be safe for long," he murmured.
The monks who ran the cloister said nothing. But they led them inside.
The inner halls smelled of incense and metal. Walls lined with masks—each one once worn by someone who left behind a name.
> "This place…" Lireen whispered. "What is it?"
Kael: "It's where the forgotten come to become something else."
An old monk, blind and veiled, approached. He held out two masks. One black, one silver.
> "You seek to vanish. Then wear a truth that no one can read."
Kael accepted the black mask, carved with twin wings. Lireen hesitated, then donned the silver one etched with flame.
The monk bowed.
> "Bridegroom. Bride of Fire. The world will forget your faces—but remember your war."
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As night returned, Kael sat alone in the training hall. Memories swirled—Lireen's trembling hand, the rage in Taven's eyes, the flash of ancestral flame.
He tightened the wrappings on his arms. He would need to become more.
Faster. Smarter.
Danger now had a name.
Taven Velmira.
And behind him—The Inner Court.
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Later, Lireen entered, no longer in a gown but in travel armor. She sat beside Kael, silent for a moment.
> "We can't keep running."
Kael: "Then we fight?"
Lireen: "We plan. We expose. We tear them apart one lie at a time."
Kael looked to her.
> "With a war mask?"
She nodded.
> "Until the day I can face them as Lireen again… I will be Fire."
He reached for her hand.
> "And I will be the shadow beside it."
Together, they turned toward the training grounds. Toward the flame-lit path of rebellion.
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🔹Chapter Highlight Teaser : Kael and Lireen flee to an ancient sanctuary where identities are shed and new ones forged. Donning ceremonial masks, they vow to strike from the shadows—until the day they can reclaim their true names and burn the lies of nobility to the ground.
Next: Chapter 26 – "The Hollow War Begins"
Chapter 25 – The Mask of the Bridegroom Finished 🎭🔥
Kael and Lireen had threw away their names - and took a mask as a weapon. Behind the silent residence of the monks, they formed the beginning of the rebellion that would not be recognized ... until the time came🕯️🗡️
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📌 Highlight Teaser:
> Kael and Lireen flee to an ancient sanctuary where identities are shed and new ones forged. Donning ceremonial masks, they vow to strike from the shadows—until the day they can reclaim their true names and burn the lies of nobility to the ground.
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