The parchment bearing Ramius's ultimatum still smoldered in the fire pit when the first outsiders crossed into the domain of the Night Crypt. They came as messengers, armored lightly, but with a swagger only men who thought themselves safe carried. Three riders in iron-studded leather, their mounts gaunt beasts with too many teeth, approached the gate.
Lucas stood at the threshold of the crypt, the wind tugging at his cloak. The Darkblood Sentinels flanked him, statues carved from blood and nightmare, their crimson eyes glowing faintly in the fog. Selena lounged at the edge of the stairs, her chin resting in her palm, watching the riders as if they were performers on a stage set for her amusement.
The lead envoy reined in his mount with a harsh jerk and sneered up at Lucas. "Our Lord Ramius shows mercy," he called. His voice carried, sharp and arrogant. "He offers you a chance to kneel. Surrender your lair, your creatures, and your title. In return, he will spare your life. Refuse, and he will grind your bones to powder."
The words hung in the cold air.
Selena's lips parted in a slow, delighted smile. Her crimson eyes shimmered. "They sound so serious," she murmured. "Almost convincing."
Lucas said nothing. He let the silence sharpen into a blade. The envoys shifted, one of them tightening his grip on the reins, suddenly less certain under that silence.
Finally, Lucas spoke. His voice was calm, stripped of heat, but every syllable fell like iron nails.
"I do not kneel."
The lead envoy's smirk faltered. "Then you—"
The word never finished.
Lucas flicked a thought through the Command Link. The Sentinels moved. Three massive shapes blurred forward, bone armor grinding, their great blades of fused crimson bone rising. The mounts screamed once before the sound was cut. In a single sweep, one beast was split clean in half, its rider spilling onto the stone with his chest already opened.
The second Sentinel crushed its target beneath a shield of bone, pinning rider and mount both. Blood sprayed up, hissing as it touched the cursed stone. The third envoy tried to bolt, heels digging into his mount's sides. But Selena appeared in front of him, a flash of pale beauty and red eyes gleaming. She raised one hand, and the Bone Dogs surged from the fog, skeletal jaws snapping. They dragged the rider down, shrieking, tearing at his legs while his mount bolted riderless into the mist.
The lead envoy scrambled backward across the stones, clutching at the dirt, his arrogance collapsing into raw fear. His voice broke. "Wait! Wait! Please—"
Lucas descended the stairs slowly, each step deliberate. The envoy's breath hitched louder with every step.
"You carried an ultimatum," Lucas said. "Now you carry mine."
He gestured. The Bone Dogs seized the envoy, dragging him to the altar of torment that pulsed with crimson light. Selena followed, her laughter soft and cruel, the sound of glass breaking in slow motion.
The envoy thrashed. "No—no, please—"
Selena tilted her head, her smile widening as she trailed her fingers down his cheek. "Shhh. It will be quick. Or maybe it won't. Depends on how much I laugh."
Lucas gave no further order. He didn't need to. The crypt already understood. The Torture Altar awoke, hooks sliding free of the stone like teeth. They pierced the envoy's flesh and lifted him into the air. His scream tore across the plain, long and jagged. The hooks pulled, not enough to kill, just enough to unravel. Selena leaned close, whispering something inaudible into his ear that made his face blanch whiter than bone.
When she stepped back, her hand carried his head, severed so cleanly that the blood still pulsed once from the neck. She tossed it lightly to Lucas, as if offering a piece of fruit.
Lucas caught it without flinching. The envoy's glassy eyes stared at nothing.
"Send it back," he said. "Let them read the answer."
The Sentinels moved again, efficient and silent. They lashed the three heads together with strips of tendon torn from the corpses, mounting them on a crude spike of bone. A ghoul carried it to the edge of the domain, leaving it where the mist would surely deliver it to the scouts watching from afar.
The crypt quieted, its hunger sated for the moment. Selena stood beside Lucas, her eyes gleaming like garnets under moonlight. She licked a smear of blood from her finger, sighing in satisfaction.
"You're efficient," she said. "But messages need flourish."
Lucas turned his gaze on her. "Flourish?"
Her smile deepened. "We've sent them heads. Next time, we'll send them screams."
Her laughter rang out, dark and elegant, echoing off the bone plains like a herald of night.