"Blood should protect blood—but some blood only thirsts for gold."
The night the twins vanished from the Phoenix Realm, the mortal world slept beneath a quiet moon. No one in the small village of Emberfall knew that two divine infants—marked by ancient power—were about to return.
Not even the people who should have protected them.
A shimmering tear in space opened just above a shabby wooden crib inside Rylan and Seraphina's tiny cottage. Light spilled across the walls in soft waves of white and gold. Then—gently, almost lovingly—two bundled infants drifted down onto the straw mattress.
Lyra whimpered.
Arin coughed once, then fell silent.
The house was empty.The hearth was cold.The air smelled faintly of ash, as if Rylan's life had burned away hours ago.
The twins, barely born, were already orphans.
But they were not alone for long.
A shadow moved outside the window.
Then another.
Whispers carried through the cracks in the wood. Ugly, greedy, excited whispers.
"Are you sure the Phoenix woman left treasure here?"
"I heard it from Elder Bram. She married into a divine clan. They must've gifted her something priceless."
"Good! That fool Rylan didn't deserve it anyway. That bastard hid everything from us!"
Rylan's cousins.His uncle.His aunt.All the people he had trusted since childhood.
Now circling his home like hungry wolves.
The cottage door creaked open.
A tall, wiry man stepped inside holding a lantern—Joren Vale, Rylan's cousin, and the first to betray him when the Phoenix Clan arrived at the village weeks ago.
He sneered at the small, dimly lit room.
"So this is where the 'great immortal bride' lived."He kicked a broken stool aside. "Disgusting."
Behind him came Mirra—Rylan's aunt—plump, sharp-eyed, and cruel in the gentle way only greedy relatives could be.
"Search everything," she ordered. "We find the Phoenix gold before anyone else."
The men spread out, tearing through shelves, ripping out floorboards, smashing furniture. Wood cracked, old memories shattered, and the twins began to cry from the crib.
Joren turned, startled. "What—?"
Mirra gasped. "Infants? Whose are—"
A third voice cut in.A calm, calculating tone.
"Look at their blankets."
Everyone froze.
The speaker stepped forward—Elden Vale, Rylan's uncle and the quiet ringleader behind every scheme the family had ever pulled. His eyes narrowed as he inspected the golden embroidery on the edges of the twins' cloth.
"Phoenix sigils," he whispered.
Gasps erupted.
Joren grinned wickedly."So the Phoenix woman left behind her brats."
Mirra clasped her hands with glee."That means—oh heavens—do you know what this means?"
Elden's smile was razor-thin.
"It means those children may have phoenix treasures hidden with them. Power. Artifacts. Maybe even divine inheritance."
He stepped closer to the crib.
Arin flinched.Lyra's tiny fingers glowed faintly.
Elden's pupils shrank.
"Careful," he warned. "They might have something… dangerous."
Mirra scoffed. "Dangerous? They're infants, Elden!"
She grabbed the edge of Lyra's blanket—and a spark of divine light shocked her backwards.
"AH!"She slapped her burned hand. "Witch child!"
Elden crouched, intrigued. "So the rumors are true. These brats are part-immortal."
Joren rubbed his hands eagerly. "Let's sell them!"
Mirra gasped. "Sell them?! To who?"
"To traveling cultivators, of course," Joren said like it was obvious. "To alchemists. To sects who experiment on—"
"NO," Elden interrupted sharply. "We don't sell the children."
Everyone stared.
Elden's eyes gleamed with ambition.
"We take whatever treasure they were sent with…Then we leave the brats to die."
Mirra hesitated. "But—"
"No one will know," Elden snapped. "The phoenix witch is gone. Rylan is gone. These children will only bring trouble."
Lyra let out a small, frightened cry.
Arin reached out a trembling hand toward the man looming above them.
Elden ignored both.
He reached into the blankets—searching.
Searching for anything that shined.
And then he found it.
A small wooden box, the size of a fist, carved with divine runes and sealed by phoenix flame.
The moment Elden touched it, a warm pulse of power surged through the room.
Mirra inhaled sharply."Oh my… is that the Phoenix Dowry?"
Joren's eyes flashed greedily."Open it!"
"I'm trying," Elden grunted.
But the box didn't budge.It was sealed with Seraphina's divine mark.
Lyra's glowing eyes turned toward the box.
Arin whimpered, pulling closer to his sister.
Mirra snapped her fingers."Break it open! Smash it!"
Elden snarled. "I will NOT smash a divine artifact, you fool! We take it with us and break the seal later."
"Fine," Joren said. "But what about the children?"
Elden didn't even look at them."We take the box. We take anything else Phoenix-related. Then we burn the house to hide our tracks."
Lyra suddenly screamed, her tiny voice trembling with terror.Arin joined her, reaching desperately for the artifact box that belonged to them—The last thing their mother left behind.
Mirra sneered."Oh hush. If you brats had been born normal, none of this would be necessary."
She reached toward them again.
This time, the divine protection seal did nothing.
The seal Seraphina placed only guarded against death.
Not cruelty.Not abandonment.
Elden stuffed the artifact box inside his coat, ignoring the babies' cries.
"Take the blankets too," he said. "Phoenix fabric sells for high price."
Mirra ripped the embroidered blanket off the infants. The sudden cold made both twins sob louder.
Their tiny bodies shook.Their breaths trembled.
Joren laughed."Without special blankets, they look like normal brats."
Elden smirked."Exactly. Now they'll die quietly."
He turned toward the door."All right. Burn it."
But before he could step outside, a strange wind cut through the cottage—cold and sharp despite the summer night. The lantern light flickered.
A faint whisper traveled through the room.
Almost a voice.
Almost a warning.
"…mine…"
Elden froze.
Mirra's skin prickled."Did you hear that?"
Joren swallowed. "The wind… it sounded like—like someone speaking."
The whisper came again, louder.
"…my children…"
The twins suddenly stopped crying.
The air grew heavy.The shadows deepened.
And then—every flame in the room blew out at once.
Darkness swallowed the cottage.
Elden stiffened."Who's there?!"
No answer.
Only the sound of a heartbeat—Not from a living body—
But from the artifact box inside Elden's coat.
Thump…Thump…Thump.
A seal awakening.
A warning.
A promise.
And then—A third whisper, this time unmistakably clear:
"…release them… or burn."
The cottage walls shook.
Joren screamed."What—WHAT WAS THAT?!"
Elden stumbled backward, clutching the artifact with trembling hands.
"This—this can't be—"
The heartbeat in the box grew louder.
THUMP.THUMP.THUMP.
Lyra's eyes glowed red-gold.Arin's skin shimmered with shadow.
And the whisper rose again—Not from the box.
Not from the room.
But from inside Elden's mind.
"…you have taken what is mine…"
And then—
A spark ignited.