The Sun Citadel felt colder than usual when Bao Bao Hamato returned.
Not because of weather.
Because of truth.
Word of the ambush had reached the Council long before he rode through the golden gates. Messengers had carried whispers:
The Sun-King was attacked.
The Mountain-Fang rebels nearly killed him.
Barok planned an assassination.
But Bao Bao knew the truth.
Barok was innocent.
The rebellion was a mask.
And something older — something forgotten — had moved in the dark.
The Umbra Concalve.
The council chamber doors opened with a heavy groan as Bao Bao stepped inside. Every clan leader was already present:
Raijin Sarurama, stoic and sharp-eyed.
Rana, leaning on a carved staff.
Kuro Saru, arms crossed, tail flicking.
Elder Yura, the calm voice of the lesser clans.
And dozens more, sitting in half-circle formation beneath the blazing Sun Crest on the ceiling.
Raijin stood first.
"Your Majesty… we heard of the attack. Sit. Speak. What happened in the mountains?"
Bao Bao did not sit.
He placed both hands on the table — flame flickering faintly across his knuckles — and said:
"Mountain-Fang did not attack me.
Barok did not send assassins.
The rebellion is being manipulated."
The room tightened like a held breath.
Kuro Saru's ears twitched.
"What do you mean… manipulated?"
Bao Bao exhaled.
Then spoke the words that shifted Firelonia's fate.
"An ancient group still lives. A hidden order. One that wants the Sun Throne empty."
Raijin straightened sharply.
"That order was wiped out long ago—"
"They were not wiped out," Bao Bao said.
"They ambushed me in the pass. They used stolen armor. Stolen clan tactics. Weapons from the Ash-Era."
Rana almost dropped his staff.
"Ash-Era weapons? Those were banned—destroyed—hidden!"
Bao Bao shook his head.
"They had one. A pulse emitter. And they wore this."
He tossed something onto the council table.
A cracked sun-metal mask.
The symbol carved into the forehead made the room fall silent.
A half-sun.
A half-shadow.
Split down the center.
Elder Yura whispered the name as if it hurt her lungs to speak it.
"Umbra… Concalve."
A chill passed through the chamber.
Old myths returned.
Old terrors awakened.
Raijin pressed his hand to his forehead.
"If they have returned… the clans alone cannot stop them. Shadows strike where soldiers cannot stand. Flame alone cannot reach them."
Bao Bao nodded.
"That is why we need something else.
Something new.
Something made for the shadows."
He stepped forward, voice steady but heavy.
"The Umbra Concalve hides behind clans, tricks rebels, manufactures conflict. They are not an army — they are a shadow. If we chase them with light, they will flee. If we chase them with soldiers, they will vanish."
Kuro leaned forward.
"Then what do you propose, Sun-King?"
Bao Bao slowly lifted the cracked mask.
"We create a group that moves where armies cannot.
A guard the public will never see.
Warriors trained not as soldiers… but as shadows."
The council murmured in mixed confusion and fear.
Raijin narrowed his eyes.
"You speak of spies?"
"No," Bao Bao answered.
"I speak of protectors."
He put the mask down and let it rotate until its shadow covered the Sun Crest painted on the table.
"A new order.
Serving the King alone.
Born in secrecy.
Sworn to guard the realm from what dwells unseen."
His next words felt like a decree echoing through the stone walls.
"I call them… the Eclipse Blades."
The chamber froze.
Some gasped.
Some whispered.
Some tried to stand but couldn't.
The idea was dangerous.
Unprecedented.
A break from clan tradition.
Elder Yura stood, her voice trembling not with fear, but awe.
"An order of warriors… who serve only the Sun-King? Not the clans? Not the council?"
"Yes."
Rana's eyes softened.
"Then they will be hated."
"They will be feared," Kuro added quietly.
Raijin stepped closer.
"And they will be necessary."
The room quieted.
Bao Bao continued, voice strong and unwavering.
"The Eclipse Blades will not replace the clans. They will not interfere in politics. Their only purpose is to protect Firelonia from threats that cannot be seen."
He lifted the cracked mask again.
"From threats like this."
Silence.
Then Raijin bowed his head.
"Firelonia needs them."
Rana placed his staff to the floor.
"We vote."
One by one, the clan leaders gave their verdict.
"Sarurama Clan… agrees."
"Rana Clan… agrees."
"Saru Clan… agrees."
"Kaze Clan… agrees."
"Ignar Clan… agrees."
"Lumarin Clan… agrees."
THIRTEEN clans.
All in favor.
Elder Yura spoke the final words:
"By the decree of the Council of Suns…
We authorize the creation of the Eclipse Blades—
the King's unseen guard."
A new flame ignited behind Bao Bao's eyes.
Not anger.
Not fear.
Purpose.
He bowed slightly, more grateful than he let them see.
"Thank you. I will begin selecting candidates."
Raijin raised a brow.
"And who do you trust enough to lead this secret order?"
Bao Bao turned slowly.
He already knew the answer.
His voice was calm.
"Veylara Shadecrest."
Shock rippled across the chamber.
The shadow-mancer who fought beside him.
The one who sensed the trap before anyone else.
The one who shielded him during the stonefall.
The one whose loyalty had already been tested by darkness.
Elder Yura nodded slowly.
"A woman who walks the line between light and shadow…"
"…is the only one who can lead the warriors who must do the same," Bao Bao finished.
Raijin bowed with respect.
"Then she shall be Captain. The First Eclipse Blade."
Kuro smirked.
"She'll terrify half the clans."
"That is the point," Bao Bao replied.
The Council rose.
Bao Bao turned toward the great sunlit window overlooking the kingdom he had nearly died defending.
Firelonia shone bright.
But he could feel it now — truly feel it:
Something greater than rebellion was moving.
Something ancient.
Patient.
Hungry.
The Umbra Concalve.
They would not stop.
But now…
Bao Bao was no longer alone.
The shadows would no longer belong to the enemy.
Because Firelonia had forged a new weapon.
A silent one.
A loyal one.
A hidden one.
The Eclipse Blades.
And their war…
had just begun.