The underground auction house of Virelia breathed like a living beast.
Gold and shadow clung to its walls, chandeliers dripping soft light over rows of velvet seats. Holographic displays rotated slowly above the stage — rare artifacts suspended in glowing cages of code and magic. Crime lords watched from behind jeweled masks. Assassins leaned against marble pillars, still as statues. Syndicate heirs whispered numbers that could buy nations.
At the center of it all stood a glass prism.
Inside it pulsed a crystalline orb.
The Heart of Seraphis.
It glowed with a soft, rhythmic light — not mechanical, not magical, but something in between. Almost like a heartbeat.
Elaris Vein felt it before she saw it.
Beneath her midnight cloak, her hybrid blood stirred. Circuits beneath skin warmed. Wings hidden under illusion twitched, restless.
It's calling me.
She forced her breathing steady.
Across the hall, a man leaned forward in his seat.
Kael Dravien.
The Black Vow Prince wore a tailored black suit threaded with faint metallic veins. The sigil of his clan burned quietly at his collar — a warning carved into flesh. His presence alone bent the room inward. Conversations died when he moved.
The auctioneer swallowed.
"Opening bid," he announced, voice tight, "three million credits."
Kael didn't hesitate.
"Five million."
The words fell calm. Venomous. Final.
A hush crashed over the hall.
Five million meant more than money. It meant ownership backed by blood and armies. Most bidders lowered their eyes. Some leaned back, already defeated.
Elaris should have stayed silent.
She didn't.
From the shadows, she stepped forward. Midnight fabric shimmered around her, illusion bending light. Neon blue flickered faintly behind her veil — just enough to be unsettling.
"Ten million credits."
Shock fractured the room.
Whispers exploded like sparks.
Who dares outbid the Black Vow Prince?
Kael's head turned slowly.
His eyes found her.
For a heartbeat, the noise faded. The artifact's glow deepened. Elaris's pulse quickened as something ancient and electric pulled tight between them.
"You don't know," Kael said, voice low, dangerous, "what fire you're walking into."
Elaris met his gaze without flinching.
"To master fire," she replied softly, "one must first touch it."
The Heart of Seraphis pulsed brighter.
The auctioneer opened his mouth to speak—
The ceiling exploded.
Glass rained down like screaming stars. Gunfire tore through velvet walls. Energy bolts carved molten scars into marble as cybernetic figures descended on burning wings.
A rival syndicate.
Panic ignited.
Guests screamed. Seats overturned. Masks fell — and beneath them, weapons slid free.
Kael was already on his feet.
Metal sang as a black mechanized blade unfolded from his arm, humming with lethal resonance. He didn't look surprised. Only focused.
Elaris burned her illusion away.
Light flared.
Her wings burst free — sleek, metallic feathers edged in neon-blue fire. Gasps rippled through the hall as she stood revealed.
Half-fairy.Half-machine.A living contradiction.
They should have clashed. Enemies by blood. Bound to opposing worlds.
Chaos decided otherwise.
The first attacker lunged.
Kael moved.
Elaris moved.
Their bodies aligned without thought, without command — as if something older than rivalry had memorized their rhythm long ago.
Steel met flame.
Kael's blade sheared through rifles, sparks raining like molten stars. Elaris spun through the air, wings slicing outward — feathers hardening into razor-edged projectiles that tore through armor.
They covered each other without looking.
When Kael struck high, Elaris swept low.When Elaris faltered mid-air, Kael stepped into her shadow.
It wasn't a fight.
It was choreography written in blood.
Bodies fell. Holograms flickered and died. Crime lords fled — some crawling, some frozen in awe, unable to look away from the lethal beauty unfolding before them.
In the center of the ruin, the Heart of Seraphis pulsed wildly.
Its glow synchronized with Elaris's heartbeat.
Kael noticed.
The crystal wasn't reacting.
It was choosing.
Gunfire roared again.
And the auction of fire became something far more dangerous
The beginning of destiny.