Disruption from outside the Tower was logged as an intrusion.
No tremor.
No breach in the walls.
No Shinsoo distortion.
Just a message.
A letter inserted into the Tower's system like a needle through silk — acknowledged, recorded, archived.
It carried the signature of the Archivist aligned with Ending.
"Whoever decided my name equals 'Archivist of Bad Choices'—I'll be commissioning my brother, the Ending, to come have a conversation with the Fates.
Now that NR has finished his acting performance for now… we'll return to commission, now that the One decided to sit down again.
Drink some water and let's have a good year."
— CUEL JURIS, THE HEAVENLY SCRIBE
The Tower logged it.
And moved on.
Scene 1 — Ras (Village, POV)
The village was louder than it had any right to be.
Children weaving between huts carved into the cavern walls. Flames burning in controlled braziers. The scent of roasted meat and mineral-heavy Shinsoo drifting through the air.
They were trying to act normal.
That was the problem.
Selena stood beside me, a rough map carved into stone between us. We were discussing supply routes from Toyin's clan — which tunnels were safe, which paths needed watchers, how often runners could move without creating a pattern the Silver Dwarves could track.
Too many variables.
Too many mouths to feed.
A shadow stepped across the map.
"Who are you," the young leader demanded, "to consider yourself above the clan leader and myself?"
I didn't look up immediately.
Selena did.
The young leader stood rigid, orange hair tied back, lean bird-clan frame tense with indignation. Acting Junior Administrator. A position granted for mobility and coordination — not dominance.
"Was I below you?" he pressed.
Now I looked at him.
"You haven't passed your combat test against me," I said evenly. "And yet you think you're capable of making decisions for us."
The village noise didn't stop.
But it thinned.
"If that isn't arrogance," I added, "I don't know what is."
His eyes flared faintly — embers threatening to become flame.
"I drove those intruders away," he shot back. "The Tower didn't need your test to decide my worth. If you want to test yourself then do it. But understand — I don't spar. If you can't survive then—"
He should have stopped there.
"As if I would lose to a bastard born from a drag—"
My hand closed on his collar.
Lift.
The motion was so quick the nearby brazier flames flickered from the displaced air.
His feet left the ground. Conversations died entirely now.
Selena moved instantly. The matriarch, who had been observing from across the square, shifted her weight forward — not intervening, but ready.
"Finish it," I said quietly.
He struggled, pride choking harder than my grip.
"I'll prove to you," I continued, voice calm enough to be terrifying, "how useless that pride is in a bloodline that can't even return to the Sun."
My eyes locked with his.
"And while we're at it, I'll prove how useful this hybrid blood is for your next generation."
Selena's hand settled firmly on my shoulder.
A reminder.
Not restraint.
The matriarch's gaze carried the same message.
Not here.
Not like this.
I released him.
He hit the ground, stumbling back but forcing himself upright, refusing to look weak in front of his clan.
I turned away first.
"Selena. Matriarch," I said. "We need to decide who we're sending out this time."
I stepped away from the center of the village toward the quieter tunnel entrance that led to the private cave we'd been using for strategy.
Behind me, I didn't raise my voice.
"Let him decide if his pride is worth more than the survival of a dying clan."
The village slowly began breathing again.
Scene 2 — Toyin (POV)
"I told you that pride would get you killed one day."
Qing knelt near the edge of the square, jaw tight, refusing to look at anyone.
Clan members pretended to busy themselves — repairing nets, adjusting braziers, reorganizing crates — but every ear was turned toward us.
"I might not like you," I continued, crouching in front of him, "but dying a stupid death that backfires on your clan? That affects all of us."
He lifted his head sharply.
"What's a Golden Crow without pride?" he snapped. "Our flames are our proof of existence!"
There it was.
The higher bird clans all had it — that near-religious devotion to their element. Fire as identity. Fire as justification.
"Yeah," I muttered. "And that's exactly why we're changing things."
He frowned.
"If the Silver Dwarf elders are focused on us again," I said, voice hardening, "banding together isn't optional."
I grabbed his collar and hauled him upright.
"You can pass your Junior Administrator role to me and focus on strengthening your clan."
He tried to jerk away.
I tightened my grip.
"Or you can grow up."
I leaned closer.
"Pick one before your pride gets everyone killed."
Scene 3 — Yeon (POV)
"They're lively today," I said, watching the controlled chaos of the village. "Only one night of rest and they're already back to normal."
I took another bite of the roasted meat they'd offered.
The others looked at me oddly.
"Who's Ras?" Khun asked.
Right.
Most of them still called him V… or Crow.
"That's what Selena calls him," I clarified. "It stuck."
A ripple of laughter passed through the square when Toyin dragged Qing away again.
An elderly woman approached us carrying a tray.
"Don't mind Qing," she said gently. "He's kind-hearted."
She lifted the tray.
"Would you like some Sun Fruits?"
Khun stiffened.
"Sun Fruits? How does a hidden tribe have access to something like that?"
The woman smiled faintly.
"It's one of the reasons the Tower tolerates us."
She distributed the fruit carefully.
"Only our matriarch and former patriarch — True Golden Crows — can produce the true Sun Fruit. The rest of us can only produce Golden Fruits."
Her eyes flicked toward the tunnel Ras had disappeared into.
"Though the man you followed… he may surpass my matriarch in purity. Even as a half-blood."
Khun didn't bite his fruit.
"Why does being a half-blood matter that much?" he asked.
The woman's smile thinned.
"Would your father accept someone torn between clan and enemy?"
Khun's silence was answer enough.
"Now magnify that by a thousand," she said. "That is how Beast Clans operate."
She lowered her voice.
"A bloodline that smells of dragons — and demonic ones at that — means a taboo was broken."
Her gaze softened slightly.
"His protectiveness toward his mother tells us which side claimed him."
I caught the implication.
"Are there more like you outside the Tower?" I asked.
She nodded proudly.
"Birds of the Sun are not born from Shinsoo alone. Nor are we bound to it."
Then her expression dimmed slightly.
"Though… lacking a Sun has burdened us more than we anticipated."
I patted the ground beside me.
"Sit," I said. "If we're going to be allies, I'd rather understand you properly."
She smiled warmly and sat.
For the first time since entering the tunnels, the village didn't feel like a hiding place.
It felt like the beginning of a coalition.