The wind at the sacred summit of the Demios Clan screamed with ancestral fury, carrying embers and whispers that burned into the bones of all who dared approach. The Hall of Burning Judgment stood like a monolith against the tinted-tinged sky—an enormous obsidian structure carved into the mountain itself. Its door was not made of mere wood, but of blackened pyrewood—sacred timber harvested from flame-fed trees grown in Aether-rich soil and burned by Alpha-ranked flames before being quenched in Netherblood. Etched into its surface were thousands of names, old as myth—each a judgment rendered, each a soul extinguished.
The circular courtyard before it, known as the Ring of Remorse, was lined with heat-cracked statues of previous patriarchs, each with mouths open in eternal silence and eyes that seemed to judge.
Five figures knelt in that courtyard—cloaked in soot-colored robes, heads bowed, as the full weight of the clan's fire bore down on them. At the center was Keede Demios, sister to the Clan Head's wife and a daughter of Demios . Her once-regal posture was twisted by fear. Her body trembled—not from cold, for there was none in this place—but from the soul-deep heat leaking from the Hall of Burning Judgment. Her skin felt blistered. Her bones, dry, despite her being a wielder of the cursed flame of the Demios clan.
They had arrived hours ago. Yet not one of them dared raise a hand to knock. Not even Keede.
Then the door pulsed—just once. A lightless flame burned into their minds.
"Explain yourselves."
The voice didn't echo. It didn't need to. It was within them—like fire crawling through marrow.
Keede jerked as if struck by an invisible lash. One of the hooded figures beside her choked on his own breath before speaking, desperate to defend himself yet terrified to say too much.
"M-my Liege, forgive this transgression. We the Veiled Ones. We acted on a direct command from the Lady Keede Demios. She—she ordered us to take the Aetherless out of the Pit. To—" he paused, voice faltering, "to make good use of him. She said it was sanctioned by the House, that he was to be sent on a covert mission."
Another voice continued the tale hastily, overlapping, anxious to appear blameless.
"She told us to send him to assassinate the third princess of Clan Ambrose. We were reluctant—he had no Aether. He was a stray dog. We warned her he would die. But she insisted. She said it was a test. A rite. That if he survived, he was worth keeping. But if he died… it was no loss."
"We were only obeying."
"She threatened our status, our families. We…" one trailed off, as if realizing how cowardly their words sounded. And they knew the consequences of being cowards in front of the liege, inheritor of Demios legacy, the clan head.
Silence followed—dense and scalding.
The fire behind the door did not move, but the world itself seemed to hold its breath. Then the voice asked:
"Keede Demios. Justify yourself." Not once did he think the Veiled were lying to him, for they knew the consequences better then anyone.
It was not a question. It was a guillotine.
Keede swallowed. Her face, pale with sweat, was now red with shame and fury. Her pride scraped at her from the inside like shattered glass. Her voice came out small, bitter.
"… Y-y-y-y- yes i-i did in-d-deed se-n-nd the m-message." she was stuttering so much, that for a moment she didn't know what she was even talking about , but in her mind.
In her mind, the fury exploded like a furnace.
"You rats! Cowards! Spineless shadows crawling for survival! You begged for my favor—licked my boots for a taste of my authority. And now you throw me to the flames?"
"Clan Head? That old fossil hiding behind a door while the world burns! My sister married a man with power but no spine."
"Ambrose royalty? Mewling peacocks who needed a Demios to protect their illusions. Death to their name!"
Still kneeling, still burning, she kept her face buried in shadow—but her heart screamed treachery and revenge.
And the fire behind the door stirred.
Not in wrath.
But in judgment.
"You sent out to accomplish a goal as a daughter of Demios— yet you failed?". The voice of the clan head appeared confused as he asked the question. It was as if he was surprised by the notion of her failing in her mission.
Keede head hit the floor with a bang, blood dripping from the wound as she bellowed out. "Forgive me my liege, I have failed you and soiled the name of Demios". She didn't try to defend herself, she knew it was of no use defending herself.
"You didn't fail me". The voice stopped for a moment then resumed. "You failed yourself".
"Show her to the pit until I deem you worthy of bearing the name Demios".
Keede didn't bother to ask for mercy. "Thanks you my liege for your overwhelming mercy". With that Keede was excourted to the pits. To serve for her crime, not for sending his son to his death — but because she went out as a daughter of Demios and failed.