Eclipse of Shattered Throne

The Thing Wearing Hayuni's Skin

Payune's fingers tightened around Dragonrend's hilt, the blade vibrating with something between warning and hunger.

Hayuni—no, not Hayuni, not anymore—smiled at her with too many teeth. The black veins had spread to her temples now, pulsing like living roots beneath her skin.

"You look afraid, little dragon." The voice was their mother's, but the cadence was all wrong—slurred, like words spoken through water.

The fox spirit hissed, its blue fire flickering wildly as it circled its mistress.

Payune forced her voice steady. "What are you?"

Hayuni's head tilted, her neck cracking audibly. "What do you remember?"

The question hit like a blade between the ribs.

Because Payune remembered nothing before the age of eight.

Dragonrend hummed, its whisper smug.

"Ask her about the scars on your back."

The vision struck without warning:

—A stone table. Cold against her small bare back.

—The Dragonlord's hands, carving symbols into her flesh with a blade made of moonlight.

—"This will make you strong," he murmured.

—Hayuni, younger, screaming against her restraints.

—"Stop! You're killing her!"

—The blade descending—

Payune gasped back to reality, her knees buckling. The arena spun around her, the black sand coiling like snakes around her ankles.

Hayuni—the thing pretending to be Hayuni—watched her with those void-black eyes.

"He took your memories," it said. "Just like he took mine."

The fox spirit shrieked, its fire turning violet as it launched itself at Hayuni's throat.

Hayuni caught it midair, her fingers sinking into its flames like they were solid.

"Bad dog," she purred—and squeezed.

The spirit screamed, its form flickering in agony.

Payune moved without thinking.

Dragonrend slammed into Hayuni's side, the blade's black flames erupting in a geyser of hellfire.

Hayuni laughed as she burned.

He appeared in the space between heartbeats—the Silent Crow, his gold mask now shattered completely, revealing a face that made Payune's breath catch.

Young. Beautiful.

Identical to hers.

"Sister," he murmured, his voice no longer distorted. "You were always the stubborn one."

Dragonrend shrieked, its flames lashing at the Crow like a living thing.

"LIAR! TRAITOR! YOU LEFT US TO DIE!"

The Crow didn't flinch. "I left you to live. Just like Mother asked."

Payune's grip faltered. "What?"

Then the sand exploded upward, and the world fractured.

—A battlefield drenched in eternal twilight.

—Their mother, clad in armor made of shattered mirrors, fighting back-to-back with a younger Crow.

—"Take them and RUN!" she screamed.

—The Dragonlord's blade piercing her chest—

—Not a sword.

—Dragonrend.

—The Crow grabbing two small figures—

—"Close your eyes," he whispered—

PAYUNE JOLTED BACK, the arena reforming around her.

The Crow stood over Hayuni's twitching form, his hand pressed to her forehead. The black substance bubbled and hissed, retreating from his touch.

"She's still in there," he said softly. "But not for long."

Dragonrend thrashed in Payune's grip, its voice desperate.

"KILL HIM! HE'S LYING!"

The Crow met Payune's gaze. "The sword doesn't want you to remember. Ask yourself why."

Then the ground swallowed him whole, leaving Payune alone with a seizing Hayuni and a screaming fox spirit.

And the terrible, dawning realization—

She didn't know whose side she was on anymore.