Fiendhunter

**"The Contract's Labyrinth"** 

Bai Lang's gilded gaze pierced the predawn gloom. **"This web ensnares deeper than foretold."** 

Roper Hanke's armored silhouette wavered in torchflame. **"His Radiance consents. The princeling accompanies you to Andrei's demesne."** The knight-baron vanished into spiral stair shadows, his parting gift—a sealed missive—burning against the witcher's palm. 

**"Joanna's sire?"** Bai Lang's brow arched at the broken seal. Vistandyn's scrawl bled desperation: *The queen's shadow poisons our roots.* 

**"A decade past,"** came Hanke's fading voice, **"her correspondence with Duvellia's butcher began. Blood-feuds forgotten like yesterday's wine dregs."** 

Ambervine's hooves echoed through deserted baileys. Prince Adern's graceless dismount from the battlement drew sneers from halberdiers. **"Regard the Grand Duke's hospitality, mutant,"** a guardsman spat, confiscating Mourngrim. 

The audience chamber reeked of conquest—lion effigies baring quartz fangs, solar banners devouring walls. Andrei's fist shattered crystal. **"Vistandyn's lapdogs dare soil my hall?"** 

**"Grandfather, I—"** 

**"Silence, puling whelp!"** The warlord's glare froze Adern's protest. **"Chain this mongrel prince. The wolf stays."** 

Dusk found Bai Lang in a solar steeped in myrrh. Andrei's battle-scarred fingers traced a miniature portrait—Joanna's smile preserved in enamel. **"You presume much, beast-hunter."** 

**"Blood speaks louder than seals,"** Bai Lang countered. **"Kyaeth carries your daughter's eyes... and her curse."** 

The warlord's goblet trembled. **"Name your price. But know this—"** Iron scraped as he unsheathed a dagger forged from fallen stars. **"—fail my bloodline, and your mutations will seem mercy beside what comes."** 

Beyond barred windows, Adern's furious oaths melded with jackal calls. Bai Lang's medallion hummed—not at the threat, but the vial of gnome-marrow glowing in Andrei's cabinet. Rot delayed. Life preserved. 

**"I require access to the queen's crypt."** 

Andrei's laughter shook ancestral portraits. **"Pluck the viper's fangs then, Wolf. But remember—"** The dagger embedded itself inches from Bai Lang's boot. **"—some poisons outlive their brewers."** 

Night's first breath carried the scent of decaying roses through arrow slits. Somewhere in the northwest tower, a Carrion Sovereign's claws scraped stone—counting hours until the feast.