I didn't think it would come to this.
Emberfang had always been someone I respected—a fierce warrior, loyal to the bone. Her reputation as a fighter wasn't something you'd ignore, especially in a family like the Blackthorns. She wasn't just muscle; she was a force of nature, someone who could dismantle you piece by piece with a kind of cold precision that made everyone think twice before crossing her.
But when she found out about Sable's betrayal, something inside her snapped. I could see it in her eyes when she looked at me—the fire, the fury, the need for revenge. She wasn't the type to sit back and wait for someone else to fix things. No, Emberfang was the kind of person who solved her problems with her own two hands.
And Sable? She wasn't just a problem anymore. She was a target.
I heard the stories—whispers of Emberfang going rogue, hunting down Sable like a beast on a mission. I didn't know where she'd gone or what she planned to do, but I knew one thing: when Emberfang set her sights on someone, there was no running. No escaping.
That night, I saw it firsthand.
The sky had darkened by the time I reached the outskirts of the Blackthorn estate. I was on my way to find out what the hell had gone wrong after Vex stormed off, when I saw her. Emberfang stood in the yard, her silhouette cutting through the darkness like a shadow made of fire. She wasn't wearing her usual combat gear, but there was something in the air—something about her presence—that told me this was going to be bad.
She wasn't here to talk.
The tension in the air thickened when she looked up, her eyes burning with a rage I had never seen before. "I'm going after Sable," she said, her voice low and dangerous, the words like a warning and a promise all at once.
I could feel the weight of those words settle on me. This was personal now. It wasn't just about the Blackthorns or the Vortexes anymore. This was Emberfang's war.
"I don't need your permission," she added, her gaze hard as steel. "This is something I have to do."
I tried to stop her. I tried to make her understand that this was going to make everything worse, but she wasn't listening. She was already gone, slipping into the shadows, her every step purposeful, determined.
I couldn't follow her. I knew better than to try. Emberfang wasn't just a member of the Blackthorn family. She was its protector. And if she was going after Sable, that meant the Blackthorn name was on the line. The honor of the family was at stake.
Hours passed. My mind raced with the implications of what Emberfang was doing. I should have been thinking about strategy, about how to salvage what was left of the Blackthorn reputation after the betrayal, but my thoughts kept circling back to Emberfang—her fury, her desire for justice. I knew it wouldn't be pretty.
Then, I heard it.
A loud crash, followed by the unmistakable sound of steel meeting flesh. A yell. A roar. The sound of a battle unfolding in the distance.
I ran. The instinct to protect and understand what was happening pulled me forward.
When I reached the clearing near the old woods behind the estate, the sight stopped me cold. Emberfang and Sable were locked in combat, moving like two titans colliding, their movements blurred with speed and strength. Emberfang's fists were like hammers, her every strike aimed with deadly precision, but Sable—Sable was faster than I expected. He was dodging her blows, sliding around her like a ghost, and I could see the hints of magic in his movements.
He wasn't just fighting her physically. He was fighting with everything he had, pulling from a well of power I hadn't known he possessed.
"Give it up, Sable," Emberfang growled, her voice raw with anger. "You can't escape this. The family trusted you, and now you've betrayed us."
Sable smirked, wiping a streak of blood from his lip. "You think you're the only one who's loyal?" he sneered. "The Vortexes have been in the Blackthorn bloodline longer than you know. You just don't see it."
That was when it hit me.
The Vortex family wasn't just a rival. They were more deeply entrenched in the Blackthorn legacy than we realized. They hadn't been trying to take us down from the outside—they had infiltrated us, poisoned our family from within, turning our own against us without us even knowing. Sable hadn't just been a spy. He had been a planted agent, a double agent working for Noctis from the start. The Vortexes weren't just after our power. They were after everything—the very foundation of the Blackthorn dynasty.
The battle between Emberfang and Sable was no longer just a fight of strength; it was a fight for the soul of the Blackthorn family itself.
With a final, furious cry, Emberfang lunged, her blade flashing through the air. Sable barely had time to react before she drove it deep into his side. It was swift, brutal.
Sable staggered back, blood pouring from the wound, his face twisted in disbelief. "You—" he gasped, barely able to stand. "You really don't get it, do you? The Vortexes are already in control. You're all just too blind to see it."
Emberfang didn't say anything. She just watched him fall, her expression unreadable.
As Sable crumpled to the ground, I saw it—the real cost of this betrayal. It wasn't just the blood. It wasn't just the fight. It was the realization that the Vortexes had already won. They had already infiltrated every corner of the Blackthorn empire, weaving their influence so deeply that even a loyal warrior like Emberfang couldn't see it until it was too late.
The fight wasn't over. Not by a long shot. But in that moment, I realized the war wasn't about strength. It was about secrets, about the things we had been blind to for so long. And as Emberfang stood over Sable's fallen form, I knew the Blackthorns had just lost more than a battle. They had lost their way.