Lahat ng Kabanata ng Wolves of the Fallen Empire: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 10

Ten years had passed since the day the fire fell like the wrath of gods on the quiet village of Wolfsong, but the memories still seared through Nia’s mind as though they had been born just yesterday. She had been a child, barely ten, clinging to the smell of pine and the sound of her parents' voices, safe in the isolation of the borderlands. But the world outside had come crashing in with banners of iron and flame.Nia, buried beneath the cooling corpses of her parents and neighbors, could still hear the burning village crackling in the distance, the cries of the innocents, the imperial soldiers marching in a precise, terrifying rhythm. Their cloaks, sewn with raven symbols, had been seared into her memory. Her parents had whispered their last breaths as they shielded her, their blood mingling with the dirt beneath her. She had heard their final plea for her survival, a whisper lost to the wind.For days, she lived on bark and snow, driven by hunger and hatred, vowing to burn eve

The imperial capital was a city of gilded masks and whispering secrets, its marble towers reaching for the heavens while its streets pulsed with the blood of the forgotten. Nia had walked its stone paths before, as a child, holding her mother’s hand as they shopped for food. Now, she walked as an assassin, her every step calculated, every breath measured. She was no longer Nia Wolfsong—the girl whose village had been burned and destroyed. Now, she was "Mist Fang," the most elusive, feared assassin in the empire.The palace garrison was her target.Nia had spent the past seven days carefully studying the palace grounds, mapping out the servants’ passages, the hidden stairwells, and the secret alcoves where she could slip unnoticed. She had bribed cooks, swapped out fragrances, and laced her garments with pheromone blockers to ensure her scent was untraceable. Every night, she sharpened her needles, coated with the venom of frozen fang wolves, and rehearsed her strike—one clean cut

The words hung between them like a blade, sharp and threatening, yet strangely... familiar. Ash’s eyes narrowed, his expression unreadable. The faintest flicker of recognition sparked in his storm-grey eyes, but it was gone before Nia could decipher it. He stepped closer, his presence looming over her like a dark cloud, and she stood her ground, meeting his gaze with an unwavering defiance.“Your empire is built on lies,” Nia continued, her voice steady despite the fluttering of her pulse. “I’m here to burn it down.”Ash remained silent for a moment, studying her, as if trying to place her, to untangle the memory that hovered just out of reach. His gaze dropped to her wrist, where the faint outline of a crescent moon mark peeked from beneath her sleeve.“Who are you?” he asked again, his tone softer this time, though still laced with suspicion.Nia’s heart pounded in her chest. She couldn’t tell him the truth—not yet. Not when she wasn’t sure how much of the boy she had kno

The days that followed felt like a blur to Nia. She moved through the palace like a shadow, her every action calculated, every movement deliberate. She continued to fulfill her role as Ash’s personal medicine bearer, never giving him more than the slightest glance, never letting her guard slip. But inside, she was a storm, torn between her mission and the truth she had been trying to ignore for so long.She had spent years planning her revenge. Her every move had been designed to tear down the empire, to punish those who had destroyed her village. But in the presence of Ash, the mission began to blur. The line between enemy and friend, between vengeance and redemption, grew thin and fragile.And so, she continued to prepare his nightly bath, her hands trembling ever so slightly as she mixed the medicinal brew. Each night, as the steam curled around them and Ash sank into the tub, Nia found herself drawn to the memories that threatened to surface—memories of a time before the empi

The nights grew longer, and the shadows deeper, as Nia continued her cold, calculated routine. She moved through the palace with precision, no longer allowing herself to dwell on the tangled emotions Ash’s presence stirred within her. Every time she found herself near him, the knot in her chest tightened. But she refused to loosen her grip. She couldn’t. The path she had chosen was set, and nothing—not even the lingering traces of the past—could pull her away from it.Still, every evening as she prepared his bath, she would glance at him, her heart betraying her. Ash was different now, though the boy she once knew still lingered beneath the surface of the weapon he had become. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t escape the growing sense of inevitability—the pull between them was undeniable.Tonight, she stood over the tub, her hands trembling ever so slightly as she mixed the brew, her eyes on Ash as he sat silently, staring into the rippling water. She could feel the