Ashes of Our Flame
by RapwizzyDebaron
Episode 28: "Wolves Behind the Curtain"
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The sun broke over the city like a spotlight on a wounded stage—golden light washing over a skyline full of secrets, scars, and silence. Inside the safehouse, there was no rest. Only planning.
Adrian hadn't slept. The shadows under his eyes told a story of unrest that no amount of victory could erase. He sat in the war room, studying the decrypted files Tessa had recovered. The phrase Project Seraphim kept haunting him like a whisper in the back of his mind.
"What does it mean?" he muttered.
Kara entered with two mugs of coffee, placing one in front of him.
"I don't think we're ready to hear the answer," she said.
"I don't think we have a choice."
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Tessa pushed open the door moments later. Her face was pale.
"I found something new," she announced. "Not in the files—but in the code they embedded. It's a name. Hidden deep."
Adrian and Kara looked up.
"Lucien Kael."
The name hung in the air like a blade.
Adrian straightened. "I know that name."
Ronan, who had just joined them from the hallway, froze in place. "You should. Lucien Kael was the original architect of Vale's intelligence program before he vanished. People say he died. Others think he went rogue."
Kara leaned forward. "What would he want with us?"
Adrian stared at the name. "Power. Or vengeance."
"No," Tessa corrected. "Control."
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Across the ocean, deep within a secure compound carved into the cliffs of an unknown land, Lucien Kael stood before a map of shifting lines—zones, factions, assets. A chessboard.
The woman from earlier approached him.
"They've found your name," she said.
He smiled faintly. "Good. Curiosity leads them right where I want."
She tilted her head. "You still believe in the boy?"
"Adrian Vale is not the enemy. He's the key," Lucien said, walking slowly to a massive screen showing a satellite view of the city.
"He inherited his father's empire," she replied.
"No," Lucien whispered. "He inherited his mother's legacy."
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Back at the safehouse, Adrian sat on the rooftop again, the sky a storm of gray clouds above.
Kara joined him in silence.
"Do you ever wonder," he asked, "what we'd be doing if none of this happened?"
She smiled faintly. "You'd be a musician."
He raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"
"I saw the guitar in your old apartment. Don't act like you didn't try."
He chuckled, a rare sound lately. "And you?"
"I'd be invisible. That was always my plan."
Adrian turned to face her. "You're far from invisible."
Their eyes met.
But the moment was broken by Tessa's frantic voice over the intercom.
"Guys! You need to see this—now."
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Inside, Tessa had pulled up a secure satellite feed. The screen displayed something impossible.
"Someone accessed our location," she said, trembling. "Not just a trace. A full infiltration. Cameras, microphones—everything."
Ronan cursed. "They've been watching us in real-time."
Tessa turned to Adrian. "They're not trying to kill you. They're trying to study you."
Kara clenched her jaw. "Like lab rats."
Adrian stared at the footage. He saw himself, days ago, pacing after Vale's arrest. He saw Kara comforting Tessa. He saw Ronan loading a pistol.
He also saw something else.
In one clip, the footage glitched. A shadow passed in the background—one that didn't match anyone in the room. A figure, standing in the dark, unseen during the moment.
Watching.
"What the hell…" Adrian whispered.
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That night, the team held a silent vote.
Leave the safehouse and scatter, or stay and dig deeper into the hornet's nest.
Adrian stood. "If we run now, they win."
Kara followed. "Then we burn this new empire too."
Ronan smirked. "Hell yeah."
Tessa nodded, though fear flickered in her eyes. "Let's find out who Lucien Kael really is."
They packed what they could. Files, weapons, drives.
But before they left, Adrian paused at the door, staring at the faint burn marks still visible on the wall from Vale's last attack.
"We survived fire once," he said quietly. "We'll do it again."
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But Lucien Kael was already watching.
And in the shadows of his control room, he whispered to the darkness beside him, "Let the wolves chase the flame. Let them burn themselves to ash."
He turned off the monitor.
His plan was only beginning.
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To be continued…
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