“Someone you cherished traded a soul to call us, a soul rich enough to birth another me.”

  Eydis’s lips twitched. It might have been a smile.

  Cherished. The word rattled around where it didn’t belong, and for a heartbeat she could hear her mother’s laugh.

  If the former Queen of Shadows were still alive.

  Her father had always been the one with ledgers and borders and the crown sitting heavy in his thoughts. Her mother went looking for darker things. As the bearer of Pride’s ever-watchful Eyes, she rooted out weakness before it could fester. Many who bore those Sins had willingly surrendered their souls.

  Eydis wasn’t surprised that her mother had never been there while she was growing up. Chronicling humanity’s flaws had consumed the Queen of Shadows in the end. Even in the rare moments they ate at the same table, it was hardly enjoyable.

  “Humans,” the former queen used to say, “would tear apart their own souls for the faintest glimmer of their desires. For power, for hope, and for that most insidious, selfish rot of all: for—”

  Love.

  Eydis scowled.

  Love was the flaw Mother despised most, the one that nearly unraveled their sanctuary.

  Mythshollow was a kingdom tucked into shadow, left there by the light. Outsiders threw names at them—reapers, witches, soul-traders—whatever fear could pronounce and feel brave about. But they were more than the dark shapes trailing after them. They lived by oaths, by bonds only they could understand.

  But oaths, like people, break.

  As a child she hadn’t believed that for a second. She hid her handmaidens’ books under quilts: all those stories of love, of knights and princes and vows spoken under moonlight. A bit like Damien, actually. Which might be why she disliked him.

  Back then, she had lived to contradict her mother. To prove that love wasn’t weakness, that maybe the Queen of Shadows didn’t know everything.

  And then Gidion went and proved she did.

  He had done the unthinkable and duplicated one of the strongest Sins to ever exist: Greed. Bearers surrendering their souls was nothing new in Mythshollow, but an Archmage betraying them all, betraying himself?

  That was tragedy.

  Eydis growled and shook her head as if she could fling the thoughts out by force. Not now. The past didn’t get to climb in here with her. Not in the middle of a fight for her life.

  She balanced on Envy’s coiled body, knees bent as the massive serpent twisted beneath her. She pivoted sharply and coaxed Envy into another swerve. The scales caught the magical light in overlapping flashes as they slid past Greed’s feral strike.

  “Is running all you’re good for now?” Greed roared. The winged figure beat the air with powerful strokes, then lunged.

  ‘Your Majesty,’ Envy’s voice whispered into her mind. ‘He does have a point. Are we executing a strategy, or is this just another one of St. Kevin’s PE session?’

  Eydis dropped them beneath a sweeping claw. ‘Careful, Envy. Or I might think you’re enjoying this.’

  ‘Enjoying this? I am the one facing near-death experiences while you’re off on a—on a leisure ride! I have feelings too, y—‘

  Greed’s strike clipped the serpent’s flank and spun them into a messy spiral. Envy’s body flickered, trying to pull itself together, movements slowing.

  Envy’s voice cracked. ‘Ouch!’

  Eydis felt a sharp tug in her chest as Greed’s latest strike grazed Envy’s tail. The familiar link strained, siphoning her mana to keep Envy manifested.

  ‘Feelings? Pain receptors don’t count, especially for a creature whose greatest accomplishment is turning self-pity into performance art.’

  ‘Even your insults are as depleted as your mana, Y—’ the serpent’s voice cut off as Greed’s next strike hit home. A sweeping claw tore through Envy’s coiled midsection and shattered the serpent into a burst of violet mist.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  The ground rushed up. Eydis got her arms in front of her just in time. The impact punched the breath from her lungs. Pain lanced through her side, and the mental bond with Envy sputtered into silence.

  Above her, Greed drifted down as if they had all the time in the world, polished shoes settling into the charred earth. “Out of mana already?”

  Each casual step toward Eydis was deliberate, taunting. “So weak. So pitiful. It’s almost a shame to end this game so soon.”

  They knelt and drew one claw with a cruel gentleness down Eydis’s abdomen. Then Greed pressed hard into the wound. “We were almost enjoying the banter.”

  The pain was immediate, but Eydis refused to flinch. Her nails dug into the dirt as she forced her face to remain impassive.

  “I live to amuse,” she bit out through clenched teeth.

  “Indeed,” Greed purred, talons digging deeper to draw a sharp gasp from her. “And you’ll amuse me further… right up until you shatter entirely.”

  “The game’s barely started,” she said. “Raven.”

  “Fascinating. Are those the words of someone holding an ace, or just the desperate squeaks of a cornered rat?”

  The claws punched through her abdomen. Eydis clenched her teeth harder as fresh agony ripped through her. She could feel her mana flickering.

  Still, she forced out words. “Ace? I suppose you’ve taken to card games now. Almost as… fascinating as Gluttony’s ice theatrics and your… plumbing fixation. Adaptive… like parasites.”

  “Gluttony is here too?” Greed asked, their breath reeking of decay as they leaned in closer. “That bloated fool was barely a Sin. An afterthought. And you? Even less. Especially when your threats are as laughable as… well, you.”

  Eydis’s smile didn’t wavered. "Ah, illusions… of grandeur. An intoxicating… drug… even for you. You have more in common… with your puppets than you care to admit.”

  Greed’s grin faltered. They were too arrogant to notice the soft violet glow now emanating from Eydis’s right hand, pressed tightly against her own stomach. Slowly, painfully, she channeled mana into the gaping wound, knitting torn flesh and staunching blood flow.

  “When you’re so busy pulling the strings…” she added, “it’s easy to miss the ones tightening around your neck.”

  Her left hand shot up from the dirt. A ripple of arcane energy pulsed outward as she summoned Envy back from the void. Envy’s jaws snapped open and struck. Two long fangs sank deep into Greed’s face with a wet crunch, flesh peeling away to reveal ivory bone.

  Greed screamed and staggered, massive wings thrashing, black feathers raining down. But their recovery was terrifyingly fast. With a snarl, Greed drove their taloned hand straight through Envy’s spectral body. The serpent didn’t even have time to hiss. Its form burst apart into mist.

  “Impressive,” they rasped, their voice bubbling wetly until the regenerating flesh restored their jaw. “Impressive… while it lasted.” Despite the wound still knitting over their cheek, Greed managed a mocking grin.

  They spread their arms wide and summoned a wave of acidic water, crashing toward Eydis.

  Eydis rolled out of the wave’s path, narrowly dodging the attack. She came up kneeling, then slammed her palm against the earth. There was a sharp click beneath the soil, followed by a familiar metallic grinding like gears turning. A pillar of violet light erupted from the ground at her touch. Once again.

  For the third time.

  “Another one?” Greed rose into the sky to scan the glowing markings. A sigil. Drawn by…their own attacks.

  Their face darkened. “So this was your plan all along, wasn’t it?”

  Slowly, Eydis rose to her feet. One hand clutched her abdomen. A soft aura of violet light still pulsed around her fingers as healing magic continued to mend what it could.

  “How does it feel, Raven?” she asked, her voice almost light as she regained her strength, “To carve your own cage? You’re certainly the first of your kind to achieve such… artistry.”

  Greed fell silent for a long while, their gaze lingering on Eydis. Then, they broke into laughter. “An elegant effort, truly. How… creative of you. But surely you must see, as clever as you are, how pointless this all is.”

  “And here I thought you’d keep up your… little act a bit longer,” she said. “All that goading about binding you, while plotting to consume everything once the seal was complete.”

  Greed descended slowly, circling closer. “Ahh, you figured us out. Is that why you tethered us to this mortal’s pitiful body instead? To test your little theory?”

  “Theory?” Her hand traced the arcane flow of the sigil she had manipulated Greed into completing. Chains of light erupted from the ground, their sharp edges ringing as they clamped around Greed’s wings and limbs.

  “In true scavenger fashion,” Eydis murmured, “you always wanted everything. Both of you. One cage isn’t enough. This isn't about testing theories, Raven."

  Greed thrashed against the bindings. “Arrogant fool! Do you think this will save you, little queen? Or are you so broken that you’re courting death at last?”

  Eydis let silence answer first, watching as Greed's smile stretched, their gaze raking over her bloodied, trembling form.

  “Upon reflection,” they drawled, “you’d make a splendid vessel—frail, yes, but with so much potential to bend… and break.”

  “At the height of my power, containing you wouldn’t even be a challenge.”

  “Are you saying that you were once less pathetic than this frail shadow of a queen?” Greed crooned. “And tell me, little wretch—how do you plan to bind me now?”

  “Plan?” Eydis tilted her chin. “Let’s call it a hypothesis this time. Shall we test it?”

  Something in her eyes must have given Greed pause: a reckless glint, a dare.

  “How dare you—“

  “Let me put it in terms you’ll understand, Raven. You hoard power like a gambler collects cards, convinced that more is always better, that it will guarantee you the win. But you’ve forgotten one fundamental rule…”

  “You presume to lecture me on a game I've mastered?"

  “No, I’m just reminding you. See, Raven,” she said, her eyes gleaming as the chains tightened, glowing brighter. “The house always wins in the end. And in this game?”

  The sigil beneath them flared. The chains constricted further, draining Greed’s strength. She stepped right up to the edge of the sigil, meeting Greed’s panicked, furious gaze with a taunting smile.

  “I am the house.”