He was supposed to keep them all safe.

You and Lucanis responded the moment the coded letter arrived, its urgency impossible to ignore. Every second of the journey back to Treviso felt like a lifetime, the weight of dread pressing harder with each passing moment.

But you were too late.

The sharp tang of blood and the faint burn of smoke hang heavy in the air, an invisible warning of the devastation ahead. As your eyes sweep over the scene, the truth strikes like a blade. The bodies of the Crows—Lucanis’ family—lie scattered and still, their stories ending in silence. Lives snuffed out before their time.

Lucanis staggers forward, the weight of it all too much to bear. He drops to his knees, his breath ragged and uneven, as though the grief itself is crushing his chest.

He was supposed to keep them all safe.