The first light of dawn broke over Pine Vilge, casting its soft glow upon a pce that had once been filled with warmth and quiet ughter. Now, the air was thick with the stench of blood and ash. The aftermath of battle ainted across the vilge in broken walls, scorched earth, and lifeless bodies—both of the fallen militia and the bck-clothed invaders.

  Cai Feng stood in the middle of it all, his broad shoulders stiff as he surveyed the battlefield with cold, calg eyes. His bde dripped with the blood of the enemies he had sin, his body bearing fresh wounds from the brutal battle, but he paid them no mind. The remnants of the enemy forces had fled, leaving only corpses behind.

  At first, there had been relief.

  They had fought back. They had survived.

  But something was off.

  A strange, siing utled over the vilge like a dense fog.

  It wasn’t until the roll call began that they uood why.

  "Where’s my son?! Where is he?!"

  A mother’s wail shattered the m stillness.

  Silence followed.

  Then another.

  And another.

  One by ohe vilgers began calling out names—searg, pleading, running from house to house.

  The realization struck like a bde to the gut.

  The children were missing.

  Every single one.

  Cai Feng’s breath caught in his throat, his heart hammering in his chest as he turned sharply, sing the remains of the vilge with new urgency.

  "Feiyin," he rasped, his voice barely a whisper.

  He strode toward his home, steps heavy, dread curling in his stomach like a venomous serpent.

  The door en.

  No sign of a struggle.

  No blood.

  But no Feiyiher.

  The grouh him felt like it was tilting.

  His wife’s scream pierced through the vilge like a knife.

  "FEIYIN!"

  Cai Feng spun, eyes wide, just as Mei Liao came running toward him, her long bck hair disheveled, her usually poised and graceful form trembling with urained panic. Her amethyst eyes, always so sharp, so full of warmth and wisdom, were wild with desperation and grief.

  She shoved past him, stumbling into their home as if by sheer force of will she could make Feiyin appear. She tore through the rooms, her hands trembling as she upended pillows, searched ers, flung open doors.

  Nothing.

  "FEIYIN!" she screamed again, her voice crag.

  Cai Feng ched his fists, his knuckles turning white.

  He knew.

  Even before she colpsed to the floor, shaking, sobbing, hands clutg her face—he knew.

  His son was gone.

  A sharp, pierg rage cwed at his insides, blinding and ing. His breath came in ragged gasps, his entire body trembling as his nails dug into his palm, drawing blood.

  The enemy hadn't e to simply kill.

  They had e to take.

  The realizatio a tremor through him, through the militia, through the entire vilge.

  The children were gone.

  They had stolen their sons and daughters in the dead of night, while the men fought and bled to defend them.

  A guttural roar of fury erupted from a father as he fell to his knees, clutg the empty bedding where his daughter had slept.

  "Those bastards! Where did they take them?! WHERE?!" His voice cracked, hoarse and broken.

  Another mother wept untrolbly, clutg the sleeve of a militia member. "Find them! Please! Bring them back!"

  "We have to chase after them!"

  "How do we even track them? They're already gone!"

  "NO! There has to be a way! We 't—" A vilger colpsed to the ground, sobbing.

  The desperation, the rage, the grief—it thied the air, suffog and unbearable.

  Cai Feng forced himself to breathe.

  He couldn’t afford to lose himself now.

  He turo Jiang Hu, who stood among the militia, his fausually pale, his lips pressed into a thin line.

  "We o track them," Cai Feng said, his voice deadly calm.

  Jiang Hu met his gaze, eyes flickering with barely tained fury. "They covered their tracks well. We ime."

  "We don't have time."

  "We don't even know where they went—"

  "They took my son!" Mei Liao's voice cut through the air like a whip.

  The entire vilge turoward her.

  She stood at the doorway of their home, her slender hands ched so tightly that her fingernails had dug into her palms, drawing thin trails of blood. Her breathing was ragged, her usually elegant face twisted in anguish.

  "Feiyin... they took Feiyin..." she whispered, her voice crag.

  She swayed, as if her body couldn’t bear the weight of her grief.

  Cai Feng stepped toward her instinctively, his hands reag out, but she fell to her knees before he could reach her.

  Her shoulders shook.

  "I should have se," she choked out. "I should have... I should have been there!"

  Cai Feng k beside her, his hands shaking as he pced them on her shoulders. "Liao..."

  Her body trembled violently beh his grip.

  She turo him, her amethyst eyes gssy with uears. "He’s all alone, Feng... our baby... we don’t even know where he is—what they’re doing to him—"

  Cai Feng's own throat closed up.

  His wife—s, so capable—was breaking.

  And he had no words to fix it.

  No power to make it right.

  Only blood. Only fury.

  Only failure.

  His jaw ched so tightly it hurt. His nails bit into his palm, the pain grounding him, but it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.

  The enemy had taken their son.

  And he hadn’t been strong enough to stop them.

  A heavy silence fell over the vilge as the weight of their loss finally settled in full.

  Fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters—left behind.

  Empty homes. Silent cradles. Rooms devoid of ughter.

  The bloodstained victory felt hollow.

  Jiang Hu k o them, his voice low, tight. "We'll find them. We have to."

  Cai Feng didn't respond for a long time.

  Finally, he exhaled sharply, his breath shaky.

  He pulled Mei Liao into his chest, his arms tightening arourembling form.

  And in the quiet of the broken vilge, he made a vow.

  "We will find him." His voice was steel. "I don’t care what it takes."

  Mei Liao clutched his robes, her body shaking with silent sobs.

  The sun had fully risen now, its golden light washing over the vilge.

  But there was no warmth in its glow.

  Not anymore.