Arco was too quiet.

  Aegis felt it first — her ears shot up, her growl low and warning. Romulus stood. Remus froze.

  Then the king’s soldiers marched into the village like a flood.

  “Two boys,” the captain barked. “Forest-born. Where are they?”

  Villagers hid. Doors slammed. Fear spread like smoke.

  Aegis pushed the twins back, deeper into the alleys.

  But fate didn’t care.

  A villager slipped. A name was shouted. A guard turned.

  “There! The wolf’s brats!”

  Everything exploded.

  Aegis lunged. Romulus grabbed Remus and ran. Arrows hissed past them.

  But the soldiers were too many.

  A net dropped from above, tangling Romulus’s legs. He hit the ground hard.

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  “Romulus!” Remus screamed.

  Aegis tried to reach him — spears blocked her path.

  Romulus was dragged away, kicking, roaring, refusing to break.

  “REMUS!” he shouted as the prison gates swallowed him.

  Then silence.

  Remus stood shaking, breath broken, eyes burning.

  Aegis pressed against him.

  Remus whispered:

  “I’m coming for you.”

  And for the first time, the mark on his arm flickered.

  Remus didn’t sneak in.

  He walked through the front.

  The first guard stepped forward — Remus moved faster than he ever had. A strike. A fall. Silence.

  Aegis followed, a shadow of teeth and fury.

  More guards rushed in.

  Romulus would have fought like fire.

  Remus fought like ice.

  Cold. Precise. Unstoppable.

  The mark flickered again — faint, but alive.

  Romulus knelt in his cell, wrists bound, blood on his lip.

  The door exploded inward.

  Remus stood there, breathing hard, glowing faintly.

  Romulus stared.

  “Remus… what did you do?”

  Remus didn’t answer.

  He broke the chains.

  “Together?” Romulus asked.

  “Always.”

  They reached the courtyard.

  Freedom was steps away.

  Then the king stepped forward.

  Vaross.

  His eyes locked onto Remus — not with anger, but with fear.

  “You,” he whispered. “You’re not my son.”

  The mark on Remus’s arm glowed brighter.

  Romulus stepped in front of him.

  “Stay away from him.”

  Vaross raised his hand.

  “Kill the god-born.”

  The twins charged.

  The king fell.

  Arco was free.

  But the world had changed.