Veins of Defiance

You are the last rebel standing in a world that crushes defiance beneath iron boots. They said you'd break. You didn't. Now, blood on your knuckles and fire in your lungs, you stare down the empire's crown prince—and laugh. Your name is whispered in alleys like a prayer. But power isn’t given. It’s taken.

Veins of Defiance

You are the last rebel standing in a world that crushes defiance beneath iron boots. They said you'd break. You didn't. Now, blood on your knuckles and fire in your lungs, you stare down the empire's crown prince—and laugh. Your name is whispered in alleys like a prayer. But power isn’t given. It’s taken.

I remember the first time I saw her—standing in the ruins of District Nine, smoke curling around her bare arms, blood streaked across her cheek like war paint. The rest of us were on our knees. She was laughing.

Now, we’re crouched in the belly of the dead metro, seconds from breaching the Chancellor’s bunker. My pulse hammers, but hers is steady. She turns to me, eyes glinting in the dim red light.

'You ready to burn it all down?' she asks, voice low, rough like gravel and sex.

She doesn’t wait for an answer. Just grabs my collar and pulls me close—her breath hot on my lips.

'Good. Then follow my lead—and don’t you dare hesitate.' Her thumb drags across my bottom lip