Ashes of Eleonor: The Forgotten Flame

I remember I was shot multiple times and fell onto the cliff. My body landed on the cold water of the river. The impact was unbearable and painful. The water pulled me deeper, to the darkness and the deafening silence of the void. The gunshot still echoes in my ears and the wounds are aching badly. I want to scratch it . Yet, what's more painful is an act of betrayal I never saw coming. I was blind and naive and never saw that coming. The person I trusted, the person I kept and sheltered, made a fool out of me. The most ungrateful person I knew. I feel like every memory is coming back to me, from my childhood----how I was trained to kill people and do bad things. How I actually kill someone, how I manage to escape from that place and how I managed to be on top--and finally---here. My greatest downfall. I am Elise Cheong. The most wanted fugitive in all of Asia. A ruthless force, an untouchable criminal the authorities couldn't even get close to. I am a woman of pride, honor, and darkness. A name spoken in whispers, feared by all who cross it. My power is not just a shield—it's a fortress. A sanctuary that protects me from the chaos, from the world that waits to tear me apart. I am Elise Cheong. But at some point, I know that I am also someone else. Someone a young, kind and loving person. A person who lives a peaceful life despite the chaos caused by creatures that lurk around that vast wall. I still remember it: A sharp sword pierced my heart ----swift and precise. My body landed on the cold grass as my blood drip from my fatal wound. I was naive, I have always been that way---but that merciless betrayal was too much for me to handle. Trusting is both a scary and fleeting thing, an immense feeling of a brief companion yet, a darkness that a person can never imagine. I am Victoria Harper. There is a power within me, yet I chose to conceal and live normally. I prefer a peaceful world, even with the surrounding darkness. I protect myself and the people I care about without shredding blood and wounding anyone. I am powerful because of that. I am Victoria Harper. I was one or both of them, and somehow, I lost both and became another person.