I blinked.
The sky above me spun like a cracked wheel. Then, slowly, a shadow passed over it.
Not a bird. A face.
Steel helmet. A man's eyes. His mouth was moving, but I heard only a dull throb in my ears. A pounding ache behind my eyes.
Then came others.
Hands on my arms. Lifting. "Easy. He's not wounded. Just—shock, maybe."
I wanted to tell them we were fine. That we were alive. That Segeford—
No. Don't say it.
Miya was being carried too, limp in someone's arms. Sylvy lay on a cloth and wood, her eyes fluttering open and closed. Liam was still conscious, nodding stiffly, as though every thought weighed a thousand pounds.
We were brought to a wide wooden gate. Ironwood logs, wrapped in creeping vines. Torches burned low. Watchtower loomed over us.
Outpost Veilgard.
A frontier camp I'd seen only once on a map. A dot on the edge of the known. And yet, it looked like heaven now.
---
Inside, the outpost smelled of smoked meat, iron, and damp soil. Dozens of faces turned to look. Soldiers. Traders. Local scouts. Adventurers. Their expressions shifted—confusion, then alarm, then something else.
Pity.
I hated it.
A woman in a crimson scarf rushed toward us—a healer. "Get them to the barracks. The girl's burning up—gods, what happened to these kids?"
No one answered.
Because who could?
We found something ancient. Something hungry. We walked in with a guard. We walked out without him.
---
They split us up. Gave us beds. Told us to rest.
But I couldn't sleep.
The mattress was too soft. I missed the ground. The cold weight of it. The silence.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the Howler. Its limbs bent wrong. That hideous mouth dripping black. And Segeford… turning to face it.
Over and over again.
I sat up, chest heaving, jaw locked, as though I were still running.
I stumbled to the wash basin. Splashed water on my face.
In the mirror, I saw a ghost staring back. Gaunt. Pale. Eyes hollow like mine had been scooped out and filled with night.
I turned away. Left the cabin.
Outside, the alley between buildings was lit by flickering lanterns. Liam stood near the gate. Tim and Terren were with him. None of us could sleep.
I walked up.
"Miya... she told me something," Liam said quietly. "Just before we departed." He wasn't looking at us. Only at the darkness beyond the outpost walls.
"She said we could have waited for Segeford. There were no beasts, not then." He paused.
"I acted. I thought it was the right call. I'm not as strong as Segeford. But I tried. I did what I thought would keep us alive."
His voice trembled.
And I saw him—not as a leader, not as a commander. Just a young man. Hurting.
A boy barely out of youth, him in his early thirties, bearing weight too large for his shoulders.
I thought of my father. The burden in his eyes when I spoke cruelly. The sadness he never returned with anger. I missed him. Gods, I missed him. I wanted to see him. Apologize.
I wandered out into the clearing beyond the buildings. Night had fallen fully. A single cart stood outside, maybe a merchant's, guarded by adventurers too tired to speak.
The stars above were bright. Gentle. They shimmered like silver prayers.
I looked up.
"Segeford… if you're out there, I hope you can see this sky too."
And then—
A voice.
Raspy. Breaking.
"Why!? I just want one answer… WHY!?"
I froze. I couldn't see anything. It was dark... Really really dark.
"You said love was the purest form of devotion… and all I did—ALL I DID—was love!"
The voice roared like a wounded god.
"That was blasphemy, not love… Arak—" Another voice, deeper. Cold. Divine.
"Oh, don't give me that!"
A second scream, this one cracked with grief.
"I'll tear you all apart. I'll break your temples. Kill your prophets. Beat your gods until their blood turns black! You'll beg for mercy—just like she did!"
The forest was empty. Yet the words echoed like thunder inside my skull.
Then—
Two points of silver light shone in the dark. Just like the ones in the chamber.
I gasped.
And sat up.
I was back in the clearing. The sun was piercing through the canopy.
I had fallen asleep on the ground. My body ached like I'd slept on stone for days.
I stretched, dazed.
"Nightmare?" a voice called.
I turned. Terren stood at the hall's entrance.
"How'd you know?" I asked.
"Because I had one too," he replied.
We understood each other without words.
I washed up. Went into the main hall.
Edward and Sylvy sat at a table. Quiet. Distant.
Liam stood near a post with Tim, trying to appear composed.
"It's been three days," Liam said. "We should return to Valemoor."
I blinked.
"Wait—what? Three days? We got here last night."
Edward smirked. "You were out cold. Thought you were dead at one point."
"No one woke me!?"
"We tried," Sylvy giggled. "You were like a rock."
I groaned. My joints agreed.
But then—
Laughter.
Real, soft, human laughter filled the hall.
The first since we lost Segeford.
Even Tim smiled.
It felt like sunlight after months of storm.
"We leave tomorrow," Liam announced.
"No."
Everyone turned.
Miya stood in the doorway, her voice like frost.
"I followed you once," she said. "For their sake. But I'm not leaving now. Not until the captain returns."
Her words hit like iron. Even Liam fell silent.
"I suggest something," Terren offered, clearing the tension. "Let Lady Sylvy return. Her condition isn't improving. She needs proper care. Tim, Edward, and Kael can accompany her. The rest of us wait here."
It made sense. We had no supplies. No coin. We were leeching off an outpost already stretched thin.
"I agree," Liam nodded.
A long pause.
"Do what you want," Miya said. "But I stay. Until he comes back."
And she walked away.
"She's not being selfish," Liam said softly. "She and the captain… they've been together for two decades. She doesn't just follow him. She reveres him. Loves him."
I nodded.
"We understand."
Liam looked grateful.
"Alright. Pack up. You leave in an hour," he said.
Then turned to Tim. "Bring help. Return in a month."
I stood.
"I'm not going," I said.
Everyone looked at me.
"I want to. I want to see my parents. My sister. But… I feel like I need to stay. Like something's calling me to grow. To be better."
Liam smiled faintly.
"Suit yourself."
They left soon after.
Terren adjusted his sword at his belt.
"Where are you headed?" I asked.
"To train."
"Mind if I join?"
"Two is better than one," he grinned.
We vanished into the trees together.
Toward discipline. Toward becoming more. Toward protecting those who protected Us.