The city was still breathing, but just barely.
Smoke curled from broken rooftops, and the cracks on the streets ran like scars through stone. The people, weary and worn, continued to rebuild, stacking rubble, hammering shattered walls, trying to hold onto whatever fragments of normalcy remained. But amidst all that ruin… was something else.
Hope.
Leon and Kaelis walked side by side down the main avenue, the very road where once Darius had paraded false promises under the banner of the Eternal Empire. Now, no banners remained. Only the wind, and the eyes of the people who had heard the news, Leon Ashbourne had returned.
Whispers followed their every step, but they weren't whispers of fear.
"That's him… He was the real hero before all this began."
"They said he was dead. But he's the one who took down Darius."
"He stopped it. The corruption. The control. We're finally free."
Leon's face remained emotionless, his coat swaying with each step, boots crunching over glass and frost. Kaelis watched him in silence, knowing better than to interrupt the way Leon carried that weight, like armor too familiar to ever be removed.
They made their way toward the plaza, where the old Guild Hall once stood. The central tower was half-destroyed, but the steps remained. There, waiting for them, stood Elric, along with several local hunters and citizens who had taken on leadership roles after Darius's fall. No royal uniforms. No golden robes. Just survivors.
Elric stepped forward, giving Leon a small, respectful nod. "Ashbourne. We've been waiting for you."
Leon said nothing.
"You didn't just kill Darius," Elric continued. "You tore down the curtain they'd been hiding behind. The Eternal Empire's poison was in everything. In our halls, our rules, even our food supply. You stopped it. You ended it."
The people nearby murmured in agreement. No one flinched under Leon's cold gaze. Instead, they stood straighter, prouder. Not out of obligation, but respect.
Leon stepped past them without a word and ascended the cracked steps of the ruined Guild Hall. From that vantage, he looked over the small crowd that had begun to gather, hunters, merchants, street performers, orphans, guards. A city once ruled by shadows, now staring up at the man who had returned from them.
He raised his voice, clear and sharp as a blade.
"I don't want your praise."
The words cut through the quiet.
"I don't need your loyalty."
He looked over the crowd, steady, cold, unreadable.
"I didn't come back to become your leader. I didn't come to play politics or sit in Darius's chair. I came because they tried to bury me. Because they used you like tools and fed you lies."
A silence, not of fear, but of listening.
"They called me a traitor. Branded me as dead. But the ones who wore your chains… they were never your masters. They were your jailers."
He stepped down slowly, gaze still fixed ahead.
"The Eternal Empire isn't gone. They're watching. Waiting. What we dealt with here was only their hand. The heart of the Empire still beats, and it beats for conquest."
He stopped in front of the crowd. "So hear me clearly: this isn't over."
A man in the front stepped forward, an old blacksmith with soot-stained hands and watery eyes. "Then we fight. If not for you, then for the chance you gave us."
Another voice chimed in. "You cut off the head of the snake. Now let us burn the nest."
"We stand with you, Ashbourne."
"We owe you our freedom."
Leon's expression didn't change. He gave a curt nod and turned to Kaelis, who was smirking faintly.
"You're not very good at speeches," Kaelis murmured.
Leon ignored him. "It wasn't a speech."
Later that evening, Leon and Kaelis met with the city's surviving leadership in what was left of the War Room. Maps were spread across the table, supply routes marked in red, fallen watchtowers noted in ink. Plans were drawn, ones that would secure the city, stabilize it, and fortify it for what was to come.
Kaelis handled most of the talking. Leon simply pointed, where to rebuild, who to trust, which families to avoid. His focus was always ahead. Never behind.
That night, on the highest balcony of the broken tower once ruled by Darius, Leon stood alone.
Below, the people began lighting fires, not of destruction, but of warmth. Hunters trained in the open. Children laughed in the distance. The city was breathing again, even if faintly.
From the shadows beside him, a figure emerged, Kel, cloaked in black, eyes glowing dimly with the essence of the Eternal Empire. No longer a slave, but reborn as part of Leon's shadow.
"My lord," Kel said, kneeling. "The people are organizing. I've begun marking potential candidates… for your army."
Leon didn't respond right away. His eyes scanned the rooftops, the stars above, the remnants of what was once home.
"They will come again," Leon said.
"And we will be ready," Kel replied.
Leon turned slightly, his voice as cold as the frost curling around the railing. "No. We will be stronger. I won't lose again."
Behind him, Kaelis approached, resting a hand on the hilt of his blade.
"You're building something, Leon. Something different than before."
Leon finally spoke, low and certain.
"I'm taking back everything they tried to erase."