After the golden light erupted, strength surged back into Kazi's limbs and quickly helped Adana to the surface.
And they fled towards the north until they sense they were out of danger.
Kazi collapsed onto a bed of damp moss, his chest rising and falling like a storm-tossed sea. Adanna landed beside him, just as exhausted, but her ears twitched, still listening for unseen threats.
A long silence stretched between them before she finally spoke.
"No one's following us."
Kazi should have felt relieved, but his body remained tense. His fingers dug into the earth, grounding himself as his mind spiraled.
His mother's scream.
The arrow.
His father's final stand.
The fire.
The power that had erupted from him inside the sea.
He squeezed his eyes shut, but the images wouldn't leave.
Adanna watched him carefully, her wolfish instincts reading his every movement.
"What now?" she asked, her voice softer than he expected.
Kazi exhaled, long and slow. He looked at his hands, flexing them as if expecting to see the golden energy return. Nothing. He was just a boy again. A boy whose world had been turned to ash.
"I heard a story ," Kazi began, his voice distant, "that if you ever needed answers, you should go north. To find the Ancient Turtle"
Adanna frowned. "The Ancient Turtle? That's a myth."
Kazi shook his head. "So were the golden lights in the sky. So was the power that burst out of me and shook the sea. Myths don't mean 'not real.' They mean 'forgotten.'"
Adanna studied him, her eyes narrowing. "And you think this creature, if it even exists, will give you the answers you seek?"
"I don't think." Kazi finally met her gaze, his voice steady. "I know."
The conviction in his tone made Adanna pause. She had fought beside many warriors, had stood before leaders and kings, but something about Kazi's presence now was different. A shift, subtle but undeniable.
Then he turned fully to her, his expression unreadable. "You should go back to your people, Adanna."
Her frown deepened. "What?"
"This isn't your fight," he said. "You got caught up in this because of me. I won't drag you into more dangers."
Adanna scoffed. "And what do you think I should do? Run back home and pretend none of this happened?"
"Yes," Kazi said bluntly. "Live. Be safe. The world is changing, Adanna, and whatever is happening to me, it's dangerous."
Adanna's jaw clenched. "You think I saved your life just to let you die in some northern wasteland?"
"I think it's not your burden to carry." Kazi's voice was calm, but beneath it was a quiet force.
Adanna studied him for a long moment. Something in him had shifted. This wasn't just about survival anymore. This was purpose.
She let out a slow breath, "I'll give you one night to convince me," she said. "If your reasons are good enough, maybe I'll consider leaving."
Kazi smirked slightly despite himself. "You don't follow orders well, do you?"
Adanna just grinned. "Not from humans."
Kazi chuckled, but his mind was already turning.
------------------
King Ruzan sat on his throne. His fingers drummed lightly against the armrest, his golden eyes fixed upon the three shadowblades kneeling before him.
The air was thick with tension.
"My king, the village is gone," the first one reported, his voice steady, though he dared not lift his gaze. "The hunters are dead, but the boy… he escaped."
The drumming of Ruzan's fingers stopped.
The second one swallowed hard, sensing the shift in the air. "The Lycaros intervened. They arrived after the destruction, but their presence made pursuit impossible. The boy fled north, into the wildlands."
For a moment, Ruzan said nothing. Then, he leaned forward, his voice dangerously calm. "You were given one task."
The third one shivered. "The plan was flawless, my king. The attack was swift. The village burned. But something—something unnatural happened."
Ruzan's eyes narrowed. "Explain."
He hesitated. Then, in a low whisper, he said, "A golden light. It erupted from the boy, it shook the sea itself. Every man who stood against him was struck down."
A hush fell over the chamber.
For the first time in years, Ruzan felt something stir within him—not anger, not frustration, but something worse.
Uncertainty.
"The boy…"
The Jade Pendant at his throat pulsed faintly. He pressed his fingers against it, feeling the whisper of ancient power curling beneath his skin.
A boy who could summon the golden light? This was no ordinary fugitive.
Ruzan inhaled slowly, forcing the unease from his mind. If the boy had gone north, then there was only one course of action.
"The assassin guilds," he said. "Send words to them."
The guard's stiffened. "All of them, my king?"
A slow, cruel smile crossed Ruzan's lips.
"Yes, All seven."
Moments later, seven black ravens were released into the sky, each carrying a single scroll sealed with Ruzan's black sigil, like a wolf tearing the sky.
They flew across the sky, bound for the north.
The first raven landed atop a spire of black stone, where Varik stood, watching the stars. He took the message without a word, his masked face betraying nothing.
In the dimly lit hall of Black Hollow, the second raven landed, assassins feasted upon the remains of their latest victims. Their leader, Dagna known as "Red Viper", unsealed the scroll with bloodstained fingers.
Deep beneath Deadman's Crossing, where the tunnels reeked of death, Eron the Pale sat cross-legged, meditating in a chamber filled with vials of poison. The raven perched beside him, waiting.
He read the message, then dipped a single needle into a green, bubbling toxin.
The underground market was alive with whispers as Selyn Vas, cloaked in shadows, read the scroll. She tilted her head, her unseen eyes glinting behind her veil.
Inside the fortress of warlords, Commander Raleth "The Wolf-King" crushed the wax seal beneath his palm. His warriors gathered, sharpening their weapons, their faces eager for battle.
In a cursed forest, called Dreadwood where no man returned, Torrek fastened the scroll to his belt.
No one saw where the last raven flew. No one knew where the Nameless Blades hid. But somewhere, in a place beyond mortal reach, a figure read the scroll… and disappeared without a sound.
Back in the throne room, Ruzan leaned back, his eyes dark with purpose.
"Run, boy," he murmured. "Run to the ends of the earth. My blades will find you."
The king turned his gaze to one of his spies and said, "It's time we deal with Veyrath
--------------------------
The soft hum of energy coursed through the walls of the Forge, a constant reminder of the empire Orion had built. Yet, despite the might of his city, his mind was elsewhere, tangled in a web of speculation.
The golden light. The village massacre. And now… ravens from Ruzan.
Cedric stood before him, arms folded across his chest, his expression unreadable. His son had always been a warrior first, a man of action, but even he seemed wary of what they had uncovered.
"It flew north," Cedric said, his voice measured.
Orion exhaled slowly, fingers drumming against the steel table beside him. He had learned long ago that Ruzan did not waste his resources on insignificant matters. If the king was sending a raven to the north, it meant only one thing—something important was happening there.
His thoughts circled back to the rumors. The village near the eastern borders, burned to nothing. The whispers of something unnatural, something no one could explain. Some claimed it had been a storm, others spoke of a light brighter than the sun itself. And at the center of it all, one detail stood out among the scattered reports—
"The boy," he murmured.
Cedric tilted his head. "You think it's connected?"
"I think Ruzan is afraid of something," Orion said. He finally turned from the map spread before him, his gaze sharp. "And that is always worth investigating."
Cedric shifted his weight slightly, considering his father's words. He had never known Ruzan to act out of fear, only out of calculated ruthlessness. The northern assassins were his most valuable tools, and if he was deploying them, it was not without cause.
"We don't even know if this boy exists," Cedric pointed out. "The only thing we have is a dying hunter's last words."
"And yet, Ruzan moves." Orion gestured toward the map, where the northern territories sprawled like a tangled beast of snow and stone. "If the king's assassins in north are moving , then we must as well. If this is about the golden light, about what happened at the village, then I want answers before Ruzan finds them."
Cedric nodded. He had expected nothing less.
"I'll assemble a team," he said, turning toward the door.
"Make it quiet," Orion called after him. "We are not the only ones watching."
As Cedric left, Orion remained standing over the map, eyes lingering on the northernmost regions. There was something there, something hidden beneath the ice and bloodshed, and Ruzan's actions had only confirmed it.
He exhaled, rolling his shoulders.
The north had always been a land of killers. But this time, it was not just assassins hunting in the dark.
This time, something greater was at stake.