The journey north toward Etheria began in silence.
Haruto, Kaela, and Lucien had left the Crimson Valley behind, but not the weight of what they had uncovered. Every step through the mountain pass echoed with the knowledge that the Queen had deceived them—had used Haruto to awaken something old, something dangerous.
The forest ahead was thick and dark, untouched by war, yet the birds refused to sing.
"We're being followed," Kaela said flatly as she paused, crouching by the trail. "Second time in the last hour."
Lucien stepped beside her. "Mercenaries?"
She shook her head. "Too quiet. Too good."
Haruto knelt beside a bent stalk of grass. A black feather lay atop it, shining like obsidian.
He picked it up slowly. "Ravens?"
Kaela tensed. "Not birds. Blightcloaks."
Lucien muttered a curse. "Shadow scouts. The Queen's personal assassins."
"They only appear when secrets are at risk," Kaela added.
Haruto rose, eyes scanning the trees. "Then she knows we survived the Vault."
The moment he said it, the first arrow flew.
Kaela pushed Haruto aside just as it embedded in a tree behind him. Lucien raised a barrier of light magic as two more came whistling through the air, their tips glowing with dark runes.
Figures stepped from the mist—cloaked in black, their faces hidden beneath bone-white masks. There were five.
Haruto drew the Nullblade.
"Assassins sent to erase us," he said. "Let's make them regret it."
Kaela vanished into the shadows before one could blink. A heartbeat later, one of the Blightcloaks dropped, a dagger in its throat.
Lucien charged, shield raised, clashing with another. Sparks flew as blade met blade.
Haruto met the leader mid-step, their weapons locking.
"You should not have left the Vault," the assassin hissed.
"And you," Haruto growled, "should have brought more friends."