The lodging had seemed calmer in recent days. Jin, though still carrying a deep emptiness in his eyes, had begun to take hesitant steps outside his room. He was like a wounded animal: wary, unsure… but alive.
Saphira was the first to notice. One cloudy morning, she found him standing by his window, gazing at the grey sky as if expecting something to fall from it. She said nothing, merely leaned beside him, sharing the silence.
He didn't speak.
But he didn't move either.
It was a beginning.
In the days that followed, small interactions emerged — a glance, a nod, a shared plate at the dining hall. Jin seemed to be trying… even if he didn't know how.
It was during one of those quiet nights, while candlelight flickered against the wall.
Allan sat in the corner of the room, hugging his knees. His face was sweaty, his eyes far too wide for someone awake. Jin watched from a distance, leaning against the wall, still silent since the recent events.
"They dance…" Allan whispered.
Kaellia raised her head, confused. "What?"
"The shadows," he replied, not looking at her. "They dance on the wall… even when there's no light. They have no faces, but I swear… I swear they're laughing."
No one knew what to say. Only the sound of the wind outside passed through the room.
"They call me... every night. Whisper my name like they want me to join them. Like... they know something is coming."
Tension filled the room. Saphira glanced at Marcus, hoping for some answer. But the old man merely lowered his gaze, thoughtful.
Kael frowned. "Isn't this just paranoia?"
Allan looked at him, and there was something broken in his face. "It's not my imagination. They see me. They know me…"
A heavy silence fell over them. Jin simply observed, unmoving. But his eyes… they seemed to absorb everything.
Then came the call.
The guild's messenger appeared again, delivering his words with cold arrogance:
"The guild summons you."
It was night, but the sky was darker than usual. The guild's torches flickered with flames that crackled, as if blown by something unseen. The main hall, usually buzzing with activity, was quiet. Some whispered. Others only stared at the ground.
Then, the door to the guildmaster's chamber opened, and a hooded woman stepped out. In her hands trembled black scrolls sealed with silver wax that jingled like funeral bells.
"We have a special-grade mission," she said. Her voice was low, yet all could hear — as if something whispered alongside it. "Magical anomaly in the City of the Silenced Souls."
The name froze the hall.
"She… she's sealed," someone murmured.
Allan's eyes widened, as if pieces were falling into place.
"Not anymore," the messenger replied. "The boundaries have broken. The shadows have begun to move again. The dead no longer sleep in silence."
A cold wind crept down their spines. Several hunters backed away, pale.
Then someone stood up.
"We'll go."
Marcus — standing tall with a sword the size of a child on his back and a grim gaze — walked to the center of the hall. His weathered face carried something deeper… something that, even in silence, demanded respect and fear.
"What?" Saphira whispered.
The guild attendant paled as she recognized him.
"M-Marcus… one of the Eastern Ashes…"
Silence.
The name spread like poison. Everyone there knew the codename. The man who survived the fall of the Gray Guild. The only one who returned from the City of the Silenced Souls — forty years ago.
"That city still owes me answers," he said. "And maybe now… she wants to give them."
---
That same night.
Allan trembled. Sitting on the floor, he muttered to himself as he drew spirals on the wood with his fingernail — until he bled.
"Don't you hear it? They whisper… they call me… they say it's time for the dance. The Lost Symphony is about to begin…"
Kael tried to approach.
"Allan… are you okay?"
Allan looked up. His face was no longer the same, his eyes sunken, with dark circles as if he hadn't slept in weeks.
"They danced on the walls. Laughed… even without faces. Played a song only I could hear. And… they called me. They say the dance begins when the maestro returns…"
Kaellia stepped back, frightened. Saphira exchanged a look with Jin, who simply observed.
"No one believes me, do they?" Allan muttered with a crooked smile. "But they see you… through me."
Jin closed his eyes. The word "maestro" echoed too deeply. As if something long dormant inside him stirred at those words.
Allan kept repeating it like a mantra.
They smile... and invite me to dance.
Jin quietly left the room.
Minutes passed.
Jin stood alone, staring at the sleeping city. The cold wind cut across his face, but he didn't flinch. His chest felt heavy.
"You're not going."
He turned.
Marcus.
"You're really going to keep saying that?" Jin replied, his tone firmer than expected.
"That city isn't just ruins. It's a tomb of echoes. A place where time and sanity are lost. Something dark rules that city. I've been there, Jin. I buried friends in that damned mist. That thing inside... it doesn't forget."
A disturbing silence followed. Seconds felt like hours.
"How old are you now, Jin?" Marcus murmured, his voice sad and broken, as if holding back tears.
"To be honest… I don't know," Jin replied, dry and somber. "We didn't even celebrate birthdays."
Jin began to lose his calm. Everything he felt and thought… it was the perfect moment to speak.
"Maybe 9… maybe 10… No one knew their age in that damned village…" Jin said, now shouting.
Marcus said nothing, eyes fixed on the ground. Words no longer wished to leave his lips.
"I haven't forgotten anything they took from me. And if that city has anything to do with it… I need to go."
Marcus stepped forward, his face darker beneath the torchlight.
"That city calls to you for a reason. Not to give you answers, Jin. But to consume you. You're being dragged by something you don't even understand."
"Even so… I'll go."
The old man let out a deep, heavy sigh and stepped back.
"You're more stubborn than your mother," he said, with sorrow. "And just as broken as your father." He didn't even know why he said it.
---
The next morning, everything felt tense. No one spoke more than necessary.
The group was assembled: Saphira, Kael, Lyn, Kaellia, Jin, and Marcus.
Allan arrived last, with trembling steps and a fading smile.
"The Symphony… it has begun. They play and dance. They told me today would be special. Today… I'll hear the solo," he said, wearing a shattered smile.
Kael tried to stop him.
"You can stay, Allan…"
"No. I belong to this now."
Marcus narrowed his eyes at Allan, but said nothing.
The group stepped through the portal, swallowed by a magical light — cold and ethereal.
The sky above the ruins was dark gray, like an eternal storm. The buildings were intact, but seemed to bend the light around them, as if time itself draped them in invisible veils.
Shadows stretched across the walls like eager hands.
And then, Jin stepped forward.
All the shadows in the city… bowed.
Absolute silence.
The reverence was unspoken, but the air grew heavier — as if all the souls of the underworld were holding their breath before the returning conductor.
Kael stepped back.
"Is this… normal?"
"This is impossible," Kaellia muttered.
But Allan… Allan saw more than reverence.
His eyes widened. His body trembled, and he slowly dropped to his knees.
"Don't you see it…?" he whispered, terrified. "Behind him… it's enormous."
Everyone turned to Jin — but nothing was visible to the others.
Allan wept.
"A shadow… without eyes… without a mouth… and still it smiles. It dances. Dances for him. Reaches out… wants him to join the music… the symphony…"
Jin stood still for a moment. Then… he began to walk.
Without clear direction. Without destination. Just… following.
"Jin?" Saphira called.
He didn't answer. His eyes were vacant, as if something far away called to him.
"Jin, stop!" Kaellia insisted.
Nothing.
Allan screamed, crawling on the ground.
"She's calling you! She wants you to dance, Jin! Don't go!"
His desperation was raw, uncontrollable.
Marcus squinted. His fist clenched tight.
"Don't lose sight of him…" everyone looked at him for a moment. "Anyone who strays… will be swallowed by the shadows. The shadows… only obey the boy."
As the group quickened their pace to follow Jin, the city began to whisper. A distant melody, scratchy… like a forgotten orchestra playing from the basement of hell.
"Y-You hear that, right? I'm not going insane," Allan murmured, eyes wet.
The symphony was soft… yet each note sent a chill down their spines.
They all heard it. They all felt it. The Symphony seemed to echo in their minds in the most unsettling way…
As they walked, the shadows moved bolder.
One of them, thin as a stretched ribbon, slid across the ground until it stopped before Saphira.
"Don't move," Marcus whispered, his voice low and urgent. "If a shadow approaches… stay still. They test your limits. Reacting wrong… is signing your death."
Saphira froze, feeling something cold like ice slithering up her leg.
Her eyes filled with frightened tears.
The shadow rose… it had no eyes, but it seemed to see Saphira… and then touched her hand.
Jin stopped walking.
At that instant, the air trembled — like the ground itself had gasped. The space around him shimmered, distorting like glass about to shatter.
Then… Bouros spoke into his mind.
"Well, well… again. You never protect anyone, boy. Not your parents, not your brother, not the girl who shielded you so many times. Not even yourself," Bouros said with a devilish grin, his tone pitying, yet his expression mocking.
"But now you have the power, don't you? The power to command. Just one word… and all of this… all these shadows will kneel before you," Bouros laughed — a sound like shattered metal.
"After the first time… you won't be able to stop. The feeling… it's unique. Intoxicating. Like a god claiming his throne."
Though faceless, the shadow seemed frightened…
But before it could retreat…
Jin whispered — "Disappear…"
His voice was cold, arrogant… like speaking to a stray dog. Calm, quiet, like a breath.
And then… the shadow slowly vanished. But before fading completely into the mist… it bowed again to Jin.
Everyone watched, horrified.
Saphira collapsed to the ground. Coughing. Crying. Utterly terrified.
Jin dropped to his knees, sweat covering his face.
No one paid him any attention…
But it wasn't enough.
He stood.
Kept walking.
As if an invisible force pulled his feet forward.
As if the call from within could no longer be ignored.