The dawn after Iralious's death broke colder than usual. Mist clung to the ground like mourning cloth, and the sky bore a pale hue that refused to warm. Kalious stood at the center of camp, map in hand, the broken staff tucked beneath one arm like it belonged there.
Their foster siblings said nothing. Not because they didn't care, but because the weight of loss had hollowed them out. They gathered what little supplies remained, dried meat, blankets, fire flint, and packed for the journey ahead.
Malious emerged last from Iralious's tent, carrying the old man's blade strapped to his back. It was rusted, chipped, and half its edge was gone, but it had drawn blood in Iralious's hands once, and that was enough.
"We head east," Kalious said, tapping the parchment. "Follow the spines of the Red Ring Mountains until we reach the base marked 'Ekkes.'"
"What's there?" the younger brother asked.
Kalious looked up. "Answers. Maybe others like us. Maybe nothing. But we need to know."
They traveled for two days before camping beneath a ridge scarred by old fire. That night, Malious took first watch while Kalious rested beside the map and relic fragment. He held the splintered wood in both hands, turning it over slowly. When he closed his eyes, he saw flickers of things, visions, maybe dreams.
An army clad in radiant armor. A banner bearing the twin crescents. A throne surrounded by roaring water.
He opened his eyes to darkness and firelight.
"I saw something," he said aloud.
Malious looked up from the fire. "What?"
"When I held it. The fragment. I saw the past, I think. I saw... what the Sovereigns once were."
Malious stared into the flames for a long moment, then nodded. "Then you're starting to awaken, too."
Kalious looked at him, startled. "You've seen them?"
Malious's gaze didn't waver. "Every night since the attack."
They sat in silence, surrounded by shadows not cast by fire.
"The man who destroyed our home," Kalious said slowly, "what did Iralious mean when he said he was corrupted?"
Malious's jaw tensed. "He meant he turned. Betrayed his blood. Became something else."
"A Shadow Walker."
Malious nodded. "And if he's hunting bloodlines... we're next."
Kalious looked down at the relic. A broken thing. A piece of something greater.
So were they.
"We find Ekkes," Malious said. "We find the truth. And then"
"We burn the shadow out of this world," Kalious finished.
For the first time since the fire, they smiled.
It didn't last long.
From the tree line, unseen eyes blinked in unison. Something inhuman shifted in the brush.
They were not alone.