The forest swallowed them. Dead branches scraped against their cloaks, and the air smelled of damp ash.
The stranger moved ahead, staff tapping lightly on the ground. Every step seemed deliberate, as if the forest itself parted for them.
Vael kept his distance. His hand brushed the ring from time to time, feeling its faint throb. It hadn't calmed since the fight.
Reylen whispered under his breath. "We follow shadows guided by another shadow. This will end well."
Nyra smirked. "At least it isn't boring."
Elira stayed quiet, her eyes sharp. She studied the stranger more than the path.
Finally Vael spoke. "You've tested us. Now answer. Who are you?"
The stranger slowed. Their hood tilted back slightly, revealing a face pale as bone, lined with faint scars.
"I am called Kaelen," they said. "Once a keeper of what lies beneath. Now, only a witness."
Vael narrowed his eyes. "Witness to what?"
Kaelen turned. Their silver gaze cut through the gloom. "To the fall of men who think they can wear crowns without paying the cost."
The words struck deep. Vael's jaw clenched, but he said nothing.
Nyra tilted her head. "So you know about him."
Kaelen's stare lingered on Vael, then shifted away. "I know more than you want me to."
They kept walking.
The trees thinned, revealing ruins choked in vines and moss. Broken towers rose like teeth, jagged against the dark sky.
Kaelen raised their staff. "This is where your next step waits. Within these stones lies a truth sharp enough to cut even shadows."
Vael's chest tightened. The ring pulsed again, cold and alive.
Whatever truth waited, it wasn't going to let him walk away unchanged.