Author's Note:
This is a bonus chapter to celebrate the 2k views of the English version of the story! Thank you very much to everyone for the support and for following Ereon's journey. I hope you enjoy this chapter
Ereon opened his eyes slowly, feeling the body heavy and sore. The cold wood of the cabin under his back and the damp smell of moss indicated that he was in some isolated place. The mountain wind whistled through the cracks, bringing a cutting cold that made him shiver.
"Finally woke up." The voice appeared from the other side of the cabin, calm and firm, loaded with authority. Ereon turned, looking for the origin, but did not find anyone immediately.
"Telvaris…" he murmured, surprised, the voice failing. "I… what happened?"
Telvaris took a step forward, stopping in front of him. The silence before his words seemed to weigh tons. He breathed deeply, the gaze fixed and serious:
"Ereon… you were in the Abyss. For an entire year." Currently, we are on the twelfth day of the eighth month of the year 2035.
The words echoed through the small space, and Ereon's world seemed to collapse. One year… a lost year, wrapped in darkness, pain, and something he still could not understand. He blinked, trying to assimilate, but his mind spun, confused memories mixing with pain and fatigue.
"One year?" he whispered, the voice failing. "But… how… how did I survive?"
Telvaris answered, calm but firm:
"Stand up," continued Telvaris. "And you need to eat something." He pointed to a simple bowl on the table. "Your body can't handle more time without food."
Telvaris crossed his arms, the expression serious, and spoke with attention:
"Ereon… tell me, what is the last thing you remember?"
Ereon blinked, still feeling the weight of fatigue and pain, but answered firmly:
"I remember training with Nika and Lili… Nika taught me about the Abyss and the hierarchy of the empires. I also remember that, for four months, I followed her to all the places where she had informants…"
He paused, frowning, while a throbbing pain began to spread through his head.
"But…" he murmured, the voice tense "I can't remember how I got here."
Telvaris nodded slowly, the gaze loaded with melancholy:
"You don't need to worry now." he said, calmly firm "Your body and your mind are still recovering. What happened after the Golden Breath was… complicated."
Telvaris's words about the Golden Breath made something inside Ereon break. He stood up suddenly, the chair falling with a crash on the floor, echoing through the cabin.
"What happened?!" his voice came out louder than intended, loaded with surprise and fear.
Telvaris kept calm, observing him with patience.
"I don't think I'm the right person to explain all this, Ereon." he said, the voice firm, but melancholic "Who knows better what occurred are other people…"
Ereon breathed deeply, trying to process, but the need for answers was urgent.
"And the orphanage? And Edda?" he asked, the voice low but intense "What happened?"
Telvaris looked away for a moment, as if reliving painful memories, before answering:
"It was terrible… Kael found you fallen at the gates. I don't know all the details, but I know that many things changed since then."
The silence that followed weighed more than any explanation. Ereon felt the knot in his chest tighten, but understood that he would have to find some answers alone, or with others who were nearby.
Telvaris sighed deeply, the eyes loaded with melancholy and sorrow.
"About Edda…" he began, the voice low, firm, almost cutting "I killed her with my own hands. It wasn't just you, Ereon. Maybe it was luck you were in the Abyss, but we all carry scars."
Ereon remained silent, absorbing every word, the weight of guilt and pain mixing in his mind.
"Before anything else," continued Telvaris "you should go see Kael. He was the one who carried you here. But the price he paid… looking at the Abyss… was not small."
He breathed deeply, as if each word hurt more than the previous:
"I've been here only for two weeks because Edda warned me, before dying, that on the twelfth day of the eighth month my answer would be here."
Telvaris looked at the ground for a moment, the expression taken by terrible memories:
"There are many things you need to know: the massacre at the orphanage, the death of the director, the destruction of the Golden Breath… But the greatest mystery is you. Why weren't you devoured by the Abyss? How are you here? What did you see inside during all this time?"
He finally lifted his eyes, staring at Ereon intensely:
"But before having any answer, before understanding all this… we have a clear objective. We need to take the count's head."
Ereon's heart raced. Anger and determination mixed with the confusion he still felt about everything that had happened. He breathed deeply, trying to process the weight of the mission and the revelations. As the echo of Telvaris's words dissipated in his mind, another name came to mind, more urgent: Kael.
"Who is Kael?" asked Ereon, frowning.
Telvaris breathed deeply, the voice firm, but loaded with memory:
"Do you remember number 200? The boy you spared in the hunt? Kael is him. Edda told me — before dying — that she had told you to spare a boy with amber eyes."
He paused, staring at Ereon:
"I also found out why the members of Alpha Unit did not return… I hated him all this time, while you carried the burden of the orphanage. I just judged him."
Ereon remained silent, absorbing the information, the mind a whirlwind of images and emotions.
"He is on the mountain peak," continued Telvaris, pointing to the horizon "And remember, Ereon… he is not the same anymore."
Without thinking, Ereon began walking toward the peak. The mountain did not seem distant, but the path was steep and uneven. The cold wind scratched his face, bringing with it the smell of melted snow and the forest below.
As he climbed, flashes of memories hit him:
"Run… go toward the orphanage…" echoed in his mind.
"Forgive me, Ereon… but I will only accompany you this far… Remember everything I taught… and live for the living…"
Ereon's heart raced with each step, a mix of anxiety and determination. He barely noticed that he was already approaching the top, wrapped in the mist and the silence of the mountain.
When he finally reached the peak, Ereon stopped, panting, absorbing the landscape. In front of him, sitting in a meditation position, was a boy with a band covering his eyes, motionless, as if in perfect communion with the wind and the mountain itself.
The boy with the band over his eyes slowly opened his arms, lifting his body from the rock where he was sitting. His voice, calm, but loaded with authority, cut the silence of the mountain:
"Now I can understand why the Alpha Unit supervisor was feared." He began walking toward Ereon, smiling enigmatically "His steps are too silent for untrained ears. That's why he is feared: capable of killing without making noise."
Ereon stopped, surprised. For the first time, Kael could sense his presence, even when he tried to move silently — something that had never happened before.
Kael took a few more steps, keeping the smile on his face, while the wind blew around them, lifting leaves and dust:
"I have a message for you from Edda. That day, on the mountain peak, she already knew what would come. She also knew that I would save someone in front of the orphanage gate. She said that, if it were you, I should convey these words to you… What came out of the Abyss… is not just you. Ask yourself: to what extent does your soul remain yours? How many fragments of other worlds do you carry inside yourself?"
Ereon frowned, feeling the weight of the silence, and answered with the voice failing:
"Kael… I… I don't really know… I just remember being in darkness… of a voice that spoke without stopping… and… the last thing they told me was that I should return… After that, I don't know…" His words sounded vague, fragmented, full of confusion.
The wind intensified, swirling leaves and dust around the mountain, shaking Kael's band and Ereon's clothes. The landscape stretched into mist-covered valleys, and the absolute silence only reinforced the tension.
Kael stopped a few meters from Ereon, keeping the enigmatic smile, the posture firm:
"I saw many paths bringing us to this point…" he said, the wind shaking his band and the leaves around. "Every decision, every step shaped us to this moment."
The wind howled around, lifting loose stones, and the mountain seemed alive, testing every breath, every step of Ereon. He knew that this answer would define not only his destiny but also the weight of what had happened in the Abyss.
"So the question is: who came out of the Abyss? Who are you really?" — Depending on your next answer… I will kill you here.
Ereon swallowed hard, feeling the cold mountain wind pass through his clothes. His heart beat fast, and the memory of the Abyss mixed with the reality around. For a moment, he could not think of anything except Kael's question, which seemed to echo in every corner of the mountain:
"Who are you really?"
His fists clenched, the vague memories trying to surface — indistinct faces, voices he couldn't recognize, shadows that seemed to speak. But nothing was clear.
"I…" he began hesitating, "I don't know…"
Kael kept the smile, watching every movement. The silence weighed like stone, and the wind blew even stronger, lifting dust and leaves around. Ereon felt he needed to act, but didn't know if his answer could save him or condemn him.
Then, without thinking, he took a step forward, trying to look Kael directly, even though confusion still dominated his thoughts.