While Brianna confronted Typhon, Ereon was being conducted through the corridors of the castle by the captain of the guard of the marquisate. The sound of boots against the marble echoed like war drums. Around, muffled voices denounced restless nobles, and the metal of the guards' armors tinkled lightly, but each spark of sound carried the rigidity of bodies ready to react at any instant.
Even without depending on vision, Ereon felt the weight of the tension. The air seemed denser, carried by a suffocating expectation that infiltrated into each breath.
The captain guided him to a wide carved wooden door. He stopped before it, adjusted his posture and, turning to the young man, spoke with a firm and solemn voice:
"Wait here. I will announce your arrival immediately."
The words were formal, but carried the urgency of the moment — as if each second lost could cost dearly.
Karna leaned back in the chair, the smile always present, but the eyes attentive, evaluating the boy in front of him. His fingers drummed on the arm of the chair before he leaned to the side, the curious gaze landing on the female figure beside Ereon.
"Hm…" he murmured, raising an eyebrow with an air of malice. "And who is this? Are you going to tell me that, in all this time gone, you've been collecting secrets… and people?"
He laughed low, shaking his head, as if he already knew Ereon would not give a direct answer.
"You always were too quiet. But I confess I am curious… where the hell have you been these last months?" he asked, with a light voice, almost mocking, although the curiosity was real.
Karna leaned forward, the elbow on the knee and the chin in the hand, like someone waiting for a good story.
"Don't come at me with that same dark silence as always. After everything, I think I deserve at least an explanation."
Karna's smile remained firm while he waited for the answer, but Ereon did not hurry. His gaze remained fixed on the ground for some seconds, as if he sought the right way to say it. The silence between them became almost uncomfortable, until finally he raised his eyes, the shadow of something deeper reflected in his countenance.
"I am not the Ereon you knew," he said at last, the voice low, but firm.
Karna blinked, surprised, the smile faltering for the first time.
Ereon continued, without giving him time for a joke:
"The agreement was fulfilled… and, when that happened, the true Ereon was gone. What remains before you is only… the continuation of what he left behind."
The weight of the words hovered in the air like a suspended blade. Karna, who always had a ready response at the tip of his tongue, was silent for an instant. The playful brightness in his eyes gave place to something more serious, even if he tried to disguise it.
"Hah…" he let out a short laugh, almost nervous, scratching the nape. "So you tell me this as if it were the most natural thing in the world? You disappear for months, return with a stranger at your side and still throw this at me?"
He leaned back in the chair again, but there was less lightness in his expression now.
"Are you asking me to accept that the friend I knew… no longer exists?"
Ereon kept his eyes fixed on Karna, the expression firm, as if he were determined not to retreat before his reaction.
"I possess all the memories," he said, paused, each word like a weight placed upon the table. "I remember absolutely everything that happened. Each choice. Each fight. Each loss. The Ereon that you knew is gone… but everything that he lived is still here."
He touched lightly his chest, almost as if he wanted to prove to himself as much as to Karna.
Karna clenched his fists. The mocking smile that normally accompanied him had disappeared, replaced by a contained fury. He stood up suddenly, the chair dragging on the stone floor with a harsh sound.
"You speak this as if it were simple!" his voice echoed through the room, charged with emotion. "Even if you didn't speak much, after the destruction of the orphanage… you, Kael and Telvaris were all that was left. The whole family that remained!"
He took a step forward, the gaze nailed into Ereon, the tone harsher than usual.
"And now? Telvaris vanished. Ereon… is dead." Karna breathed deeply, trying to contain the anger, but his voice still came out cutting. "Do you want me to accept this as if it were nothing?"
For an instant, the silence hovered between them, dense and suffocating, only the sound of Karna's heavy breathing filling the space.
The silence still hovered between Karna and Ereon when the door opened unceremoniously. Brianna entered, the steps firm and the icy gaze, as if she carried on her shoulders the weight of decisions greater than anyone there.
"Karna… your voice can be heard throughout the whole castle," she said, dry, crossing the room.
Karna turned to her, the eyes red from anger and emotion, the voice trembling as he tried to respond:
"The Ere…"
But before he finished, Brianna interrupted him, firm:
"I already knew. As did Kael."
Her eyes passed through Karna and landed on Ereon, the coldness giving way for an instant to a glimpse of sorrow.
"I am sorry… but the truth is that we were waiting for him, Karna. He is the only one who can walk between our world and the Abyss."
The words weighed in the air like a decree. Ereon hesitated, the body rigid, the breath failing for an instant upon hearing that.
Karna, taken by fury, exploded:
"Don't tell me you already knew about this!" he shouted, the voice tearing the room.
Brianna remained firm, the gaze fixed on him.
"The first time I saw the mark, it took time, but I managed to understand," she responded, without averting her eyes.
Karna laughed, a harsh sound, almost bitter, the shoulders trembling.
"So that's all he was to you?" he shot, the voice charged with accusation. "A mark?"
The snap of Brianna's voice broke the air like a whip.
"Karna, don't act like a child!" she thundered, taking a step forward, the eyes sparkling with fury. "Do you think we have time for this? The king sent a prince to be killed, only to create a justification and eliminate us! To use our lives as sacrifice!"
She stopped before him, each word hammering like burning iron:
"Each second lost here, thousands of troops approach to crush us. Understand, Karna: we are in an era where the weak die. And this was an agreement made long before you or I knew him. So swallow the crying and accept… or, unfortunately, here there will be no place for you."
The silence that followed was heavier than the scream itself. Even the distant sound of footsteps through the corridors of the castle seemed small before those words.
Karna stood up suddenly, the eyes still tearful with fury, and left the room slamming the door with violence. The crash reverberated through the walls, leaving behind only silence.
Brianna remained motionless, standing, as if Karna's explosion had not struck her. She turned to Ereon and spoke, the voice firm and without detours:
"Unfortunately, the person you seek is not here. He is currently in the Northern Barony."
Ereon nodded, the expression serious.
"I understand. Then I will go to the Barony."
Brianna stared at him with intensity, the gaze piercing him like a blade.
"Do you know what that means?" she asked, pausing so that each word took effect. "If you go, you will have to be part of the war that approaches. And, after that, there will be no return."
Ereon frowned, the gaze firm, breathing deeply before responding.
"I know." he said, the voice calm, but charged with resolution. "I cannot remain still. If he is in the Northern Barony, I will go. No matter what awaits me."
He adjusted his posture, rising with decision. At the side of the girl, he walked toward the door, each step marked by the silent determination that defined him.
Brianna remained watching, the eyes evaluating him with the same intensity she had used to warn him, but without words, as if she were testing if he truly understood the weight of the choice.
"I understand. I called someone who will take you," said Brianna, the voice firm, without space for questioning.
Ereon breathed deeply, pushed the door and, before him, was Kaelir.
The twelve-year-old boy wore noble clothes adapted for mobility, with dark and messy hair and heterochromatic eyes, one deep blue and the other golden.
"Are you ready?" asked Kaelir, the voice short, practical, but charged with responsibility.
Without waiting for an answer, Kaelir opened a fissure in the air before them, revealing some paths that snaked in the penumbra. Médea passed ahead, followed by Kaelir, advancing with firm and precise steps.
Brianna remained behind, the eyes fixed on the fissure. She turned to Ereon, the voice low and pondered:
"Can we trust this girl?"
Ereon cast a brief smile at her, silent and confident, before crossing the fissure. As soon as he disappeared, the portal closed before Brianna, leaving only the echo of the decision and the penumbra of the room.
Time passed quickly, but heavy. Some hours dragged as Brianna prepared, adjusting her belongings and war garment. Each movement was precise, each gesture thought to face what was to come.
When finally she headed to the chief's room, silence dominated the space, interrupted only by the contained whispers between Phoebe and Haron.
"It has already been some time since Viscountess Thorne departed with the prince," commented Phoebe, the voice low. "We have no news since then."
Haron frowned, observing the door, attentive to any sign of change.
The firm knock on the door broke the silence. A guard entered and announced:
"Viscountess Thorne."
The door opened, and Brianna entered, dressed for war: dark clothes adapted for mobility, light armor and only two daggers attached to the belts, showing that her power came from other means. Each step was firm, but the presence transmitted calm and authority.
Upon arriving before them, Brianna kneeled, a discreet reverence, and referred to Phoebe and Haron with formality:
"Marchioness, Marquis."
Phoebe and Haron raised their eyes, perceiving that she was ready to act as one of the new pillars of the Marquisate, firm and decided before the storm that approached.