The hall no longer resembled the seat of the Guild.
Smoke choked the air, torches sputtered, and shattered stone lay scattered across the blackened floor. The banners of broken chains—symbols that had once loomed over every hunter—hung in tatters, some aflame, others buried beneath rubble.
And in the midst of it all, silence.
Not peace, but the silence after thunder—the kind that followed ruin.
Hunters stood amid the wreckage, some bloodied, some clutching broken weapons, their beasts pacing restlessly. Their eyes turned not to the Overseers—most of whom lay dead, fled, or bound—but to Ethan.
He stood at the center, sword lowered, Shadowfang beside him, golden fire dim but steady. The marks on his skin pulsed faintly, a reminder of the storm they had just endured. His body screamed with exhaustion, but his stance was unbroken.
Lyra moved to his side, serpent coiling wearily around her arm, its flames guttering. She glanced at the survivors. "They're waiting," she said softly.
Ethan's throat felt raw. "For what?"
"For you."
---
The first to speak was a scarred hunter, his armor rent, his beast limping but alive. His voice was hoarse but certain.
"You broke the Oath."
Others murmured, eyes flicking between Ethan and the shattered dais where the Master had fallen.
Another hunter spat on the floor. "You've doomed us. Without the Oath, the Guild falls. Without the Guild, the Beasts of the Outer Wild will tear us apart."
A woman with crimson braids snarled. "Better to die free than kneel again."
Shouts rose—some of fury, others of agreement. The hall trembled not with chains this time, but with division.
Ethan raised his hand, and slowly, voices faltered. He spoke, each word cutting through the haze of smoke.
"The Guild was never strength. It was a cage. The chains didn't save us—they bound us. And if we keep living as slaves, then we're already dead."
He let the words hang. Hunters shifted uneasily, some lowering their heads, others staring at him with the kind of intensity reserved for prophets—or madmen.
Lyra stepped forward, her serpent's eyes glowing faintly. "He's right. You felt it, didn't you? When the Oath shattered. For the first time, your beasts didn't obey because they were forced. They fought because they chose."
That struck deeper than any blade. A murmur spread through the survivors, uncertain but undeniable.
---
But not all were swayed.
A voice rang out from the shadows of the broken hall. "And what of those who chose betrayal?"
The figure stepped forward—one of the hunters who had turned against Ethan mid-battle, chains wrapped still around his arms. His beast limped behind him, half-burned by Shadowfang's fire, but its eyes glowed with the sickly light of the Master's will.
"You talk of freedom," he sneered, "but freedom means nothing when the enemy devours you. At least the Oath gave us unity. Without it, you're just a man playing king."
A hush fell. Hunters watched, torn between fury and doubt.
Ethan stepped toward him, eyes sharp as his blade. "Unity bought with chains is not unity. It's slavery."
The man laughed bitterly. "And you think they'll follow you instead? You're not savior, Vale. You're a fracture. You've split the Guild down the middle. And when the Beasts come, you'll see how useless your 'freedom' is."
He spat the word like venom.
Before Ethan could respond, Lyra's serpent hissed, flames licking her shoulders. "Careful. You already showed where your loyalty lies."
The hunter sneered, but said nothing more, retreating into the shadows. His beast growled low, eyes never leaving Ethan.
---
The tension lingered long into the night.
Hunters gathered in fractured groups, some tending wounds, others whispering about what would come next. Some looked at Ethan with respect, others with hatred. The Overseers' bodies smoldered on the dais, but of the Master himself, no trace remained. Whether dead or retreated, no one knew.
Ethan leaned against a shattered pillar, Shadowfang at his side. Lyra approached, her face drawn, exhaustion evident but resolve unbroken.
"They're right about one thing," she said. "The Outer Wild won't wait. The Beasts will smell weakness. Without the Guild's structure, without its command…" She trailed off.
"They'll descend on us," Ethan finished. He exhaled, heavy as stone. "Which means we have to be ready before they do."
Her gaze lingered on him. "Ready… or united? Because right now, I don't know which is harder."
Ethan didn't answer. His mind churned with the faces he had seen—hunters breaking their chains, eyes alight with newfound freedom. Hunters who spat his name like a curse. Hunters who watched him not as one of them, but as something else entirely.
A symbol.
And symbols could not rest.
---
Later, when the hall had quieted, a young hunter approached him. Barely more than a boy, armor cracked, his beast—a hawk with ragged wings—perched shakily on his shoulder.
He bowed, not as one bound, but as one who chose.
"You stood when none of us could. You gave me back my will. If you lead us, I'll follow."
Ethan's chest tightened. He wanted to tell the boy he wasn't a leader, that he was just a man who refused to kneel. But the words withered on his tongue. The boy's eyes were steady, burning with something Ethan hadn't seen in years. Hope.
Shadowfang rumbled low, pressing against Ethan's side, as if urging him to accept the weight offered.
At last, Ethan spoke, his voice quiet but firm.
"Then we fight. Not for chains. Not for the Guild. But for ourselves. For freedom."
The boy's hawk screeched, wings flaring, as though sealing the vow.
---
When dawn came, the shattered hall of the Guild stood as a tomb to the old order. The Overseers were gone, the banners ashes. What remained was a gathering of hunters, divided but breathing, each staring into a future none had imagined possible.
Some would leave, unwilling to risk freedom's uncertainty. Others would stay, blades sharpened, ready to follow Ethan into whatever storm awaited.
And above them all, unseen, the chains still trembled.
For though Ethan had broken the Oath, the Master's voice lingered like a wound that had not healed.
And somewhere beyond the ruined walls, the Outer Wild stirred.
The true war had yet to begin.
---
Chapter End.
---