The fires of Solmere still burned in the distance, faint embers glowing against the black canopy of night. The smoke carried the weight of screams that had long since died, the chaos leaving behind only silence. The wind carried ash and the scent of iron, twisting through the forest where three figures now stumbled, battered and breathless.
Kaelira pushed through the undergrowth first, her steps sharp and unrelenting. Edward followed behind her, dragging his blade against the ground as if each step cost him strength. Eris was the last, silent as ever, her assassin's attire blending into the shadows of the trees. The only sound among them was the crunch of leaves underfoot and the occasional snap of a branch. None spoke—not yet.
They had escaped the city, but something was missing.
Someone.
Alan.
The silence stretched until Edward could no longer bear it.
"Damn it…" he muttered, breath steaming in the cold air. "We lost him again…"
Kaelira spun on him, eyes blazing, her voice rising like a whip.
"We didn't just lose him, Edward. We dragged ourselves into this - into that, and now he's gone!"
Her anger cracked through the quiet like lightning. Edward froze mid-step, startled not by her words but by the sharpness in her tone. Kaelira rarely raised her voice, but when she did, it cut deeper than any blade.
Eris, calm as always, raised her hands.
"Easy. Yelling at each other isn't going to bring him back."
Kaelira's fists clenched, trembling, her nails digging into her palms.
"You don't understand! We finally found him, after all this searching… and now…" Her voice broke, the steel melting into something far more fragile. "…Now we lost him again."
Edward wanted to speak, but the fury in her eyes warned him to hold his tongue. Kaelira's chest rose and fell quickly, her breath uneven, as though she were fighting a storm inside herself.
"I need… I need a moment."
She didn't wait for a reply. She turned sharply, breaking away from the group, and disappeared down the slope of the hill toward the faint shimmer of water below.
The river glowed faintly in the moonlight, its surface smooth as glass. Kaelira knelt at its edge, the icy water reflecting her pale face, her dark hair draped over her shoulders like a curtain. She stared at her reflection, and for the first time since the battle, her strength faltered.
"It's all my fault," she whispered, voice trembling. "I'm sorry… Alan…"
The words cracked as they left her lips. Tears fell, striking the water in ripples that shattered her reflection. She bit her lip hard, trying to hold them back, but the dam had already broken. The weight of leadership, the burden of protecting Edward and Eris, the endless chase for Alan—it all came crashing down.
Her shoulders shook, her breath hitched, and in that quiet place beneath the moonlight, Kaelira allowed herself to break.
"You trusted me…" she whispered, her voice cracking, "and I failed you."
"Kaelira."
The voice was soft, familiar. She turned slightly and found Edward standing a few steps behind her, leaning against a tree. His usual grin was gone, replaced by a gentleness she rarely saw from him.
He walked closer, slow and careful, as though approaching a wounded bird. Then he knelt beside her, the dirt smearing his clothes, not caring in the slightest.
"You know…" Edward began, his voice unsteady but warm, "When my mother was alive, she used to tell me something. That even when we think it's our fault… sometimes fate decides for us. Sometimes things are out of our hands. She'd always say You can't carry the whole world alone. No one can."
Kaelira didn't answer. Her hands gripped her knees, knuckles white, tears still sliding down her face.
Edward leaned closer, his voice lowering.
"Alan left because he has his reasons. He didn't abandon us—he didn't abandon you. You're our leader, Kaelira. If you break… we all break. And I won't let that happen. Not to you."
Her eyes flicked toward him, shimmering with the remnants of tears. Edward met her gaze, steady, for once without jokes or half-hearted grins.
"You're not alone. You have me. You have Eris. We're not just allies—we're friends. More than family. And I promise you, no matter what it takes, we'll bring him back. Together."
The silence that followed was heavy, but not suffocating. Kaelira blinked, her tears slowing, her chest finally loosening with a shaky exhale.
"You…" she whispered, her lips trembling into something almost like a smile. "…You always know what to say, don't you?"
Edward gave her the smallest of grins, though it was tinged with sadness.
"Not always. Just when it counts."
She let out a shaky laugh through her tears, a sound fragile but real.
At that moment, Eris approached quietly, her arms crossed.
"Are we done with the melodrama?" she asked dryly, though her tone was softer than usual. "Because if I cry too, none of us will survive the embarrassment."
Kaelira rolled her eyes, wiping her face with the back of her hand. Edward chuckled, shaking his head.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry. We're good now."
Eris smirked, settling beside them. "Good. Because someone has to keep this group from falling apart. And we all know it won't be Edward."
"Hey!" Edward protested.
For the first time since Solmere, Kaelira laughed fully, the weight on her shoulders easing ever so slightly.
The forest was quiet in the morning. Dew clung to the leaves, the faint light of dawn creeping through the branches. The three sat around the remnants of a fire, planning their next move.
"So," Eris asked, tilting her head, "before we march into another disaster… how exactly did you two end up in Louis' hands?"
Kaelira and Edward exchanged glances. Edward scratched the back of his head, grinning sheepishly.
"Well… It's a short story."
Eris arched a brow. "Try me."
Edward leaned back, waving his hands dramatically.
"So, we were in the Silver Leaf kingdom, right? Searching for Alan. And, well… I might have accidentally picked a fight. With… um… a prince."
Eris blinked. "A prince? Are you insane?"
Kaelira sighed, folding her arms. "And I, foolishly, tried to save him. That's when the soldiers caught us. And then unexpectedly Louis appeared."
Eris whistled low. "Of course. Leave it to you two to pick a fight with royalty."
Edward shrugged, smiling despite himself. "What can I say? Trouble finds me."
Eris smirked. "Or maybe you just dive headfirst into it."
They shared a laugh, though Kaelira's expression soon turned serious. She looked down at the dirt, her voice low.
"We have to move. The Beast King's forces won't stop. And Louis… he wasn't acting alone."
Edward frowned. "You think he was connected to—"
"Yes." Kaelira cut him off. "The Beast King."
Silence fell again. They all knew what that meant. Time was slipping through their fingers.
"…And we still have to find him," Kaelira whispered, almost to herself. Her eyes softened, her voice barely audible. "Alan…"
Far from them, deeper into the frost-bitten lands beyond Solmere, Alan walked alone.
He knelt by a waterfall, washing the blood and grime from his face. The icy water numbed his skin, but it did nothing to still the storm inside his chest. He closed his eyes, breathing slowly, letting the sound of the rushing water steady him. For a moment, he could almost believe he was at peace.
Then came the vision.
A child's cry pierced his mind. Smoke and fire consumed a village. The lifeless body of a woman in a white dress sprawled on the ground, blood pooling endlessly around her. The heat, the screams, the despair—he saw it all, felt it all.
And then, a voice.
"Alan West. Survive."
His eyes shot open, gasping, his chest heaving. Water dripped from his chin as he leaned on the rocks, trembling.
He sat back, pulling his cloak around his shoulders. His black coat clung to him like a second skin, heavy and cold. He tightened the straps of his boots, adjusted his blade at his side.
"I don't know why I'm still standing here… in a world that doesn't want me, without anyone by my side. Every step feels heavier, every night colder. Maybe I should have stayed, maybe I should've trusted them… but if I break now, then all of this pain means nothing. I can't go back, I can't stop… even if my body shatters, even if no one comes for me… I have to keep moving. My will… is all I have left."
He pulled the hood low over his face.
"Whatever this is," he muttered, "whatever fate wants from me… I'll face it."
A sound tore through the air then—an inhuman scream, raw and jagged, echoing through the forest. Birds scattered into the sky, the ground itself trembling under the force of the noise.
Alan rose slowly, pulling his blade free. His shadow shifted unnaturally beneath him, rising like smoke, ready to strike.
From the darkness ahead, a creature emerged—grotesque, hollow, its eyes burning with hunger. It stepped into the moonlight, like a nightmare made flesh.
Alan's grip tightened. His jaw clenched, his voice low but steady.
"Even if my body shatters, my will won't."
The shadow rose higher, swirling around him like a storm.
"Shadows bend. Light breaks. But I endure."
He stepped forward, blade gleaming, eyes sharp with unyielding fire.
And in the silence before the battle, his resolve echoed louder than the monster's scream.
The creature lunged, claws raking through the air. Alan met it head-on, steel clashing against bone, shadow and fang entwined in the chaos. Each strike sent sparks into the night, the forest trembling with their fury.
Alan's breath burned, his muscles screamed, but his voice cut through the storm.
"This… all of this—" he pushed back against the beast, shadows exploding outward, "started that day."
The memory of his first step into Arathen flared in his chest, the scar on his hand throbbing like fire. With a final roar, blade and shadow struck as one, driving into the monster's core.
The world fell silent.
And Alan stood there, unbroken, the weight of his beginning echoing in the night.