Lightning ripped through the clearing, jagged and raw. The earth trembled beneath their feet—an echo between moments, where past and present bled together.
From that seam, he stepped forward.
His cloak shimmered like the night sky—deep indigo, embroidered with stars and moons that whispered forgotten secrets.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5dyidf2w5F
A tall staff pulsed in his grasp, veins of soft light crawling along it—alive with thoughts too ancient, too vast to name.
Heat radiated from him, drawing the fire closer, bending the flames like a living thing.
Timmy’s blade sang in response—instinct, not choice.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡalsEY8KPOe
Flames kissed the steel’s edge, licking hunger and wrath.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPXapRHZKhX
In his eyes, grief had fossilized into fury—cold, sharp, unyielding.
The camp shifted.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAV1vp6acb6
Dwarves closed ranks around him, silent and unshaken.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu290iUkxYp
Elron held his hammer low, unmoving, letting patience speak louder than steel.
Timmy stood resolute, sword raised, breath flaring like a caged wild thing.
When the hood fell back—26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo0LvZ1UIQ6
Eyes, stormlit and unyielding, locked onto him.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmk1dk9kgeY
The voice followed, sharp and accusing:
“It’s his fault you lost your brother. He must pay.”
Rage uncoiled in Timmy’s chest, a living thing twisting and snapping to be free.
“You,” he breathed—low, deadly.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgQ3s0owsGi
The word struck the dirt like a gauntlet.
Fingers tightened on the hilt.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsAw96UXsrq
Every muscle taut.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2L95bXHhoD
Torn between lunging for the kill and begging for answers. Between rage… and hope.
The blade felt lighter in his grip.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡegh4Fmx3Ny
Or maybe he did.
The magician always came like this—riddles wrapped in consequences.
He stepped forward, unhurried. Unarmed.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjzKGrZkN23
“We need to talk.”
Elron’s brow lifted. The tension in the camp thinned—just slightly.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9kmIwE4HBu
“Always the dramatics,” he muttered under his beard. “Next time, knock.”
The man’s face was carved in stone—unyielding and impossible to read.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3UmNW52yqS
“I gave warning.”
Elron’s chuckle rumbled low, a sound that might have been warmth if not for the weight behind it.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHCgkalxMXO
“Aye. Wise of you. I like my thunder scheduled.”
*
All eyes turned.
The figure at the center of the descending trio moved like gravity wrapped in silk—26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhNLVIFhmsj
Not striding, but bending the world around him.
Each step landed without sound, yet carried a weight that pulled attention like metal to a lodestone.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5wKHkoUMWa
Not just presence. Displacement.
He wore soft leather shoes.
Leather.
On this planet, a crown.
Soldiers marched in stiff wooden clogs; workers like Spud went barefoot or wrapped feet in scraps.
But this man walked as if the ground dared not scuff him.
Even the swamp reacted.
Birdsong died mid-note.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡosaZgl9B2S
The wind hushed.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwR2IZjCGY1
Tiama trees stilled their restless creak.
Micah stepped down the slope like a descending verdict.
Haniel and Abaddon stiffened. Recognition struck like frostbite.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgJMbKIbt5D
Hatred melted—not into respect, but fear.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeLwFo1yTiH
Their posture crumbled. They bowed.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡStLGagy4Mc
Not out of loyalty.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLkTiXDeoLq
Out of terror.
Micah stood untouched by the chaos he interrupted.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7wKAiwUFLp
Not a drop of mud dared stain his hem. Not a single insect hovered near.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz6vcZa1BT2
He wasn’t part of this world—he corrected it.
His gaze swept the scene—not judging guilt, not scanning disobedience—26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMaBAzHL4Tp
but dissecting pattern, identifying flaw, solving for control.
Even the Witlonian folds across the bridge of his nose—so pronounced on most of their kind—were less defined on him.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrGWQucnNYk
Smoother. Sleeker. Deliberate.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUEUtDd9iTh
As if nature had refined him past its own design.
He was taller than most—just enough to unsettle, to make others recalibrate their stance around him.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJLd4UJvHj8
And he stood proud, like posture itself was a weapon.
“Get him up,” he said.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdTyhzOiA1G
No fury. Just precision.
Power that doesn’t perform. It only acts.
His escorts moved like clockwork: one lean and scarred, scalp gleaming with old wounds; the other massive and silent, a wall of muscle. They approached the fallen tree like tacticians.
With practiced efficiency, they lifted it.
The Tiama slammed into the swamp with a guttural roar. Rot split open. Decay splattered. Filth erupted—26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKnngDifZ5y
—and through it—
A breath.
Alexi clung to Spud, chest jerking, air rattling in. No words. Just breath—each one a toll Spud had paid.
As the weight lifted, Spud trembled. Bruised. Barely conscious.
He looked up—26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx2ByWnOY7a
And saw the noble. Still. Gleaming. Dangerous. Not just powerful. Surgical.
Was this rescue?26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq8iSfs7Eme
Or repositioning?26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb3dxBDfT1Z
Pieces moved on a board he couldn’t see?
Hope flickered. But so did unease. This wasn’t salvation. It was a transaction.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXn15kt9ayV
The debt secured not by kindness—but cold distance.
The noble—now unmistakably Micah, Son of the House—stood unmoved, his gaze sweeping like steel over stone.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGQW2ftC1cO
“Assist him to his dwelling,” he ordered.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9bzpFPk1M1
No emotion. Just gravity.
Two guards stepped in. They lifted Alexi gently, but with practiced control. His feet barely grazed the stairs.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡptI5tmlxxM
Alexi looked back—gratitude lighting his face like breath returning.
Spud managed a faint smile. A moment of mercy—rare. Too rare.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCGWsXFrFW1
But trailing behind it were questions.
Micah turned. His eyes locked on Haniel and Abaddon.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaJ47vU2rzK
“Use force if you must,” he said. “But torture ends now.”
It wasn’t a request. It was a rewrite.
Haniel flinched.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz59QfemmyD
Abaddon bowed—grudging, brittle.
Their names meant nothing to Micah’s tone.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfJRHuqzXkW
But to Spud, they shattered the illusion.
This wasn’t a savior.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdmqXvc3VBP
This was a tactician in robes. Polished. Removed.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtTYoBPILI7
He didn’t belong to the swamp—he redefined it.
*
The silence that followed loosened the air—not into safety, but something less brittle.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiLlPBpxjTq
The bracing for blood eased, though it never truly left.
Steel lowered.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcC2VZBVdC6
Timmy’s did not.
Inside him, recognition and resentment collided—two storms fighting for the same sky.
“I could’ve come quickly and quietly,” the magician said, his voice now gentler, almost kind.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQuJmCeZqgN
“But I trust you can end me just as quickly.”
That near-kindness scraped something raw in Timmy.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZAgD6gvFfU
His fury rose sharp and immediate, like a match struck in darkness.
And then he felt it—heat blooming across his shoulders.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNMtWeUCBNv
Not from a spell. Not from the sun. Something older.
Recognition.
The armor remembered this voice.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFwpkEzmZ8P
Not the boy wearing it. Not the battles he had fought.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsuMWLmYqW2
But something older than him, older than the war.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0fmEoSwh3C
A memory that wasn’t his, burning into him all the same.
The firelight caught on his blade as he surged forward, the steel alive with his anger.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡudAD5Dg06R
“Who says I won’t?” he growled, each word laced with venom, sharp enough to cut.
Elron moved in—not to block, not to restrain, but to anchor.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo6omhGa35U
“Timmy. Stand down.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡol1iGjQLpb
Not a plea.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡILnpNOQH6C
Not a command.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdWGd23RjYT
Just stone—immovable and sure.
Timmy’s breath hissed between clenched teeth—lava sealed inside steel.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSp0m0bd9EF
His grip stayed tight, but his stance faltered.
Elron saw it.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1CdRbbLTH0
The flicker of choice.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJSOeU0o5N2
The ache beneath the blade.
Then the cloaked man moved.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdsVgd4aBN5
Quick. Smooth.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0cv2RWEeY9
He raised one hand—no touch, just a hover near Timmy’s brow. A shimmer bloomed, soft and lightless.
The word he spoke was calm, unimposing:26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi362kzxdxS
“Enough.”
The shimmer brushed Timmy’s skin—cool as mist, sharp as grief.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Qz04dXVs4
It carried no heat, no weight. Only memory.
Stillness followed, like a spell unspoken.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXUEzybRFsL
Time slowed.
Timmy froze—not bound, just… balanced.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8mhcnkkcIA
Anger melted like mist at dawn.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoOAZH2fquQ
The fire felt distant. The night clearer.
The glow faded.
*
Spud watched, breathing shallow.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLOLShBfagr
Inside the mercy was a map—and Micah held it close.
At a subtle nod, the overseers bent low.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUyJmJtaZqr
Not in reverence, but in the brittle fear of men who’d read the wind too late.
“Explain yourselves,” Micah said.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPj8tfkPP99
No venom. Just command.
Abaddon spoke first. His breath caught mid-sentence.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcw9Gl02KHW
“My lord, the barbarians—willful defiance, even after correction—”
Micah didn’t blink.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj2GZN7gd3l
Didn’t move.
That stillness—colder than the swamp fog—unraveled Abaddon faster than rage ever could.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdspRWFS754
He faltered. Words dried to dust.
Haniel stepped in, trying to cauterize the silence.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoCvXGMmYiW
“We acted from duty, my lord,” he said, voice tight. “To maintain order.”
But silence tells its own truth.
Cornered, Abaddon sought cover.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsbYaDcwQPX
At first, just sidelong glances at Haniel. Then—26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEkUVrYIoQw
“I followed protocol,” he said too quickly. “The excessive punishment was his.”
Haniel twitched. Barely.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWRg49ilyWS
A tic at the mouth. A jump in the jaw.
His sneer returned—but thinner now. Fractured.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtrMUUBsYX7
Was it fear behind his eyes? Or hatred?26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrw4B6n2okr
Either way, the venom still clung to every word.
Spud, bruised and breathless, watched it unfold.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ktK0myBTL
But his focus was Micah. Always Micah.
Micah tilted his head slightly.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4CKQhVD0HJ
“Do either of you own these men?”
The silence answered for them.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFATIxz6zb3
Abaddon coughed. “No, my lord.”
Micah’s tone didn’t change.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkWLP7sOxjQ
“Then if they perish by your hands, are you not stealing from those who do?”
Abaddon paled.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7L2wEdRZsJ
Haniel’s jaw locked tight, the muscle twitching along his cheek.
Micah said no more. He turned.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRJCqTQkVGQ
And in that turning—dismissed them.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRXErYd3PZd
They became nothing more than background noise.
He stepped toward Spud, who knelt in muck and blood, shoulders trembling—but still upright.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbbfQoRo2Jp
Micah stopped before him.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo3YmtAK4X4
His gaze fell—not with pity, not with pride.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUrAUEab6kl
Just clarity. As though weighing something only he could see.
“Is what I heard this slave say true?”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ8QZhiOhW7
The words landed like a stone dropped into still water.
Spud blinked, stunned. The question alone was a shock.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7HgPJpMuo8
The protection—more so.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3jwSE3hKN8
It felt like warmth after endless cold.
Behind him, Haniel shifted. His posture faltered, mask cracking.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYc0nyaDpHf
“What part, my lord?” he asked, voice thin, eyes low.
Micah didn’t raise his voice.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfpcYykOtZ5
He didn’t need to.
“The tree.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsc6hx1xcbM
A pause. Measured. Deadly.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcRjGBng2q4
“Did you know it was rotten? Did you order it cut anyway?”
No movement. No emotion. Just inquiry—a scalpel sliding between joints.
Haniel opened his mouth.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvBaT8dwUEB
Nothing came. Not even breath.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwgVUxeaumd
His lips worked around a response as if the shape of truth had abandoned him.
“The slaves…” he managed, voice thin as cobwebs.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdbBwFZ0bfc
“They lie. Say such things to avoid work—”
But the performance cracked.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIVTUoneRys
The confidence—always so polished, so razor-sharp—began to fold.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmzsZFqSb1V
Once a blade, his tone now trembled like a weapon turned inward.
He couldn’t meet Micah’s eyes.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHar0fFvaWK
He shifted, as if shrinking might spare him.
Even Abaddon flinched—not from sympathy, but instinct.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxQ2nS3IWCv
Like watching a dam strain under weight it was never built to bear.
Micah tilted his head slightly.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZqgXYNbnwA
Not disbelief. Not surprise.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhwR8RQ23Gg
More like... curiosity. A man listening to a clock ticking out of rhythm.
Micah sighed. Controlled. Precise.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsee0ODeO2T
Not anger—disappointment.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ16NwDYijVC
Somehow, that cut deeper.
Then he raised a hand.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuqaFTutn5i
Skin pale, untouched—except for one detail: a ring.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJeDemFpGX0
A loop of darkened vine, cracked and ancient.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZmZP7ffSzx
It looked alive. Watching.
He extended the hand toward Spud.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFj6fBeIPVk
“What’s your name, boy?”
Not cruel. But the word boy hit like a brand.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlX8kOLfBwp
A reminder of rank. Of order.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2haxa0KyXO
Of how small you were, if he wanted you to be.
Spud swallowed. His throat felt scraped raw—like every word cost blood.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh54OmYCNxU
“Spud, sir.”
He hesitated on sir, unsure if it was right.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4wNXavMzNq
Unsure if anything was.
Micah gave a single nod. Barely a movement.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡigHPhZQGZQ
“Come here.”
Spud stepped forward.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFqAkylilks
Each joint screamed. His ribs pulled tight with every breath.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtK6sMvngPB
He felt exposed, as if Micah’s gaze could peel him open layer by layer.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm1dZaFchB8
Dragged into a game without rules.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn4OOrtKsLb
Or worse—rules he hadn’t been told, on purpose.
Micah turned away from the crowd, down to the shattered stump—the one Spud had warned them about.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPQGAeLdlTW
He knelt. Effortless. Controlled.
“Tell me, Spud,” he said, voice low, exact,26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuA9nVNG4gn
“Do you believe anything here is salvageable?”
The question hung heavy in the thick air.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAtlrVkIcmV
It wasn’t about the tree.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI6lw9GdDUW
Not really.
Still—Spud straightened.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzqFk64VVJn
Spine locked, pain radiating with every breath.
“Yes, my lord,” he said.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaua4Wrr9t6
Bare. Honest.
He stepped toward the twisted roots, lifting a hand to show what remained—26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn7ebrFHtZl
—but Micah lifted a finger. A simple flick.
“Hold.”
Spud froze.
“I asked for your opinion. Not your labor.”
The words struck deeper than any lash.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVUN9PhmJy5
He sees the difference, Spud thought. And still draws the line.
He looked into Micah’s eyes, searching—26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLQOVLCT80g
For what? Mercy? Pride?26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3rRIHWumEW
No. Neither.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡypjvrhJ6Er
Only calculation.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQjVAJ2fRnt
A man weighing cost, not pain.
Spud spoke quietly. Each word placed with care.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvJYQJgJqOm
“No, my lord. The tree was rotten to the heart.”
Micah didn’t blink. Didn’t nod.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZgHupGsS0i
But his gaze lingered a breath too long.
Then—26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsj3o5IIHbV
“I agree.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyaCyrqEqla
Soft. Simple.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡphgk3D8fEA
But final.
Micah stood. His robes barely stirred as he rose.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcwat5pZuMJ
He turned to the overseers.
“Only Haniel thought your lives worth risking for rot.”
A smile touched his lips—brief, sharp.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrtrrPFHjBC
Not joy. Judgment.
Then his voice hardened.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbVipEfUCAD
“The three of you. Follow me.”
*
Timmy stepped back, staggered slightly.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfeF6bHOjXA
His breath hitched, then escaped—quiet, uneven.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCMvoVvq5Az
Suddenly, he was alone. As if the whisper had walked away.
He lowered his blade.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ71BrvKokYG
“What did you do?”
It wasn’t anger.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTnRJok7tiZ
Just a boy again, standing in smoke, reaching for something already gone.
The cloaked figure held his gaze.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7SZSj4j8tT
Elron watched, stunned, as something shifted behind Timmy’s eyes.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSOyKcjnetB
The pain remained—but the fog that had dulled him for years began to lift.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhHGoW3hrPK
The jagged fury cracked, breaking apart like brittle glass.
Timmy gasped.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcZqeY5nESA
The air around him felt different now. Sharper. Real.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq82aFhJa6I
As though he’d forgotten how to breathe without blood in his mouth.
And then—grief.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZWtEUreAJX
Not loud. Not flailing.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpijz22WGHF
But vast. Quiet. Ancient.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhjjx3hPSNJ
A tide rising beneath the rubble of rage.
“Just making sure I’m speaking to the right soul,” Emrys said.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3XXHb4GSMI
His voice carried no pressure. No push.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfsZLYeIW8k
Cool as moonlight.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQBgFdPHcuY
Steady as stone shaped by time.
His eyes—those fathomless depths—held the gravity of memory itself.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMerRaCgjNz
A tether passed between them.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZAvweyZ43O
Unseen. Unspoken. But undeniable.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC9QKyhjvIc
Wound.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcuNKGhk3PU
Purpose.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXcYnAhSEO8
Fate.
Timmy blinked.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ZOb1TQq05
Trembling fingers slid away from his sword hilt—26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOmKL7KTwZW
Only now noticing he’d been holding it.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlpZt372a4B
The blade hung loose at his side, forgotten. Like a nightmare slipping with the dawn.
The firelight flickered. Ash drifted downward like slow, gray snowfall.
Then his voice cracked—raw, human.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo843iFaZ0Z
“Spud?”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN0p2bNcCnB
His voice broke.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbX7ZHZ7eCY
“What happened to him?”
Emrys’s gaze dimmed.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQDRccTkLCt
“Captured. Over three months ago.”
The words hit Timmy like a blow between the ribs.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYk3tMF5mkx
He staggered—eyes widening, breath caught.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡenwnyhQgf5
The world narrowed to a tunnel.
Disbelief roared inside him, but beneath it—26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnkgywdz3wc
Resolve caught fire.
A vow, silent and unshakable, rose within:26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdUBs2CQLWr
I will find him. No matter the cost.
Tears welled, but Timmy blinked them back.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrWHjrJE3K2
Jaw set. Fingers tightened.
“Is he—”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwmHN5AtB2R
He faltered.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvnXVmP3DhZ
“Is he dead?”
The silence that followed wasn’t hesitation.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIg6Sqc3OeE
It was weight.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlVbzHmjOVk
A hush deeper than the swamp outside.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSEpnBMMEnR
Even the fire seemed to shrink from the question.
Timmy’s gaze swept the camp—26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxLD4KCLzzP
Elron’s stillness, Darwin’s looming silhouette at the edge of light, the worn tents caught in silence.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSer0eOZn4E
None of it anchored him.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ68FUQUbrB2
Only dread did.
It was everywhere.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrOLzBtI09X
Etched into every face.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwLV2kHBX5Z
Lingering in the air like an unspoken prophecy.
Then, at last, Emrys answered.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDwUia9NDeW
“After our last encounter, Spud and Prince Turon’s company reached the King. They were dispatched to the interworld gate. But the enemy found them.”
He paused—not for drama, but for clarity. Truth deserved breath.
“During the escape,” Emrys continued, each word deliberate,26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbsZmHz6P7N
“Spud was thrown from his mount. The enemy encircled him.”
Timmy began pacing—unthinking—26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡih7Cf0EBNQ
Each step heavy.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY2RYv8nVxr
Deliberate.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ESjF0BOyG
Echoing like lost heartbeats on hollow ground.
The words hit like snowfall on embers—quiet, but deadly.
A tether formed in Timmy’s mind, stretching backward.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡakPotrwsHK
Across mountains.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEoWhknNlLM
Rivers.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBj2JAM1i3e
Swamps.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDmu02zTfe8
To Spud—alone, surrounded, enduring.
He wasn’t dead.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrOZmKUEz0w
He couldn’t be.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEWA0fi8WQL
Not until Timmy saw it with his own eyes.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz8qHasYdxz
Not until he brought him home.
A cold fear surged—fast, rising like a flood inside Timmy’s chest.
*
Spud obeyed.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡegGKJvWcHC
Each step up the slick staircase burned.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5gGaQGKE6P
He bit back the groan rising in his throat, gaze fixed on the warped wood beneath his feet.
Behind him, Abaddon and Haniel followed—no longer proud.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBt0TOITwik
Their silence wasn’t submission.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQhpc4m959B
It was erosion.
Micah moved ahead—26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjeu0wulStd
Like a shadow that carried weight.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLUFvAicW49
Unhurried. Unreadable.
Spud couldn’t tell if he followed a savior…26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUUSWfWFza2
or a specter.
The courtyard loomed—wide and violently quiet.
Spud faltered. His knees buckled slightly, breath catching like a cracked branch.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHAwKQ8tCbz
But this wasn’t just a climb.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡenoYtrCv6f
It was a walk beneath verdicts.
Then they passed the fountain.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ75QjdWMVwi
And time folded.
A warrior stood frozen in stone, sword raised high—its tip piercing downward into a coiled serpent, fangs bared.
Lilies bloomed at the fountain’s edge where water spilled, defiant and delicate.
As the smaller, fiery red sun overtook its pale twin, the water turned crimson—cascading like blood across the carved basin.
The warrior, caught mid-battle, looked less noble now.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPCrAqJWFLh
More haunted.
Stone gods watched from their weathered perches, their faces bowed in judgment.
The basin’s water cradled the fading light, holding it like a dying memory.
And in that twilight hush, Spud remembered.
He saw Convota’s creek.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdoAdzOvh3a
Heard Timmy’s laugh—wild, daring.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSoBQaeYYby
Felt the phantom thrill of stick-duels beneath a sky too big for boys to ever fill.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb0Y9lBNO4j
Felt the wind of arms turned wings, chasing flight they could never catch.
Timmy’s grin flashed bright in his mind.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQlXmziLXCa
Mischievous. Unbreakable.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHzgyOgUlLo
A flame that refused to go out.
The cracked basin mirrored their childhood:26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7knXXnGWcK
a clumsy leap across shallow water, scraped knees, tangled laughter.
Spud’s vow flickered again.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU2mjvxZoZ8
I will not forget.
*
“Did he fall?” Timmy’s voice rasped.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5GkjnyQwzi
“Did they—?”
Emrys held his gaze.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfwL2z52ZbS
“He did not fall. But survival is not salvation. What happens now depends on whether you finish what he began—or let it unravel.”
The words felt like the last light in a growing dark.
Elron stepped forward, resting a heavy hand on Timmy’s shoulder.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ49VRYUadVY
The boy stood rooted, grief shifting into purpose.
“I’m going after him,” Timmy said, voice trembling, just shy of reckless.
“Aye,” Elron nodded.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNzL4BUmfJf
“But if we charge in like drunk goblins in a dark mine, we’ll bury more than boots.”
Emrys turned toward the night beyond the firelight.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI6DHh5GiOk
“If you seek truth, be at the hammer’s head by the third dawn.”
Elron scowled.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAoyC0RJ2j4
“More riddles? We don’t have time for poetry.”
Emrys offered no rebuttal.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkb9D4MPCaU
He remained a riddle himself—words coiled, meanings nested like wire.
Timmy’s desperation flared behind his silence, and Elron saw the danger in that heat.
“Who are you, really?” Elron asked, voice rough.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwEBLeLdy4p
“We’ve no name for you. No reason to trust.”
The man smiled—small, unsettling.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdGy702U4Mt
“Names fade. But you’ve worn mine in dreams.”
The fire crackled, shadows slipping across Emrys’s face like fragments of myth.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsVd1PLhyoG
Their first meeting had been brief. Wordless. A presence more than a person.
“You never told me,” Timmy said, voice low.
Emrys tilted his head.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvJKMN6eeIF
“I’ve had many names. But tonight, you may call me Emrys.”
The name rang strange—less like sound, more like something remembered by the bones.
He turned to Elron.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyVPUudW3hK
“Great king of dwarves, your gift waits to bloom. Heart. Courage. Belief. Two will fail without the third.”
*
His tunic clung to him—drenched in swamp rot and dried blood, heavy as regret.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoybJmofalF
Each breath was a wound.
Micah stood by the fountain—neither cruel nor kind.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgB2VHtpxH0
Just measuring.
His voice sliced the air like flint.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdlIlJgXbAZ
“The rising death toll cripples our output. Do you concur?”
Spud’s fingers brushed the cold stone.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGcYO2gVzJD
Timmy wasn’t gone.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAW6R4VP2dG
He burned behind Spud’s ribs, a steady, defiant warmth.
Fear flickered in Abaddon’s eyes.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUm6xEUPOay
“I’ve seen the decline,” he said cautiously, bowing.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4RHjdMMKvw
“But I fear we’ve missed the root. The grove is failing. Expansion is overdue—and my suggestions go unheeded.”
The air pulled taut.
Haniel stepped forward, voice thin and urgent.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡISuhmSd9Vk
“We need access to healthier trees, my lord. Supply is dwindling.”
The wood around them seemed to pulse—26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB6JJp8aVFN
Not just grain and sap, but something older.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTl39BnrmGL
Not forged by fire, but by time. Trial.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo5Np0ANLI0
Stronger than iron.
Spud swore he felt it—not with his senses, but with something more ancient.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs3HhRr1MRz
A rhythm between heartbeats.
He remembered what people on Midterra used to say about Witlonian steel.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Bite8uHyR
Now he wondered—had they ever truly realized?26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8LCFWxh68w
It was never metal at all.
Micah turned, calm and commanding.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡraJEZjjCDR
“From this moment, all reports come to me.”
His gaze scorched Haniel—no shouting needed.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ847T8JUu1v
“With war spreading and fewer men posted here, no one reads the warnings. That ends now. This camp holds priority.”
He glanced toward the distant treeline, toward the Tiama. Then back.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiLsOTstX4i
“This is the last true source of Tiama on this planet. If it fades, we’re left with sap. Not wood.”
Spud felt it—the shift, quiet as the air before a storm. Micah’s gaze lingered a heartbeat too long, like he was weighing more than just a name.
A memory pricked Spud’s mind: a story his mother once told of those who could see power in others the way a wolf smells blood.
Why is he looking at me like that?
The next question hit harder than a blow.
Micah stepped forward.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtbBBEyPIPv
“Spud, I believe you said your name is? What would you suggest to improve this farm?”
Spud blinked.
A faint smile touched Micah’s lips—not mockery, but measurement.
But Spud—aching, bruised—still straightened.
Something inside him surged:26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4wgOifxfBR
Memories of untreated wounds. Quiet deaths.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJuqHLm8eZS
Pain buried deep.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ70mUjrTPph
The ones who never screamed—because screaming never mattered.
His voice came low but steady.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKyBijq7T4T
“Basic medical care,” he said.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡesFHYL42FC
“Even clean water. A cloth. That alone would stop most deaths. People rot alive—because no one helps.”
The words spilled out.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPRZljFuc5x
Not planned.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlY7mXByCDg
Just true.
Micah turned to the overseers. His eyes were glass—sharp, clear, unrelenting.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynu2nHAF9s
“No nurse on site?”
Abaddon and Haniel exchanged looks.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcHYtq8dJv8
Shame stitched across their brows—then unraveled under Micah’s stare.
His voice dropped—soft, lethal.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI7JRE3nZFc
“You’re barely standing,” he said to Spud.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkAQjI8XFuB
“And yet you see what they’ve missed. This is unacceptable.”
Then, louder:26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlz61M5PrSQ
“Send for Lacard. He’ll assign a nurse—head of medical for the slave sector. I want daily reports.”
The guards bowed and slipped through the compound gate.
Spud watched them vanish.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAgU3XafS6j
And for the first time, he saw the threshold.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMR1kPuoH8o
Not just wood and metal—26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVTXWX8nF6k
But a dividing line.
Between in and out.
The gate had never looked like a prison before.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDen4icw0Ev
Now—it did.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAdeKfG4UwH
and then Add to home screen.