What the Dead Man Saw

Six days earlier

Lord Alrian of Evrel hated forests.

He had been raised among the high stones of the bastides, surrounded by curtains of Aether, polished glass, and perfumed servants. Raw wood, damp soil, the scent of moss — all of it belonged to a world he found filthy.

And yet, that day, he had insisted on going alone.

No guards. No trail.
He wanted to confirm something himself.

He hadn’t gone three leagues before realizing he was being followed.

But not by a man.

By a silence too precise.

A tension in the air. An echo of arcane energy.

He knew how to read the unseen. He had been Master of the Seal of Knowledge, after all.

He raised a hand to trace a defensive rune — but pain struck first.

Not a blade.

Not an arrow.

A vibration — twisted, dark.
A forbidden spell, woven in black Aether.

He dropped to his knees.
And in the shadows, he saw a figure approach...

Not the attacker. Someone else.

A young man. A commoner, no insignia, no magic.

He knelt beside him. Whispered something.

And Alrian understood.

This boy has nothing to do with this…

He had wanted to tell him. To warn him.

But his voice was lost.
His breath swallowed by fear.

And then — nothing.

⸻

Now

Kael lifted the cabin’s curtain.

Eryn was already ready. Bow on her back, a light pack, her expression unreadable.

— They’ve probably resumed the hunt. Lucky you — I was planning to leave this place anyway, she said.

— You’re really coming with me? I asked.

— Easier than waiting to be burned in the town square for sheltering a “murderer.”

She shrugged, but her eyes stayed on the horizon.

— Besides, you’re lost. You need someone who knows how to survive.
And I need someone to talk to. It balances out.

I lowered my gaze.

— I’ll put you in danger.

She looked at me for a long moment. Then smiled.

— Kael, where do you think I live? A mage’s tower?

We left before dawn.

⸻

A day’s ride away, the two trackers crossed the moor.
The older one, Caerion, held a shard of black crystal.

It pulsed — faintly. A trace.

— He’s left the forest. He’s not alone.

— Help? asked the woman, Liora.

— An accomplice. Or just someone innocent.
He looked ahead.

— Either way, he’s still alive.
And I want to hear what he has to say… before the real killers silence him.