Chapter 33 Malrissa's shadow

The air in the tent was still thick with something unseen.

Like smoke that hadn’t quite cleared. Like a fever dream that refused to end. Though the nightmare had been defeated, its imprint lingered.

The nobles groaned as they roused, their silk garments soaked with sweat and dream-soaked fear. One of the older lords shivered as if waking from a long illness. The royal knights blinked in disorientation, struggling to process what they’d seen—if any of it had been real. Hands twitched toward sheathed blades. Breathing turned sharp, uncertain. Battle-hardened instincts were dulled, sluggish, confused.

Then the accusations began.

“What was that thing? Who summoned it?”

A younger knight, still panting from the mental assault, shot to his feet. His gauntlet rose like a blade. “That girl—” he shouted, pointing at Revoli. “She’s a demon. Look at the horns!”

Revoli’s golden eyes widened, mouth parting in disbelief. “What?! No—”

“She’s the only one here who fits the conjuring profile!” barked another. “And those two aren’t even human!”

His hand swept toward Fara and Skye.

Fara’s tails stiffened, every muscle coiled like a spring. Skye’s ears pinned back, her stance shifting into one ready to strike.

“Say that again,” Skye growled, low and sharp.

Fara raised her spear-staff, her eyes a warning glow.

Revoli took a step forward, shaking—but it wasn’t fear on her face. It was fury held in check. She pulled a flash bomb from her pouch. “Say one more word and I will blind you.”

The queen stirred behind them, slowly sitting upright with a groggy breath—but the guards didn’t rush to calm the argument. They closed ranks around her instead, eyes full of suspicion.

Tension snapped like a bowstring.

“You better stand down before I—” Fara hissed, stepping forward.

“I dare you,” the knight spat.

“Enough.”

Kai’s voice cut through the fray like a blade drawn in silence.

He stepped in from the shadows of the tent entrance, his presence grounding the room. He didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t have to. His eyes said it all.

He crossed the space between them with calm, purposeful strides. Reaching out, he placed one hand gently on Fara’s shoulder, then caught Skye’s arm and gave it a light tug back. Finally, he knelt to Revoli, cupping her cheek with warm fingers. Her eyes welled with tears, but she didn’t let them fall.

He didn’t speak to the nobles. Didn’t offer an explanation.

He just walked his girls out of the tent.

They followed. No resistance.

And the moment they crossed the threshold, it was as if a veil lifted. The weight pressing down on their shoulders vanished. The air was clean again. The sky above shimmered with stars.

They kept walking, saying nothing until the lights of the royal camp were distant behind them.

“I—I almost attacked them,” Skye whispered, her voice cracking.

“They almost deserved it,” Fara muttered, still tense.

“But it wasn’t us,” Revoli said quietly. “I felt angry… but also like something was pushing that anger. Like it wanted me to lose control. Like it wanted them to fear me.”

Kai walked a little farther ahead, silent. The road back to the guild stretched long and quiet. Then, as the outline of the outer buildings came into view, he finally spoke.

“You all felt her.”

“Who?” Fara asked, catching up to him.

He didn’t look back.

“Malrissa.”

They froze.

“That’s the name we heard…” Skye murmured.

“She’s the Demon Lord,” Kai said plainly. “The one everyone thinks was vanquished. But she wasn’t. She’s been reborn. That dream-eater back there? Just a fragment of her influence. The conjurer—either one of her creations, or someone serving her directly.”

“And you knew?” Revoli’s voice cracked. “You knew and didn’t tell us?”

Kai finally turned. “I thought if I didn’t say anything, maybe I could protect you. That staying quiet would keep you safe. But that was a mistake.”

Wind moved gently past them. For a while, that was all the sound.

“I won’t do that again,” he continued. “From now on, no more keeping things from you. Not when it comes to danger, guild activity, threat levels—none of it. You deserve to know. You’ve earned that.”

Fara stepped up beside him, slipping her hand into his. She didn’t say anything. She didn’t have to.

He turned, met her eyes, and nodded.

Behind them, Skye stood quietly, arms crossed, her gaze low. Revoli rubbed at her face with the back of her sleeve, lips trembling just slightly.

---

Back at the guild, Kai met with Lockwood in his office. The girls were given space in the lounge to rest.

Kai explained what he could—the conjurer, the presence of Sombravelle, the growing threat of Malrissa’s influence. He left out the personal dream details. Those weren’t his stories to tell.

Lockwood listened in silence, then slowly nodded. “You did more than survive. You closed a rift before it widened. You gave us time. You brought them back alive.”

Kai exhaled, folding his arms. “Why didn’t the fog follow us in?”

Lockwood leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk. “The guild was built on sacred land. Beneath this foundation lies a relic, a divine stone from the Old Age. Still active. Still repelling dark influence. So long as it holds, this guild remains a safe haven.”

Kai’s eyes narrowed slightly. “And if that protection fails?”

Lockwood didn’t blink. “Then we’ll pray you’re strong enough to protect us when it happens.”

---

Meanwhile, the girls were curled up in the lounge, still recovering.

Revoli sat wrapped in a thick blanket, her tail curled around a steaming mug of cider. Skye lay sprawled in the corner booth, her arm over her eyes. Fara had one leg slung over the couch armrest, her spear leaned against the wall nearby.

Then the door creaked open.

A tall woman with long red curls and a confident smirk stepped inside. She wore a sharp-trimmed adventurer’s coat and carried herself like someone who knew they belonged in every room they entered. Her name was Lorna—one of the guild’s higher-ranking freelancers. She didn’t fight often, but when she did, people noticed.

“Well, well,” she said, hands on her hips. “Looks like you three walked through fire and came out smoldering.”

Skye peeked at her through one eye. “We’re alive. Barely.”

“I heard you barely made it out,” Lorna teased. “But I gotta say, I’m so impressed Kai keeps surrounding himself with the prettiest troublemakers.”

Fara raised a brow.

Lorna kept going, her smirk growing. “I mean… if I thought he’d carry me out of danger like a knight in shining armor, I might’ve fainted on purpose.”

Revoli nearly spit out her cider. “He didn’t carry us! Not all the way!”

“Uh huh,” Lorna said, amused.

Skye sat up straighter. “He’s not like that.”

“Maybe not,” Lorna said with a wink. “But I wouldn’t mind finding out.”

She flipped her hair and sauntered off.

The girls simmered in silence.

---

That evening, Kai returned home with three small pouches.

“What’s this?” Skye asked as he handed them out.

“Elite-class coins,” Kai said. “They’re off-record, used for rank elevation. Once you absorb them, no one can challenge your right to operate. You’re officially elite. Not just in name. In status.”

Revoli gasped. “That’s… big.”

Fara’s tails wrapped tighter around her legs, her expression unreadable but full of pride.

Skye looked down at her coin, then back up at him.

“Thank you,” she said, voice soft.

Kai nodded. “You earned it.”

Outside, the stars shifted behind thin clouds, the wind carrying whispers in a language long forgotten.

And far away, deep in a ruined valley, Malrissa stirred, her presence crawling over the land.

“Soon,” she hissed to no one. “Soon, dreamwalker, you’ll dream of me.”