Riddles are the truth

The silence after Dex’s words lingered longer than anyone expected. It stretched and grew, filling the room like a presence of its own. The faint clamor of the town seeped in through the small window—voices, laughter, footsteps, the steady drone of ordinary life that felt miles away from the world inside this inn room.

Sai lay on his back across the bed, one arm draped over his eyes. Beside him, Corvin sat hunched on the edge, his head tilted back against the same mattress, staring up at the ceiling beams. His foot tapped restlessly against the floorboards, the rhythm uneven.

Eira stood at Mira’s bedside, her hands folded against her skirt, eyes fixed on her sleeping friend. She hadn’t moved in what felt like hours, though the subtle tension in her shoulders betrayed how much effort it took to stay still.

The only sound inside was the faint rasp of Mira’s breathing and the occasional creak of the building as the evening settled deeper.

Then Corvin, in a voice just loud enough to break the spell, muttered, “Sooo…”

Three heads turned his way.

Corvin lifted his chin, not quite meeting anyone’s gaze. “Dex… who are you really?”

The hooded man didn’t flinch. He stood near the wall, arms crossed, the dim lamplight casting his face in shadow. At first, he said nothing. Then he exhaled through his nose, slow, deliberate.

“I am,” he began, “The son of the town’s chief.”

Eira blinked, startled. Sai lifted his arm off his face to peer at him. Corvin’s brows arched high.

“That’s it?” Corvin asked, his tone somewhere between disbelief and annoyance. “That’s your big reveal? You’re the mayor’s kid?”

Dex’s lips twitched, not quite into a smile. “Chief. Not mayor. And yes, that’s it. Not exactly a dramatic tale.”

Sai pushed himself upright. “You’re underselling it.” Corvin motioned with his arms as he spoke “You got something cool like that behind you why in the hell do you say it so nonchalantly add some flare to it, say it with authority”

“Authority,” Dex repeated quietly, tasting the word. He turned toward the window, watching the glass fog slightly with the room’s warmth. “Maybe. Or maybe it’s just the illusion of it. Titles mean less than you think when shadows watch your every step.”

A rumble of thunder rolled across the sky, distant but creeping closer just as some rain drops fell against the window.

Corvin leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “Okay, fine. Chief’s son. Big deal. But why are you helping us? You’ve got no reason to put your neck on the line. What—do you just wake up in the morning and think, ‘Hey, today I’ll save a bunch of half-dead strangers’? Doesn’t exactly scream politician’s son to me.”

Dex’s gaze slid back to him, sharp even in shadow. “You’re right. It doesn’t.”

The storm pressed closer, rain starting to patter against the shutters in a soft, uneven rhythm. Dex finally moved away from the wall, stepping nearer to Mira’s bedside. He didn’t touch her, but his presence loomed all the same.

“I help,” he said quietly, “because I can. Because kindness is currency just as much as gold, and unlike gold, it leaves no debt behind.”

Eira’s eyes softened, but her voice was cautious. “So this is just… kindness? That’s it?”

“Kindness,” Dex repeated, then tilted his head. “And curiosity. Outsiders don’t walk into this town every day. Especially not ones like you. I would be a fool to ignore the chance to see what fate has dragged in.”

Corvin scoffed. “Fate. Great. So we’re your little entertainment project.”

“No,” Dex said sharply. His voice cut through the patter of rain, commanding. “Not entertainment. but its a clear warning.”

The three of them exchanged uneasy looks.

Sai leaned forward. “Warning? From what?”

Dex didn’t answer immediately. He paced a slow circle around the room, his boots quiet on the wood. His hand brushed across the back of a chair, fingers lingering as though grounding himself.

“Gladius doesn’t want you here,” he said finally. “Not because of who you are, but because of what you represent.”

“Represent?” Eira repeated.

“Outsiders,” Dex clarified. “New blood. Disruption. This village has known outsiders before, and every time, it ended in ruin. The last ones came with fire in their eyes and promises on their tongues. They left graves after their stay.”

The room fell still. Mira stirred faintly, a small twitch of her hand, but did not wake.

Corvin rubbed his jaw. “So he sees us as the same. That’s why he wanted us dead.”

“Yes,” Dex said simply.

Sai frowned. “But that doesn’t explain the Reaper lie”

Dex tilted his head “Lie? are you sure? because i would lie if i said your friend did not seem suspicious”

Eira opens her mouth ready to protest but before she could Corvin spoke first

“Yea i see that point, he was a weird guy”

“Corvin for fu… eh whatever” Sai said disappointed before he asked a new question

“What’s up with his soldiers then?”

“Shadows. He trains them like a personal army. That’s not about outsiders—that’s control.”

Dex paused, his eyes narrowing. “The Shadows are his control. They are his eyes and ears, his blade and shield. Orphans, the abandoned, the desperate—he takes them in, shapes them, and molds them until they are his alone. No family, no past, only loyalty.”

“And martial arts” Sai added quietly.

Dex nodded. “Every skill honed. Every weakness punished. They are not soldiers in the open—they are silence and precision. Chosen by Gladius himself. To the public, they are almost like myths rarely seen”.

“And to us so far, they are… constant.” Corvin said as he laid his head back again.

Eira shivered. “That’s why no one questioned them dragging us through the streets.”

“Exactly.”

Corvin shifted uncomfortably before Eira spoke “So—you’re saying they’re like his own shadow?”

Dex’s gaze darkened. “Yes. And like a shadow, they are everywhere. Even now.”

The rain picked up, drumming against the roof, masking the uneasy silence that followed.

Sai’s jaw tightened. “Then why aren’t they working for you. Chief’s son and all, id bet the chief would like soldiers like them.”

Dex let out a low laugh, bitter. “He was offered. So was i more than once. But i prefers words to blades. Influence to orders. A shadow that speaks can change more than one that strikes.”

Corvin muttered, “So you’re the talker, not the killer. Figures.”

“Better a talker than a corpse,” Dex said coldly.

Thunder cracked again, closer this time, shaking the windowpane. Mira shifted at the sound, her lips moving faintly though no words came.

Eira leaned closer, brushing Mira’s hair back gently. “She’s trying…”

Dex shook his head. “Let her. The poison fights still. Her words aren’t for us yet.”

Corvin leaned back, staring at him with narrowed eyes. “So what’s the plan, then, oh wise son of the chief? Gladius wants us gone, the Shadows are everywhere, and Mira’s one nightmare away from carving us up again. Why not just hand us over and call it a day?”

Dex stepped closer, his presence heavy. “Because Gladius underestimates you. Because I want to see if he’s wrong. And because”—he leaned forward slightly, his hood casting his eyes in shadow—“If you survive what comes, i will be able to use you to show my father how Gladius abuse his power and i might finally do something about it.”

The storm raged harder, thunder rolling endlessly.

Sai, quiet for a long moment, finally spoke. “That’s not an answer. That’s a riddle.”

Dex gave the faintest hint of a smile. “All truths begin as riddles.”

And then, silence again—save for the rain, the thunder, and Mira’s fragile breathing as the storm pressed on.