Through the Lens

The reconnaissance squad headed west from Callineth. Behind them, Micah waved and they waved back.

Nash lowered his hand. “I kind of feel bad for lying the way we did.”

“I’m sure we won’t have to use force."

"Khyrie, how can we be sure? Commander Mercer doesn’t have command over this operation."

"Because we can explain everything to the interim officials and to the people living there now," Chena said.

“That assumes either side is willing to listen."

Nobody answered, and they kept walking until Nash broke the silence. “Can we at least catch a glimpse of Haryun before we change course?”

“That wasn’t smooth,” Yuri told him.

Nash huffed, but Yuri stopped a moment later. “Be on guard.”

The first warning came as hoofbeats and the rattle of wheels over stone, dirt, and grass. Everyone tensed. A horse-drawn wagon emerged along the path, carrying two men in the back beside the carcass of a boar. The man at the reins recognized them. “You folks are leaving already?”

“Yeah. We’re heading to Haryun now.” Yuri raised a hand in farewell. “Sorry we couldn’t stay longer.”

“Ahh, don’t worry about it. You’re welcome here anytime. Uhh, we don’t mean to bother you, but does anybody have bandages? Our friend got a nasty gash from that boar.”

Khyrie and Kiel stepped forward as one of the men in the wagon held his injured arm away from his body, blood darkening the sleeve. 

“Don’t worry, sir. I have some cloth,” Khyrie said.

“Khyrie can handle it,” Yuri assured him.

Warui moved closer as Khyrie unrolled the cloth beside the wound. The injured man flinched.

“I need you to stay still, sir. Breathe. Stay calm.”

“Sorry, the cut suddenly got cold for a moment.” Khyrie kept wrapping it. After a second, the man asked, “Where’d you learn to do that?”

“My grandma worked as a military medic.”

Warui watched the cloth circle the man’s arm, Khyrie’s fingers pulling each wrap snug.

Then everything disappeared.

White.

Pure white.

Did—

Something emerged through the brightness.

Stone.

A huge staircase.

Warui was walking up the steps.

Pillars rose along either side, statues positioned between them.

Did I just start daydreaming?

He hadn’t meant to move. His body had simply done it for him.

Warui caught sight of his arm.

A military sleeve.

Wrong.

I’ve never been here before.

I’ve never worn this military jack—

That isn’t my hand.

At the top, the staircase opened into a square ceremonial courtyard. Grass and dirt had overtaken parts of the stone, with a palace standing at the opposite end. Three boys and one girl waited in the center. The girl turned. “Varis!”

One of the boys spun around. “Finally! We’re all here.”

She looked at me.

She said Varis.

Another boy groaned. “Took you long enough.”

The third gestured toward the line. “Get in position. The general is almost here.”

Who’s Varis?

A man in military clothing approached, a combat helmet on his head and his posture rigid. “Listen up! Why is Varis the only one wearing his uniform?!”

“We apologize, sir!”

“You handle that after I discuss today’s agenda!”

The unfamiliar right hand opened.

Dark red appeared inside it.

A blade.

The world changed.

Stone walls.

Darkness.

A chamber.

The same hands held the blade in a reverse grip.

The arms lifted.

HEY!

The blade drove straight into his own abdomen.

Callineth.

Warui jumped back, one hand flying to his stomach. “That’s—!” Warui pulled his hand away and stared at his palm and saw nothing. No blood. “That was my blade.”

“Warui.” Chena placed her hand on his forearm. “What happened?”

“No, it’s—”

Yuri.

Nash.

Khyrie.

Kiel.

The strangers in the wagon.

Everyone was staring.

“I thought I saw something.”

Warui and Chena held each other’s gaze in silence.

“Did you finish wrapping his arm?” Yuri asked.

Khyrie stepped away from the wagon with Kiel. “Yes.”

The injured man flexed his hand carefully. “Thank you, miss.”

“No problem, sir.”

The driver whistled, and the horse started forward. "Thanks for the help. Come again soon."

Yuri waved. “We plan to.”

The wagon put some distance between them.

Nash turned immediately. "Warui, what the hell was that?"

Khyrie stepped closer and placed a hand on Warui’s shoulder. “A—are you okay?”

Kiel remained quiet, watching Warui.

“Yeah. I’m fine... let’s get back to Tiria as soon as possible.”

“You gave us a little scare,” Yuri said as she moved past him. “But you have a point. The sooner we’re home, the better.”

Underground Prison

River and Sarah stood outside the murdered officials’ cell with strips of cloth tied over their mouths and noses while two medical examiners worked inside.  Above them, the shaft vanished into darkness several meters overhead.

“I understand how somebody could do it unnoticed. Their point of entry was inside an abandoned building, and there aren’t any reports of strange sounds in the capital that could be connected to this.” River took in the broken bars and the bodies beyond them. “But how?”

“I asked someone to tell Malia to come look.”

“The bars around the opening were definitely slashed.”

Footsteps hurried down the hallway before Malia joined them at the cell. “This does look impossible.”

Sarah gestured toward the damage. “Anything come to mind at first glance?”

“One thing did the second your messenger described it.” Malia crouched beside the bars and caught an accidental glimpse through the opening and immediately dropped her head. “Shit. That’s—” Her discomfort showed plainly. “I’m not used to that.” She reached into her pocket and drew out a dark red fragment barely an inch long.

“Is that the one from Warui’s blade?” Sarah recognized it. “Why’d it get so small?”

“I’m running out of time with it.” Malia held it beside several pieces of rubble. “It’s been decaying, shrinking. It looks more like ordinary steel now than something alive, but if my hunch is right.” 

One fragment among the rubble caught Malia’s eye. She picked it up, recognition dawning almost immediately. “This might be it. I need a closer look, but this could tell us how somebody managed all of this.”

In Valeria City, Mercer sat across from Dirk inside a moving carriage. 

“Nobody could’ve known I asked River and Sarah to question the officials.” The carriage shook over an uneven stretch of road before Dirk continued. “Vance can’t be working against us either, right?”

“I can’t say. The timing could have been coincidence.”

“We were already inching toward the truth before Vance ever arrived. If they were silenced, that confirms we were close. Just not close enough to know much.”

"I reckon it was done in anticipation. Whoever did it knew where the investigation might lead and handled it while they still controlled the situation."

"It's possible."

The carriage continued through the city.

"As soon as the reconnaissance team returns, I’ll—"

"You won’t be able to deploy soldiers outside Tiria, Duncan."

“I know, but you could."

"Don’t find a way around your punishment."

“Warui could reach Orienne. He could find out what they know about him.”

“That isn’t hiding or protecting him, and how exactly do you think Orienne reacts if the soldier they explicitly want nothing to do with walks through their gates?”

Mercer had no answer.

Malia walked toward one of the medical tents in the Valeria Army base. “Normal explanations aren’t getting me anywhere.”

She turned the fragment recovered from the prison between her fingers. “The only person I’ve ever seen completely cut through a human body is Zay. The hole was too precise, and then there's the cell."

Malia entered the tent and set the recovered fragment beneath a microscope. “Come on. We just need something pointing us in the right direction.”

She took Warui’s fragment from her pocket and placed it beside the other sample, only to freeze at how much smaller Warui's fragment had become. “Shit. Half an inch.” Malia compared the two beneath the microscope, adjusting the focus between Warui’s fragment and the prison sample.

Along one edge of the prison sample, the metal had begun changing into something else. The edge softened into a mineral-organic substance. Soil-like granules broke free and fell onto the table. Malia stepped back and her eyes widened. “It is.”

Two hours west of the Callineth settlement, the reconnaissance squad changed course toward Tiria.

"It should take about a day and a half to get back," Yuri said.

“Including breaks?”

“We took a long enough break in Callineth. Suck it up, Nash.”

Nash immediately started arguing, but Warui barely heard them. Khyrie had been watching him. “Warui, did you see anything in Callineth that might be connected to your weapon?”

“Khyrie.” Kiel's voice sharpened. “Too soon.”

“I’m not prying.”

“No.”

Chena and Khyrie both turned to Warui. Kiel searched his face, but Warui kept his eyes on the road ahead.

“There wasn’t anything.”

GKI: Generally Known Information

Blade Fragment

A dark red piece chipped off Warui’s blade. At first it appeared alive, complete with vascular structures and nerves, though it felt metallic to the touch. As time passed, it decayed, its edges breaking down into mineral‑organic granules resembling soil. The process was inexplicable, shrinking the fragment until it resembled high‑carbon steel.