Leo woke up feeling disturbed.
His chest was rising and falling quickly, and his breathing was uneven, as if he had been running somewhere with no end. He slowly opened his eyes, but at first, he could not see his room. Strange images were still trapped in his mind, and distant voices echoed deep inside him.
Then came the whisper.
— Ban…
Leo froze.
The voice came again, clearer this time.
— Ban…
He placed his hand on his head, as if the name itself was knocking against his skull.
— Ban… Ban… Ban…
Leo sat on the edge of his bed and looked around nervously.
— Why… why am I hearing this name?
He had no answer.
He got out of bed and walked toward the table, where a glass of water was waiting. He reached for it, but suddenly stopped.
There was a mirror in front of him.
He slowly approached it and looked at his reflection.
After a few moments, he removed the upper part of his clothes and turned his back toward the mirror.
The four marks appeared on his back.
Light.
Bond.
Range.
And Fracture.
But Leo noticed something that had not been there before.
In the center of the four marks was a strange, extremely faint trace. It was barely visible. It was not a complete mark, but rather a small sign connecting the four marks together, as if it were the beginning of something that had not yet been completed.
Leo moved closer to the mirror.
— What is this?
He stared at it for a long moment.
Then, suddenly, a sharp pain exploded inside his head.
Leo stepped back and held his head with both hands.
The room disappeared.
The palace disappeared.
Everything disappeared.
He found himself standing in a dark place, surrounded by nothing but a faint light.
Then a voice came from somewhere in the distance.
A voice he did not recognize.
— Do not speak my name… before you remember who I am, and what lies beyond my name.
Leo's eyes widened.
— Who are you?!
But the voice did not answer.
The pain grew stronger.
Then everything disappeared.
Leo suddenly opened his eyes.
He was breathing heavily, and his face was covered in sweat.
He sat on his bed and looked around.
His room was still there.
The window.
The bed.
The table.
And the mirror.
For several moments, he could not move. Then he reached for the glass of water and drank it in one breath.
He slowly lowered the glass.
His eyes moved toward the mirror.
Then he froze.
The four marks were still on his back, and in their center was the same strange trace he had seen in the dream.
It had not been completely a dream.
The mark was really there.
Before he could think any further, he heard someone knocking on his door.
Knock.
Then another knock.
Leo quickly put on his clothes and walked toward the door.
He opened it.
Lita was standing there.
Leo looked at her for a moment before saying:
— Good morning, Lita.
She gave him a small smile, but she seemed hesitant.
— Good morning, Leo.
He looked at her with confusion.
— What's wrong?
She answered:
— My mother… Queen Anya, wants you in her room.
Leo's expression changed.
— Queen Anya?
Lita nodded.
— She told me to bring you to her when you woke up.
Leo remained silent for a moment before answering:
— All right. I'll go to her immediately.
Lita stepped away from the door. Leo closed his room behind him and walked with her through the palace corridors.
His mind was still occupied with the name he had heard.
Ban.
He did not know why this name had begun to haunt him.
But something inside him told him that the Queen's request was not a coincidence.
Leo entered Queen Anya's room.
The Queen was sitting calmly, with a cup of tea placed in front of her. She raised her eyes when he entered, then pointed toward the chair opposite her.
Leo said:
— Hello, Your Majesty. What did you want to tell me?
Anya calmly replied:
— Sit down, Leo. I want to discuss something important with you.
Leo took the chair, his eyes carefully watching her.
The Queen remained silent for a few moments, as if searching for the right way to begin.
Then she said:
— Leo… what do you know about your family?
Leo lowered his eyes.
— I don't know much.
— And your father?
Leo shook his head.
— I know nothing about him.
The Queen paused.
— Then what do you know about Ban?
Leo froze.
His eyes widened, and for a moment, he felt as if his heart had stopped.
What? What is she talking about?
He looked at her.
— Ban?
Anya nodded.
— Yes. Ban.
Leo remained silent as the Queen continued.
— There was an ancient warrior named Ban. He was legendary, and his name became connected to the breaking of the laws of the Lunar Quest, along with several people who stood beside him.
Leo remained completely still.
Every word increased the confusion inside him.
It was the same name he had heard inside his head.
The same name he had spoken without knowing why.
He asked quietly:
— Did you know who Ban was?
Anya looked at him for a long moment.
— I did not know him personally… but I knew what was said about him, and what he was capable of.
Leo remained silent.
He did not know whether he should trust her or ask more questions.
But something inside him told him that Ban was not simply an ancient warrior.
There was something bigger.
Something connected to him personally.
While Leo remained lost in his thoughts, the scene shifted to another part of the palace.
Sherry was sitting inside a room under the watch of several soldiers.
She was not restrained, but she was not free either.
Four guards stood outside the room, watching every movement.
Sherry sat near the window, silently looking outside.
She had left Gotharz.
But she still did not know whether she had found a place where she truly belonged.
The door opened.
Darin entered, followed by Dravis.
Darin looked at her seriously before standing in front of her.
— Why did you leave the Kingdom of Gotharz?
Sherry raised her eyes toward him.
She did not answer immediately.
Then she said:
— You think I betrayed them.
Darin stepped closer.
— Didn't you?
Sherry gave him a faint smile.
— No… you don't know why I joined them in the first place.
Darin and Dravis exchanged a brief look.
Dravis said:
— Then tell us.
Sherry lowered her eyes.
After a few moments, she began to speak.
— I was not born wanting to become one of them.
She paused.
— I was different from everyone else from the beginning. Half human… and half from a world I never truly understood. I never felt like I belonged anywhere.
Her voice was calm, but there was pain hidden beneath her words.
— Then I lost the people who meant everything to me.
Darin raised an eyebrow.
— What happened?
She did not answer immediately.
Instead, she said:
— Back then, I was not looking for power. I did not want to rule a kingdom, and I never dreamed of becoming a warrior.
She looked at her hands.
— I only wanted to get back what I had lost.
Silence filled the room.
Then she continued:
— That was when they appeared before me.
Darin knew who she meant.
— Gotharz?
Sherry nodded.
— They told me that there was a power capable of giving a person something beyond death… and that the Raiser possessed a promise no one else could fulfill.
Dravis said:
— Immortality.
Sherry raised her eyes toward him.
— Yes.
She remembered the years she had spent among them, the training, the battles, and the promises they kept repeating.
— At first, I believed them.
She gave a bitter smile.
— I was young enough to believe anyone who told me I could bring back what I had lost.
Darin asked:
— When did you discover the truth?
Sherry remained silent.
— When I realized that Gotharz did not care about what I had lost… or about what anyone else had lost.
Dravis looked at her carefully.
— Then why did you stay with them?
She answered:
— Because I believed I had no other path.
She paused before continuing.
— Until I met you during the Lunar Quest Trials.
Her expression changed slightly.
— For the first time in years, I saw people fighting for something different. I did not only see strength or ambition in you… I saw something I had forgotten.
Darin asked:
— What was it?
Sherry answered:
— Choice.
Silence filled the room.
Then Sherry stood and walked toward the window.
— When I returned to Gotharz, I already knew that I could not continue forever.
Darin asked:
— Is that why you fought us?
She looked at him.
— That is why I left them.
But Dravis noticed something in her eyes.
There was a part of the story she had not told them.
Something else.
He said:
— There is still something you haven't told us.
Sherry did not answer.
She simply turned her gaze back toward the window.
Far away, beyond the mountains and shadows, the Kingdom of Gotharz was buried in darkness.
Inside its fortress, the Council of Sin had gathered.
Yuta stood before them, while Gladers stood on the other side of the hall.
Silence filled the room for several moments.
Then Yuta said coldly:
— Gladers failed to kill him.
No one spoke.
He continued:
— He couldn't even scratch him.
Some members of the council changed their expressions.
One of them said:
— Then we send another one of us.
Yuta raised his eyes toward him.
— No.
Silence returned.
Yuta walked toward a large table. An ancient map of the four kingdoms lay upon it.
He moved his hand over the map.
His fingers stopped over the borders of the kingdoms before moving toward a certain point.
His eyes carried a different look.
The look of someone who knew something the others did not.
He said calmly:
— We will not kill Ban Vander.
The members of the council raised their eyes toward him.
Then he added:
— Not yet.
The hall remained silent.
One of them asked:
— Why?
Yuta did not answer immediately.
He continued staring at the ancient map.
Then he said:
— Because we need him.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
— Alive.
The map remained before him, carrying secrets older than the war itself.
And the name Ban Vander had begun to return to the world once again.
And now…
Leo stood on the other side of the four kingdoms, still unaware of what connected him to that name, or why everyone seemed to fear it.