Morning came quietly.
The sun broke through a thin fog, painting the valley in pale gold. Kairo woke before the others, his cloak still damp with dew, and walked to the river that ran past the village. The water was cold enough to sting, but he liked that; it reminded him that he was still alive.
He washed his face and stared at his reflection in the water. The scar that cut through his right eye seemed deeper in daylight. For a moment, he wondered if the reflection was really his own or someone else wearing his skin.
Behind him, Riven yawned loudly. "You're up early again. You sleep less than a ghost."
Kairo didn't turn. "Old habits."
"You were a soldier, right? What kind?"
"The kind that survives," Kairo said.
Riven chuckled. "You're bad at conversation, you know that?"
"I'm not here for conversation."
"Then what are you here for?"
Kairo didn't answer. He watched the river, its surface rippling like a heartbeat. The Specter Heart pulsed in rhythm, slow, steady, ancient.
They left the village by midday. The road south was clear, framed by distant trees and fields where the snow melted into small rivers. Lyn hummed as they walked, weaving songs from whatever she saw, the clouds, the dust, even the broken fence posts.
Kairo walked a few paces ahead, quiet, listening to her voice fade and return like wind in grass.
Riven, as always, filled the silence. "So, rumor says monsters roam this road, bandits, maybe even corrupted beasts. The kind that glow blue before they eat you."
Lyn rolled her eyes. "You always need a story to feel alive, don't you?"
Riven grinned. "Better than walking in silence. Besides, look at our friend here, he hasn't said a word in hours. I'm starting to think he's part statue."
"I can talk," Kairo said.
"Oh yeah? Prove it. Tell us something about you."
Kairo hesitated. "There's nothing to tell."
Lyn smiled gently. "There's always something."
He looked at her then, really looked. The sunlight caught her hair, turning it almost gold. For a heartbeat, he thought of Varin again. The way she smiled before the flames took her. The same warmth, the same danger.
He looked away. "No stories worth telling."
Lyn said nothing more, but her song changed key, softer now, sadder.
By evening, they reached an open plain where the road split. One path led toward the capital; the other disappeared into a forest dark as ink.
Riven checked the map. "Shortcut through the woods. Two days faster."
"Or two days dead," Kairo muttered.
Riven smirked. "Afraid of ghosts?"
Kairo glanced toward the trees. The wind coming from there was colder, unnaturally so. "Not ghosts," he said. "Something worse."
But they went anyway.
Night fell fast inside the forest. The moonlight barely reached the ground; the air smelled of wet stone and iron. Kairo walked ahead, hand near his sword, eyes scanning the shifting shadows.
Then he felt it, the pulse of his Specter Heart quickening.
He stopped. "Something's here."
Before Riven could reply, the ground behind them erupted. A clawed hand, black, long, thick, dripping with frost, shot out from the dirt and grabbed Riven's ankle, pulling him down.
Lyn screamed.
Kairo drew his blade in one motion, cutting through the thing's wrist. It shrieked, a sound not meant for human ears. Its body followed, gray skin stretched over bones, eyes glowing blue from within.
A wraith-beast. A dead warrior whose heart had frozen long ago.
Riven scrambled back, sword drawn. "You were right! What the hell is that?!"
"Don't speak," Kairo said, stepping forward. "It can hear you."
The beast lunged. Kairo moved faster, too fast. His blade met its claw mid-swing, sparks lighting the dark. He twisted, parried, and sliced upward. The motion was clean, trained, but the creature didn't fall. Its wound froze instantly, reforming.
"It can't die," Riven shouted.
Kairo's breath fogged. "Everything dies."
He reached inside himself, into the pulse of the Specter Heart. For a moment, he saw something, faces, blurred and cold. The dead he'd buried. The comrades who called his name. The weight of every silence he'd carried.
The heart answered.
A wave of frost burst from his body, spreading in a circle of white fire. The air turned to glass; the ground cracked. The wraith's motion slowed, trapped mid-lunge as ice crept up its legs, its arms, its chest, freezing it in place.
Kairo raised his sword. The veins in his neck glowed faint blue. His voice, when it came, sounded like two people speaking at once.
"Rest."
The blade fell. The beast shattered into a thousand pieces, scattering like snow.
Silence followed. Only the faint hum of the Specter Heart remained, echoing in his chest.
Riven exhaled, lowering his sword. "Remind me never to make you angry."
Lyn stepped closer, eyes wide. "That… that wasn't normal magic. What was that?"
Kairo sheathed his blade slowly. "A memory."
"What?"
He looked at the shards of ice melting into the soil. "Of everyone I couldn't save."
No one spoke after that. The forest seemed to hold its breath.
They made camp near the forest's edge. Riven tried to joke, but the laughter didn't come. Lyn sat beside Kairo, close enough for her shoulder to brush his.
"You can't keep carrying all that alone," she said softly.
"I don't have a choice."
"There's always a choice."
He turned his head slightly, meeting her eyes. There was no fear in them, only warmth, like a candle refusing to die in the wind.
For a moment, he forgot the cold.
When morning came, the trees opened, revealing the plains that stretched toward the distant towers of the Norveil Kingdom's capital. The tournament banners fluttered faintly against the horizon.
Riven smiled. "Looks like we made it."
Lyn shaded her eyes. "So this is where all the strongest warriors gather…"
Kairo said nothing. The wind carried the faint echo of a crowd, the rhythm of drums. The Specter Heart inside him pulsed once, heavier than before, almost in recognition.
He didn't know it yet, but this was where his path would be like the others.
[the girl who wielded a cursed sword, the brothers who burned for honor, the boy who walked between gods and men.]
For now, he only whispered to himself, "Let's finish the walk."
And the three of them stepped toward the light of the capital.