The darkness felt thicker after Chagan vanished — as if the night itself grew teeth.
Akbota dismounted so fast her horse reared. "CHAGAN!" Her voice tore across the steppe. No answer. Not even an echo.
Snow-Mouth closed their eyes, whispering frantic incantations under their breath. Nothing responded. No spirit, no trace, no resonance.
"He is not dead," they said finally. "But he is… hidden."
Arslan's hand tightened on his sword. "Hidden where?"
Snow-Mouth shook their head once. "Between."
That word chilled everyone.
Temir whispered, "B-between what?!"
"Between reality," Snow-Mouth said, "and illusion."
Kanykei muttered, "I hate this journey."
Akbota stood trembling — not with fear, but fury. "We find him NOW."
"No one is going alone," Arslan said sharply.
Erlan nodded. "Especially not someone who might be the next target."
Snow-Mouth turned toward Ayisulu. "He didn't mean you. But he should have."
Arslan shot them a warning glare. Snow-Mouth didn't care.
"We split into pairs," Arslan ordered. "Search the ridge. If you see anything strange, call out—"
"No," Ayisulu said suddenly.
Everyone turned.
"We stay together," she continued, voice firm. "If the Shadow Weaver can twist what we see, then splitting up is exactly what she wants."
Erlan crossed his arms. "She's right."
Akbota exhaled shakily. "Then what do we do?"
Ayisulu closed her eyes.
Her grandmother once told her that visions come not when called, but when welcome.
She breathed in the cold night air…
felt the wind…
listened to the silence…
Then—
Her gift stirred.
Not gently.
Not softly.
Like a door being flung open by a storm.
A flash.
She saw Chagan — trapped inside a twisting mist, suspended as if weightless. His eyes closed, his breath shallow. Thin threads of black smoke wrapped around him like vines.
A voice whispered behind him:
"He will be the first. You will be the last."
Ayisulu gasped.
Arslan grabbed her arm. "What did you see?"
She told them — every detail. Akbota's face went white with rage and fear.
"That monster has him," she whispered. "Where?"
Ayisulu pointed toward a narrow gorge to the east. The path was steep, the rocks jagged, the wind strangely silent.
"That place wasn't there a moment ago," Erlan said.
Snow-Mouth's expression sharpened. "Illusion made real. The Shadow Weaver is shaping the land."
"Can she do that?!" Temir squeaked.
"Apparently," Kanykei said. "Fantastic."
Arslan tightened his hold on Ayisulu's arm. "You're staying behind."
Ayisulu pulled free. "Absolutely not."
"You just fell unconscious from a vision."
"And? You nearly faint every time you see blood."
"That happened once."
"It was chicken blood."
Erlan coughed loudly. "Are you two done? Because we have a kidnapped man and a demon-illusionist waiting."
They were not done.
But Ayisulu mounted her horse anyway.
Arslan mounted his.
They stared at each other, refusing to back down.
Finally he said quietly:
"I ride beside you. Every step."
Ayisulu nodded.
Their group moved toward the gorge, torches flickering in the windless air.
As soon as they entered the narrow pass, Ayisulu felt it — the world twisting slightly, as though the ground tilted sideways. The shadows clung to the walls like ink, too thick, too heavy.
Temir shivered. "I think the shadows are watching us."
"They are," Snow-Mouth replied.
"DON'T TELL ME THAT."
Akbota, normally fearless, rode tense as a spear. "Chagan is here. I can feel him."
Ayisulu could too.
The world shimmered.
A rock wall rippled — turning into a doorway of black smoke.
And inside—
Chagan.
Suspended in the air, wrapped in smoke threads, eyes closed, chest rising only faintly.
Akbota screamed his name and lunged forward, but Snow-Mouth grabbed her reins. "Don't step inside!"
A voice drifted from the dark.
Soft.
Female.
Mocking.
"Ah. You brought more."
Everyone froze.
Ayisulu's blood turned to ice.
From the smoke, a figure stepped forward — tall, veiled in crimson, mask smooth as polished bone. Her hands trailed long ribbons of black illusion that curled around her like snakes.
The Shadow Weaver.
Arslan raised his sword instantly. "Release him."
She chuckled lightly. "So protective. But this one…" She gestured toward Chagan. "He wandered into a thought not meant for him."
Akbota snarled, "I'll tear you apart!"
"You can try."
Ayisulu felt the air change — the illusion threads shifting toward Arslan.
"No!" she shouted, stepping in front of him.
The Shadow Weaver tilted her head, amused.
"So this is the seer. The child of wind."
Her mask seemed to smile. "You are even more fragile than I expected."
Ayisulu forced her voice steady. "Let him go."
"Or what?"
Ayisulu didn't know the answer.
But her gift did.
Wind erupted around her — sudden, fierce, circling her like a shield. The Shadow Weaver's ribbons recoiled.
Her tone sharpened. "Interesting."
Arslan stared at Ayisulu — stunned, proud, terrified all at once. "Ayisulu…"
Erlan stepped closer to her other side. "Keep going. Don't stop."
Ayisulu didn't stop.
The wind thickened, wrapping her arms, lifting strands of her hair. She lifted her hand, and Chagan's cocoon of smoke trembled.
The Shadow Weaver's voice dropped low and dangerous.
"You take one more step," she said, "and he stops breathing."
Akbota choked. "No…"
Arslan swore under his breath.
Ayisulu froze.
For the first time, she felt the limits of her gift — the way it could help, and the way it could break someone if she pushed wrong.
The Shadow Weaver's voice softened. "Come to me, Ayisulu. And I'll let him go."
Arslan surged forward. "NO."
Erlan grabbed his arm. "If she crosses that smoke, she's gone."
The Shadow Weaver extended a hand.
"Choose, seer. Him… or you."
Ayisulu's heart pounded.
She couldn't sacrifice Chagan.
But she couldn't walk into the Weaver's trap.
Then she saw it.
A faint shimmer — like a crack — near the smoke threads holding Chagan.
A weakness.
Ayisulu whispered, "I can break it."
Arslan looked torn between horror and awe. "You'll kill yourself doing that."
"Not if you hold me steady."
He stepped behind her immediately, hands gripping her shoulders.
Erlan stood beside her, anchoring her with a firm hand on her arm.
Akbota lifted her spear. "Do it. I'll get him the moment he falls."
Ayisulu inhaled.
Her wind coiled like a living thing.
She thrust her hand forward.
The cocoon cracked—
The Shadow Weaver screamed—
The world shattered—
Light exploded—
And Chagan fell—
Akbota dove forward screaming his name—
Snow-Mouth shouted—
Temir fainted—
Arslan pulled Ayisulu into his chest—
And the Shadow Weaver dissolved into smoke with a whisper:
"This is only the beginning."
Silence swallowed the gorge.
Ayisulu trembled violently against Arslan.
He held her tighter, whispering her name like a prayer.
Chagan was alive.
She had saved him.
But the Shadow Weaver escaped.
And nothing would ever be the same again.