The tavern felt quieter after Eryx finished speaking.
Not because the room had emptied.
Not because the conversations had stopped.
But because Riven could no longer hear any of it.
The words continued echoing inside his head.
Watchers.
The First Cataclysm.
Varokh Rexar.
Draegor Markham.
Alexandria.
Every answer Eryx had given seemed to create ten more questions.
The mug before him sat untouched.
The drink had long gone cold.
Eryx noticed.
"You've been staring at that cup for ten minutes."
Riven blinked.
"Huh?"
Eryx chuckled.
"Exactly."
Silence settled between them.
For once, neither felt the need to fill it.
Outside, evening had begun to descend upon the city.
The golden light of sunset filtered through the tavern windows.
Casting long shadows across the wooden floor.
Riven finally looked up.
"Do you believe it?"
Eryx raised an eyebrow.
"The story?"
"All of it."
The older warrior took a slow sip.
Then nodded.
"I do."
"Why?"
"Because I've seen things that shouldn't exist."
His gaze drifted toward the window.
"I've seen monsters powerful enough to erase cities."
"I've seen wolves survive wounds that should kill them."
"I've seen a boy survive Aurelion Kharos."
A faint smirk appeared.
"After that, five warriors becoming one doesn't sound so impossible."
Riven couldn't argue with that.
Eventually they left the tavern.
The city greeted them with cool evening air.
Merchants were closing shops.
Children were being called home.
Lanterns slowly illuminated the streets.
Life.
Normal life.
Something that still felt strange after everything he had endured.
Eryx mounted his horse.
"You coming?"
Riven shook his head.
"I'll walk."
Eryx studied him for a moment.
Then nodded.
"Don't stay out too late."
Riven snorted.
"When did you become my father?"
"When you became everyone's problem."
Before Riven could reply, Eryx rode away.
Leaving him alone.
For the first time all day.
The city stretched before him.
Rebuilt.
Alive.
Thriving.
Six months ago much of it had been rubble.
Now laughter echoed through the streets.
Market stalls lined the roads.
Guards patrolled peacefully.
Families shared evening meals.
The Third Order had survived.
Against all odds.
Riven walked slowly.
Hands in his pockets.
Mind elsewhere.
He found himself standing atop one of the newly reconstructed walls.
From there he could see the distant horizon.
The lands that once belonged to the Second Order.
Now part of the Third.
The world looked different.
Larger somehow.
As if Eryx's story had expanded it.
Because now Riven knew there was more.
Far more.
The Four Orders weren't the entire world.
The werewolves weren't the only civilization.
Humanity still existed.
Somewhere.
Hidden.
Waiting.
Alexandria.
The name alone felt unreal.
A kingdom filled with people like him.
Or at least...
People like the version of him that existed before Aurelion destroyed Threxa.
His thoughts drifted toward his father.
The man whose face he barely remembered.
The man who had died protecting him.
If Eryx was right...
Then perhaps his father had once walked those distant streets.
Perhaps he had called Alexandria home.
Perhaps Riven had family still alive.
The possibility unsettled him.
Because he had spent years believing he was alone.
Now that certainty had vanished.
The sky darkened.
Stars slowly emerged overhead.
And eventually...
Riven returned home.
The estate was quiet.
Most of the residents had already gone to sleep.
The halls stood empty.
Only a few lanterns remained lit.
He passed Nyss on the way to his room.
She smiled when she saw him.
"You look exhausted."
"I am exhausted."
"Good."
Riven frowned.
"What kind of response is that?"
"The healthy kind."
She folded her arms.
"Normal people sleep."
Riven sighed.
"You're becoming annoying."
"I learned from Soren."
"That's terrifying."
She laughed.
A genuine laugh.
The sound followed him all the way down the corridor.
His room felt unfamiliar.
Even after several days.
Six months was a long time.
Long enough for everything to feel slightly different.
He sat on the edge of his bed.
Then slowly closed his eyes.
Trying to relax.
Trying not to think.
Trying not to replay Eryx's story.
It didn't work.
The moment he closed his eyes...
The names returned.
Varokh Rexar.
Draegor.
The Dark Shadow.
The First Cataclysm.
Questions.
Questions.
Questions.
Eventually fatigue won.
And darkness claimed him.
At first...
There was nothing.
No sound.
No light.
No sensation.
Only emptiness.
Then
A heartbeat.
THUMP.
Riven's eyes opened.
He stood within endless darkness.
A void.
Infinite.
Silent.
Cold.
The same place he remembered from his coma.
The same place where he had encountered the Dark Shadow.
Yet something felt different.
The darkness wasn't empty anymore.
It was watching.
Waiting.
Breathing.
Riven slowly turned.
"Hello?"
No response.
His voice vanished into nothingness.
"Is anyone there?"
Silence.
Then
A distant light appeared.
Tiny.
Barely visible.
Yet impossible to ignore.
Riven stared.
The light pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Calling to him.
Without understanding why...
He began walking.
The closer he got...
The brighter it became.
Until eventually
The darkness vanished.
And another world appeared.
Riven froze.
His breath caught.
Because he recognized it instantly.
A battlefield.
Ancient.
Beyond ancient.
The sky was different.
The moon was whole.
Not fractured.
Not broken.
Complete.
Magnificent.
Its silver light illuminated an endless plain.
Thousands.
No.
Hundreds of thousands.
Warriors filled the landscape.
Humans.
Not werewolves.
Humans.
Armored soldiers carrying banners.
Standing shoulder to shoulder.
Facing something horrifying.
Something impossible.
The Void.
The creatures stretched across the horizon like a living nightmare.
Twisted shapes.
Impossible forms.
Monsters that seemed to break reality simply by existing.
Some possessed dozens of eyes.
Others had none.
Some towered like mountains.
Others crawled across the ground like living shadows.
And all of them radiated one thing.
Death.
Riven couldn't move.
Couldn't breathe.
The sheer scale dwarfed every battle he had ever witnessed.
Even the war between the Orders felt insignificant compared to this.
Then
Five figures stepped forward.
The battlefield trembled.
The moonlight intensified.
The five warriors stood at the front of humanity's army.
Different.
Yet somehow connected.
Riven couldn't see their faces.
Only silhouettes.
Only power.
Power so overwhelming it distorted the world around them.
The Five Watchers.
He knew instantly.
Not because anyone told him.
Because something inside him recognized them.
The scene shifted.
Time accelerated.
Battles flashed past.
Years condensed into moments.
Endless war.
Endless sacrifice.
Endless death.
Then
Everything stopped.
A single figure emerged from the Void.
Tall.
Humanoid.
Terrifying.
Darkness flowed from his body like liquid night.
Reality fractured around each step.
Even the sky seemed to recoil from his presence.
Draegor Markham.
The Eternal Void.
The battlefield descended into chaos.
The Watchers charged.
The armies followed.
And yet...
They were losing.
Riven watched cities burn.
Watched entire armies vanish.
Watched heroes fall.
Nothing could stop him.
Nothing.
Then the impossible happened.
The Five Watchers joined hands.
Moonlight erupted.
The world shook.
The sky cracked.
Five souls.
Five cores.
Five lives.
Merged.
A colossal wolf appeared.
Silver.
Majestic.
Godlike.
Its presence eclipsed the battlefield itself.
Its eyes shone brighter than stars.
Its howl shook heaven and earth.
Varokh Rexar.
The Wolf King.
Riven stared in awe.
This was no Alpha.
No Order leader.
No warrior.
This was something else entirely.
A living legend.
The battle that followed defied comprehension.
Mountains collapsed.
Oceans split.
Reality fractured.
The Wolf King and Draegor tore through the world itself.
Light against darkness.
Moon against Void.
Existence against annihilation.
Neither yielded.
Neither retreated.
Then
Something changed.
Darkness pierced the Wolf King.
Corruption spread.
Black veins crawled across silver fur.
The moonlight dimmed.
The howl became a scream.
And suddenly
Varokh Rexar looked directly at Riven.
Riven froze.
Impossible.
This was a memory.
A vision.
Yet the Wolf King saw him.
The enormous silver eyes locked onto his own.
Ancient.
Wise.
Tired.
And afraid.
The vision shattered.
Darkness returned.
The battlefield vanished.
The moon disappeared.
Everything dissolved into the void once more.
Riven stood alone.
Heart racing.
Breathing heavily.
"What was that?"
Silence.
Then
A voice.
Deep.
Ancient.
Monstrous.
Behind him.
"The Wolf King failed."
Riven turned.
And felt every drop of blood leave his body.
The Dark Shadow stood there.
Not the form he had seen before.
Not the wolf.
Not the beast.
Something worse.
A towering figure wrapped in living darkness.
Crimson eyes burning within an endless abyss.
Its presence suffocated reality itself.
The Astral Embodiment.
The true form lurking within his soul.
Riven couldn't move.
Couldn't speak.
Fear rooted him in place.
The Dark Shadow stared at him.
Then slowly stepped forward.
"The seal weakens."
Its voice echoed from everywhere.
And nowhere.
"Draegor stirs."
Another step.
"The cycle begins again."
Riven finally found his voice.
"What are you?"
The crimson eyes narrowed.
For a moment...
The creature almost seemed amused.
Then it leaned closer.
Close enough for Riven to see endless darkness within those eyes.
Close enough to feel its hatred.
Its rage.
Its loneliness.
Its pain.
And then it spoke.
Only four words.
Words that sent chills through his soul.
"You are not ready."
The void exploded.
Darkness swallowed everything.
The crimson eyes vanished.
The world shattered.
And Riven woke.
Gasping.
Sweat covered his body.
His heart pounded violently.
The room was dark.
The fire had gone out.
Moonlight filtered through the window.
For several moments he simply sat there.
Trying to breathe.
Trying to think.
Trying to understand.
Then he looked down.
At his trembling hands.
And for the first time since waking from his coma...
Riven felt truly afraid.
Because deep inside his core...
Far beneath the silver moonlight.
Far beneath the blue primal energy.
Something ancient had just spoken to him.
And it knew things that should have been impossible.
Outside, hidden beyond the clouds...
The fractured moon watched silently.
As if waiting for what came next.