The dead shall rise again like a phoenix from its ashes, soaring beyond the horizon while the world watches on.
Those had been the words of the old monk, spoken in a whisper so soft it could have been mistaken for the rustle of leaves, yet they had clung to Gemmi's mind like a curse. Even now, kneeling in a clearing where skeletal trees clawed at the night sky and damp earth breathed the scent of rain, Gemmi could hear them as clearly as if the man stood behind him.
Shenni shifted nervously, the moonlight catching the sharp edge of his cheek as he glanced at the twisted shadows between the trunks."Gemmi… are you sure about this? I'm still young and unmarried. Let's leave it. Please. This place…" He swallowed. "It feels like it's watching us."
Gemmi didn't look up. His shovel bit into the earth with steady, ruthless strokes. "If you want to leave, go. But if I find what I came for, don't come asking for a share."
"I don't want a share!" Shenni's voice cracked. "I want to go home alive. I don't want to see you buried here."
Seven paces north from the ancient oak. Three west toward the moon. Dig where the roots fork. The monk's instructions were etched into Gemmi's mind as clearly as scripture.
Thunk.
The shovel struck something hollow. Gemmi's breath caught. Dropping to his knees, he clawed away the soil until his fingers brushed wood — a small trunk, weathered but intact.
The hinges groaned as he pried it open. Inside, wrapped in faded red twine, lay a single roll of parchment.
Gemmi stared. "A dusty scroll? Are you kidding me?"
Shenni leaned in, voice hushed. "It's just paper…"
"I'll kill that old man," Gemmi muttered.
Before Shenni could drag him away, a sudden wind swirled through the clearing, curling around them like invisible fingers. Clouds slid away from the moon, bathing the ground in cold silver light. Thunder rolled, deep and resonant, humming in their bones.
"Gemmi…" Shenni's knuckles whitened around his coat. "Something's wrong."
Gemmi didn't answer. The air felt thick, charged, alive.
He took the scroll, the parchment warm against his palms, and untied the twine. The faded ink shimmered as though wet. His voice trembled as he read:
All hail the Knight,Heir of sorcery,Son of Hades,Thou who hast been in slumber,Waiting for your calling,Hear me, as I say,Arise, O Fallen Knight!
The last word had barely left his lips when lightning split the sky, striking the scroll with blinding force. The parchment burned in his hands, disintegrating into ash that swirled upward like black snow.
The ashes began to glow.
They spun in mid-air, weaving together into the shape of a man. The light deepened into the color of skin, cloth, and metal, and then he was simply there.
Tall. Broad-shouldered. Eyes like molten steel that seemed to see through everything they touched. His hair was as black as a raven's wing, falling in waves to his collar. Power clung to him like a second skin, the kind that made the air hum and hearts stutter.
He looked around slowly, his voice low and rich as velvet. "Am I… not dead?"
Gemmi swallowed hard. "We found a scroll. We read it. Then… you appeared."
The knight's gaze softened, almost imperceptibly. "Then I owe you my thanks."
Gemmi blinked. "Thanks?"
"You have woken me. For that, I am in your debt."
From within his dark cloak, he withdrew a gold ring set with diamonds, the gems catching the moonlight like captured stars. When he stepped closer, the air seemed warmer, his presence almost intoxicating.
"Take this," he said. "It is but a small token. If you desire more, grant me a few days… and I shall give you something worthy."
Shenni tugged on Gemmi's sleeve. "That's more than enough. Let's leave."
But Gemmi couldn't take his eyes off the knight, off the way the silver-blue light kissed the sharp lines of his face, the quiet power in the way he stood.
Behind them, as they walked away, the knight remained in the clearing. Moonlight crowned his dark hair as he murmured something the brothers could not hear, words that curled into the night like the promise of a story yet to be told.