The sea whispered secrets to the shore.
Sunrei watched Liri from the corner of his eye as she traced patterns in the wet sand symbols that shimmered for a breath before the tide erased them. Her fingers left faint golden trails where they touched, the same hue as his scar. The same hue as the brands that no longer existed.
Kaelis cleaned her knives with methodical precision, her gaze flicking between them. So. Wardens.
Liri didn't look up. Among other things.
Ryna's tattoos pulsed violet where she leaned against the broken remains of a fossilized rib. And the prisoner?
Still sleeping. Liri's black eyes caught the morning light, swallowing it whole. For now.
Sunrei flexed his newly scarred hand. The brand was gone, but the weight of it remained a phantom ache where power had fused with bone. How long have you known?
Liri smiled. It didn't reach her eyes. Longer than you.
The waves hissed against the shore.
Somewhere, in the dark between breaths, something stirred.
The dreams worsened.
Sunrei woke choking on the scent of rotting flowers, his scars burning with the echo of a voice that wasn't his.
WARDEN.
Kaelis slept fitfully beside him, her knives within easy reach. Liri hadn't slept at all she stood at the window, her silhouette haloed in moonlight, her fingers moving in slow, deliberate patterns.
Sunrei joined her. What are you doing?
Remembering.Her black eyes reflected stars that didn't exist in this world. The first war. The first betrayal. She turned her palm up, revealing a golden brand that hadn't been there before. The first lie.
The mark pulsed once
and the night screamed.
The corpse-city rose from the sea at dawn.
Not in ruins this time.
Whole.
Its spires gleamed black under the bloody sunrise, its streets teeming with shadows that wore familiar faces.
Kaelis cursed. That's not possible.
Liri's golden brand burned brighter. It's a memory.
Ryna's tattoos flared violet. Whose?
Liri didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
The figure at the city's gates was unmistakable tall, broad-shouldered, his face obscured by a helm of living shadow.
Sunrei's scars burned.
He knew that silhouette.
Knew the way it moved.
Knew the weight of the blade at its hip.
Himself.
But not as he was.
As he'd been.
As he'd forgotten.
The warden-king raised his sword
and the city answered.
They crossed the threshold as the memory solidified around them.
The streets were lined with statues of familiar design keepers in armor, their faces frozen in silent screams. The air reeked of iron and something sweetly rotten, the scent clinging to the back of Sunrei's throat like a promise.
Kaelis kept close, her knives ready. This feels like a trap.
Liri's golden brand pulsed. It's a lesson.
The warden-king stood at the city's heart, his shadow-blade buried in the chest of a figure too vast to comprehend. The prisoner's blood was black and endless, pooling in the streets, seeping into the stones, changing them.
Sunrei's scars ached in sympathy. What happened here?
Liri's voice was hollow. The first warden made a choice.
The memory shifted
The blade melted, its shadow seeping into the prisoner's wound. The warden-king's helm cracked, revealing eyes that burned gold.
Not killing.
Joining.
Liri's fingers brushed Sunrei's wrist. He became the lock.
Then
The prisoner laughed.
And the city fell.
They woke on the shore.
The corpse-city was gone again, the sea calm under a cloudless sky.
Sunrei's scars throbbed. That's what we are.
Liri's black eyes reflected the endless blue. What you were meant to be.
Kaelis wiped sea spray from her blades. And the prisoner?
Still sleeping. Liri's golden brand faded as she spoke, leaving no mark behind. But not for long.
Ryna studied the horizon, where the sky met the sea in a line too perfect to be natural. Then we find him first.
Liri smiled.
It wasn't reassuring.
Night fell like a shroud.
Sunrei dreamed of black flowers and golden blades, of a war fought in the spaces between breaths.
He woke to Liri's hand on his chest, her fingers cold through his shirt.
Time to go, she whispered.
Kaelis was already awake, her knives strapped in place. Ryna waited by the door, her tattoos pulsing in time with the distant thunder.
Sunrei flexed his scarred hand. Where?
Liri's black eyes swallowed the moonlight.
To end what he started.