The forest blurred around Kael.
Branches whipped past.Roots cracked beneath his feet.Wind tore against his skin.
But he didn't slow.
The boy struggled behind him, gasping for breath, stumbling over every uneven patch of ground. Kael could hear him wheezing… and still, he pushed forward, because every heartbeat wasted was another heartbeat Lyra spent in fear.
The soil beneath Kael's feet was no longer simply dirt.
It responded.
Every step he took struck the ground with unnatural force—as if the land itself pushed him onward.
He wasn't running alone.
He was running with something ancient.
"S-Stop! Please—slow down!"
The boy's voice cracked behind him.
Kael halted suddenly and turned.
The boy collapsed to his knees, coughing violently. His arms shook, barely able to support his weight.
Kael walked over, grabbed his arm, and pulled him up.
"What's your name?" he asked.
The boy blinked at him in surprise.
"N-Nilo…"
"Then listen, Nilo."Kael's voice was calm, but edged with urgency."We don't slow down. Not today. Not while she's out there alone."
Nilo swallowed hard.
"I-I know. I just… can't breathe…"
Kael glanced at the forest floor.The soil pulsed faintly at his feet.
Could he share the echo with someone else?Could the land strengthen another person through him?
Only one way to know.
Kael knelt and pressed his hand to the dirt.
The soil warmed instantly.
Nilo flinched as a faint ripple of heat spread outward and touched his boots. It crawled up his legs like liquid fire—then eased.
He gasped.
The shaking in his limbs stopped.His breathing steadied.His heart calmed.
"I… feel lighter…"
Kael stood, eyes narrowing.
"So the soil responds to those near me."It wasn't a blessing.It wasn't magic.It was his emotion leaking into the land, and the land sharing that emotion with others.
His first Echotrait was growing.
They ran again—this time with Nilo keeping pace.
Minutes stretched into hours.
The forest began to thin, giving way to harsh slopes and jutting rocks.
Nilo pointed ahead.
"There—look!"
Far in the distance, a trail of black smoke curled into the sky.The unmistakable stench of metal and burning oil hit them.
Kael knew instantly.
The Iron Caravan.
He sped up, every muscle in his body screaming as the soil surged beneath him.
Nilo stumbled behind him again.
"W-Wait—Kael—look there!"
Kael skidded to a halt.
Ahead, on a cliff overlooking the caravan's route, stood a lone figure.
A man in tattered robes.Barefoot.His hair was white despite his youthful face.
He held a staff twisted like a living branch, and he stared down at the distant caravan… with a smile too calm for this world.
Kael stepped forward cautiously.
Nilo whispered, terrified:
"That… that's a Seer…"
Kael had heard of them only in myths.
People who could hear the land's deepest memories.People who lived between reality and hallucination.People who never spoke truth—or lies—only echoes.
Kael approached slowly.
The Seer turned toward him, tilting his head.
His pupils were pale and distant, like he was looking through Kael instead of at him.
Then he whispered:
"The soil knows your rage, Harvest Child."
Kael froze.
He had never told anyone his Echotrait.He barely understood it himself.
The Seer stepped closer, tapping his staff against the ground.Each tap sent small ripples through the earth—ripples the land answered.
Nilo hid behind Kael.
"You know where they're taking her," Kael said."Tell me."
The Seer smiled faintly.
"I know what you will become."
Kael's jaw clenched."I don't care about prophecy. I care about my sister."
The Seer chuckled softly.A chilling, echoing sound.
"Oh, but this is not prophecy."He spread his arms wide."The soil told me. The soil remembers everything—your promises, your pain… and the calamity you will bring."
Kael stepped forward, teeth grinding.
"Where is she?"
The Seer's eyes darkened.
"She is destined for the Serpent Throne.She is destined to rule.And you—"
The air warped around him.
"—are destined to ruin the world in her name."
Kael grabbed the Seer by the collar.
"Tell me where she is."
The Seer didn't resist.
He leaned forward, touching his forehead to Kael's.
A shock ran through both of them.
Kael's vision twisted—
A massive black fortress.Thunder.A girl crying behind iron bars.A man with serpent-shaped armor.And Kael himself…standing over countless bodies, drenched in blood.
The vision ended.
Kael staggered back, breath shattered.
The Seer whispered:
**"Your Echotrait is born from love.
But the world will only see the monster it creates."**
Kael glared at him, eyes blazing.
"Give me her location."
The Seer tapped his staff once more.The ground rumbled.
Then he pointed toward the horizon.
"To the Iron Road.Follow it until the soil turns black with sorrow."
Kael turned away immediately.
But the Seer called out behind him:
"Brother of the Last Harvest…"
Kael stopped.
"…when the world kneels before you, remember this moment."
Kael didn't look back.
He simply began to walk.
Nilo hurried after him, trembling.
"Kael… what does he mean?"
Kael's voice was low, steady, unshakable:
"Nothing."
But deep inside his chest,the soil whispered a different truth—
You cannot save her without becoming what the world fears most.
Kael ignored it.
He kept walking.
The hunt had only begun.