Lusian floated in that uncomfortable limbo where the body demands respite, but the mind stubbornly refuses to lower its guard. He slept halfway. After everything that had happened, the slightest creak was a potential threat. Around him, the savanna breathed: the wind brushed against the settlement's structures, while in the distance, the murmur of voices and footsteps mingled with the deafening, persistent chorus of insects.
Suddenly, the space beside him folded in on itself with the subtlety of fabric being silently torn.
Lusian opened his eyes.
"You're late."
Keitaro was already there, standing upright as though he had been petrified in place for hours. At his feet, the sand bore not the slightest trace of his arrival.
"And you're still sleeping," Keitaro replied, unfazed. "It's daytime. I suppose that's a good sign."
Lusian slowly sat up, feeling the dull protest of his still-tense muscles.
"I had work last night," he muttered as he glanced around. "Andrew?"
Keitaro did not answer immediately. His gaze swept across the settlement.
Humans. Elves. Walls. Fields still in their infancy.
A place that was only beginning to become something more than a refuge.
"So this is the place you chose."
Lusian said nothing.
Keitaro let a barely perceptible smile escape him.
"I see."
Then he nodded and took out a small bracelet made of dark metal.
The runes engraved across its surface did not remain still. They moved slowly, following a steady rhythm, as though the bracelet itself were breathing.
"For Elizabeth."
Lusian took it, weighing the coldness of the metal in his hand.
"What does it contain?"
"Clothes. Food. Spices..." Keitaro paused briefly, his tone softening ever so slightly. "The ones she likes."
Lusian raised an eyebrow.
"All that?"
"Andrew emphasized that it isn't an order." A hint of a smile appeared on Keitaro's face. "He just... doesn't want his sister to go cold or hungry at the end of the world."
Lusian let out a low laugh.
"He never stops worrying about her."
"Never." Keitaro turned his gaze toward the horizon. "Although he still insists the capital is safer than this refuge."
"He's probably right."
"Probably."
Silence fell between them, heavy yet comfortable. The kind of mature calm shared only by those who have survived enough together to have no need for empty conversation.
However, Keitaro's gaze abruptly dropped to Lusian's hand. To the ring. His expression subtly hardened.
"The mark is still active."
Lusian closed his fist, enclosing the newly received bracelet.
"Yes."
"How much time does it have left?"
"I don't know."
Keitaro held his gaze, analytical.
"You'll have to mark her again sooner or later."
"No," Lusian interrupted firmly. "I don't want you to. The heralds are already watching you. If they suspect you're still using the bond..."
"They already suspect it."
The answer came wrapped in an icy calm. Far too calm for the gravity of the matter. Lusian raised his eyes and fixed them on him.
Keitaro let out a tired sigh.
"The king. The gods. Those who descended from the heavens." He shrugged. "The order of the world beginning to pay far too much attention to you."
He crossed his arms, letting the tension hang between them before fixing his eyes on the ring once more.
"My debt is settled."
The statement remained suspended in the air, heavy. There was neither resentment nor threat in his voice; only the implacable certainty of a farewell.
"Don't expose yourself," Lusian finally said.
"Is that all you're going to say?"
"Yes."
"I might never come back."
Lusian did not blink.
"I know."
For an instant, Keitaro's rigidity broke, and his expression softened.
"That's what annoys me most about you," he murmured.
"Oh."
"You're very annoying."
Before Lusian could formulate a reply, a familiar voice emerged from the dimness inside.
"Keitaro?"
Emily appeared carrying a small plate of food. Upon discovering the figure of the newcomer, she stopped dead. For one eternal second, time seemed to freeze.
Keitaro broke the ice.
"You're still standing."
Emily offered a faint smile.
"For now."
"That's more than enough."
She took a few steps forward. Under the daylight, the dark branches of the curse were still visible beneath her skin, though noticeably faded. She tilted her head curiously.
"How is Iris?"
Keitaro blinked, slightly caught off guard.
"Fine."
The speed of the answer gave him away. Emily's smile widened.
"She's exhausted, then."
Keitaro let out a brief, defeated laugh.
"The child won't let her sleep."
"Tell her the seeds she sent me have already started to sprout."
Keitaro lowered his gaze for a second, committing the information to memory.
"I will."
Emily nodded, bringing the exchange to an end. No more words were necessary. The weight of everything left unsaid hung over them: Iris was far away, Andrew was far away, the entire capital was a distant echo. And there they were, stranded at the edge of a continent that did not even appear on any known map.
Keitaro turned toward Lusian once more.
"Don't activate the mark again."
"It wasn't part of my plans."
"If a real emergency arises..."
Lusian held up the bracelet between his fingers.
"I'll look for you."
"Good," Keitaro smiled.
He took a step backward, and reality around him began to distort, filling with invisible folds.
"Take care of this place."
"Take care of your people," Lusian replied with a nod.
Keitaro held his gaze for one final heartbeat before being swallowed by the void. No flashes, no sounds, no trace left behind on the surface. Only displaced air occupied the space where he had just stood.
Emily slowly approached Lusian, staring at the empty spot.
"He's not coming back?"
Lusian watched the dormant runes on the bracelet.
"I don't know."
Emily turned her eyes toward the emptiness.
"He'll come when everything is burning... right?"
Lusian took a moment to answer. His gaze was lost in the vast horizon stretching beyond the settlement.
"Probably."
It was not a firm promise. But in times like these, it did not sound like a final farewell either.