The sky was a cold, desolate gray as Zinia and Mei trekked through the wasteland, the land around them barren and scorched. Twisted trees stood like skeletal sentinels, their branches clawing at the empty sky, casting long shadows on the cracked earth. The silence was oppressive, broken only by the crunch of their footsteps. Zinia's expression was as cold as the air, her eyes forward, focused on the distant horizon.
Mei followed a few steps behind her, his movements silent, his eyes distant and unfocused. He carried himself like a ghost, neither alive nor dead—just a shadow walking through the remnants of a world that no longer had a place for him. His mind was empty, his body a vessel, a puppet. Zinia's puppet.
Zinia had long grown accustomed to the hollow presence of her brother. She didn't pity him, didn't mourn for the boy he once was—if he had ever been anything more than this. Mei had always been different, even before their family had been wiped out. He had been born with the ability to see souls, a gift that had rendered him vulnerable, his mind hollow. He hadn't stood a chance against the forces that had shaped him into what he was now.
*He's nothing more than a tool,* Zinia thought to herself as she walked. A tool she controlled. The right hand of their family, their uncle, had made sure of that. He had turned Mei into the perfect puppet—an empty vessel who could be filled with commands, with power, but who would never act on his own. And, of course, he had made Mei the bearer of the letter.
Zinia's eyes flicked to the side, glancing briefly at her brother's vacant expression. The letter. It was a burden neither of them could escape. It wasn't just a piece of paper tucked into a pocket or hidden in a satchel. No, the letter was bound to Mei's very soul, woven into the fabric of his mind. Zinia couldn't read it, couldn't touch it. But she could feel it, its presence pulsing faintly from within her brother, a constant reminder of the mission that had been forced upon them.
*What could be so important?* she wondered, her mind turning over the question for what felt like the hundredth time. The right hand—her uncle—had placed the letter inside Mei before he had disappeared, shortly after their family had been slaughtered. He had called it "the family's final task," the last duty of the greatest house that had ever existed. But he hadn't told Zinia who the letter was meant for, nor had he explained why it had to be Mei who carried it.
It frustrated her, this lack of knowledge. Zinia was the new head of the family now, after all. She had been her father's daughter, his chosen successor. She was the prodigy, the one with unparalleled control over essence, the one who could manipulate reality itself. It was her birthright to know. And yet, her uncle had withheld that knowledge, binding Mei to this mission instead.
*I'm the head of the family now,* she thought, her jaw tightening as she pushed through the wasteland. *Not him. Not anyone else.*
The thought of her uncle lingered in her mind, his shadow hanging over her even now. She hadn't seen him since the night their family had been annihilated, but his influence was still felt. He had left Mei in her care, but it wasn't out of kindness or love. It was because Mei was useful. Just like the letter.
Zinia's mind wandered back to the strange events of the day before. The hollow boy another mystery she couldn't quite shake. Why had he been so far from the frontlines? Hollows rarely ventured beyond the abyss, and yet this one had wandered into their path, thousands of miles away from where he should have been. It was odd, unsettling.
*Was he sent?* Zinia wondered. *Or was he running from something?* She couldn't be sure. The war had stretched across the realms, and strange things were happening everywhere, but this felt different. It felt deliberate. Almost as if something—or someone—wanted to interfere with their journey.
Zinia's fingers twitched, a faint pulse of essence flickering in the air around her as she considered the possibilities. Whoever or whatever had sent that hollow, if that was indeed what had happened, was trying to delay them. Or perhaps it was testing them, seeing if they were strong enough to continue.
But who? Who would care enough to send a hollow to intercept them?
Her thoughts drifted again to the letter. The one they were supposed to deliver. It was supposed to go to someone, someone important, but Zinia didn't know who. The only thing her uncle had told her was that the recipient was somewhere behind the frontlines. Her first thought was in the fortress country, a place sealed off from the rest of the world, surrounded by towering walls and defenses so powerful that even Zinia hesitated to imagine trying to breach them.
*What kind of person would live in there?* she asked herself, her eyes narrowing as she tried to puzzle it out. Whoever built it, they had to be powerful or smart. No ordinary person could command such secrecy, such protection. And yet, they were apparently important enough to have information from everywhere, so they must know about the letter and the recipient. What was the message? A warning? Solution?
Zinia's thoughts darkened as they continued walking through the wasteland, her mind buzzing with unanswered questions.
And then, faintly, a voice. Not Zinia's. Not Mei's.
*Why are we even bothering?* I whispered, low and bitter. *Why deliver this letter when we know what will happen in the end?*
My voice echoed in the space between Zinia and Mei, but neither of them reacted. Neither of them could hear it.
*I know what's coming,* my thoughts continued, its tone shifting, almost resigned. *We'll fight. That's all this is. We're walking toward a war, and in the end, it won't matter. The family is gone. The letter is just an excuse.*
I was Mei's soul speaking, though no one could hear me. The letter had woven itself so deeply into me that even my own thoughts had become indistinguishable from the task they had been given. Mei had no will of his own, but somewhere deep within him, the part that had once been human still lingered, still questioned.
*Zinia doesn't care,* I voice whispered to Mei. *She never has. To her, I'm just a puppet, and this letter is just another step in her plan. But in the end, we'll fight. We always do. It's what we're made for.*
My voice faded, lost in the emptiness of Mei's mind. He didn't react, didn't flinch. He simply kept walking, his eyes as vacant as ever.
Zinia, for her part, remained unaware. She pressed on, her mind filled with calculations, strategies, and the questions that gnawed at her. She didn't need Mei to understand. She didn't need him to think or feel. All she needed was for him to follow orders. And when the time came, to deliver the letter.
Because in the end, Zinia knew the truth as well. This war wasn't going to be won with words or letters. It was going to be fought with blood, with essence, with power. She had no illusions about that. And when the time came, she would be ready.
The wasteland stretched on before them, endless and silent, as the siblings walked toward their the road to their first of many destination.
The fortress country.