"Kai, so what's the plan?" Leon asked, guiding his horse through the forest's dim canopy. Both young men were tall, features defined by hard-earned maturity, devoid of any remaining boyish softness.
"Let's head to the cave for a mock battle," Kai answered, his tone measured as he stared straight ahead. "I want to see how far you've come."
Leon grumbled, "It's really unfair you can use Nafs while I've only got my body to rely on."
"Unfair?" Kai's brow creased in mock disbelief. "You're already as strong as most Weavers—your speed and power rival theirs. Yet my body is of a regular man!"
Leon sighed, tapping the side of his horse. "Yet you still beat me because of your Nafs. Not fair."
A faint grin tugged at Kai's lips. "I'll take what advantage I can."
They emerged into a stark clearing before a cavern mouth carved into the mountainside. Its yawning entrance exuded a hollow chill. The two dismounted without tethering the horses.
"Both of you can roam," Kai murmured to the animals, patting his towering steed's muzzle, "but be back soon."
Leon lifted a spear taller than himself, while Kai slid a long sabre from his hip. With few words, they stepped into the cave's depths. Darkness swallowed them, torchlight replaced by the faint glimmer of Kai's violet Nafs.
It had been three years since that harrowing night—three years of training, research, and unanswered questions.
Kai found no clue about the mysterious events beyond the mountains or the creeping corruption in his own body. Despite constant effort, he still couldn't awaken his Latifa. His Sahalim, meanwhile, felt tainted.
The dark affliction now spread from his right hand up past his shoulder, an insidious rot devouring flesh and veins. The sole bright spot was his mastery of Nafs. His diligence under relentless attacks from Leon's twisted powers led Kai to the Mulhimah realm—an accomplishment typically reserved for Guardians.
Leon halted about twenty paces away, twirling his spear with a grim determination. A hush settled in the cave, broken only by the dripping of unseen water. "Same rules as before? First hit wins?"
Kai nodded, gripping his sabre. An eerie, purple aura fanned out from his frame like wisps of ghostly smoke. His eyes gleamed with unnatural light. "Right. And remember—" His voice dropped to a murmur. "If you hesitate, I won't hold back."
Leon inhaled sharply. Though his own Nafs remained locked, his physical abilities had skyrocketed. Unnatural black veins, clearly visible through his fair skin, twitched with pent-up energy. He set his jaw. "I've got it."
A flicker of movement—and Kai vanished from sight, reappearing in front of Leon with a dull clang of steel on spear. Sparks danced in the gloom. Leon retaliated with a fierce punch, free hand glowing faintly in the darkness, but Kai spun backward, shoving off the spear to avoid the blow.
"Is that all you've got?" Kai mocked, hovering a foot above the ground as if weightless.
"Not fair!" Leon hissed, aiming his spear upward. "You know I can't step on thin air without Nafs!"
Kai snorted. "And I don't have a monster's physique—life's never fair." Raising his free hand, he murmured, Nafskara… Shrill Arms.
The cave dimmed abruptly. A sickly cacophony of squirming, whispering sounds echoed along the walls.
Leon's heart pounded. An acrid tang of dread seeped into the air, and the ground felt unsteady.
"B-Bro?" Leon mumbled, blinking as his vision blurred. An uncanny weeping noise filled his ears. Something damp and rope-like slithered around his legs.
Chills raced across Leon's spine. He gripped his spear, swallowing hard. Stay calm. Closing his eyes, he forced himself to rely on hearing.
A voice sighed in his ear: "Over here."
Leon, refusing to turn, stabbed downward, yelping as his spear struck something fleshy. A shriek tore through the gloom.
"That was rather bold," came Kai's whisper. A fraction of a second later, cold steel pressed against Leon's neck from behind. "But I win."
The illusory darkness lifted in an instant, revealing Kai's blade poised to slice. Leon scowled, swatting the sword away. "That's cheap," he spat, chest heaving. "I couldn't see or hear properly—it was like my senses were all messed up."
"It's training," Kai said evenly, letting the last remnants of the Nafskara fade. "Shrill Arms is just one of the more basic techniques I use."
"Basic, my ass," Leon muttered, grinding his teeth. "It felt like I was going insane."
Kai shrugged, wiping a faint trickle of sweat from his brow. "If I used its advanced version, you wouldn't just have distorted senses—you'd lose them entirely. Look, we're heading to Shumara soon. I need you to be ready for anything, including foes closer than the Zhull."
Leon tensed at the name Shumara. He'd learned enough to grasp how deadly that realm was. Over these three years, both brothers had discovered one truth: everyone was an enemy.
"Again," Leon said, voice rough. "Let's do it again—I can handle it."
Kai offered a slight nod. "Fine."
For the next hour, they clashed repeatedly in the cave's oppressive darkness. Kai's mastery of Nafs overshadowed Leon's brute force, yet Leon's startling physical power made each exchange perilously close.
By the time they emerged, both were drenched in sweat, lungs aching for fresh air. Outside, twilight crept in, painting the forest in uneasy shadows.
The air felt thick with tension, and the silence lingered until Leon broke it.
"Kai, why must we go to Shumara?" he asked abruptly, clutching his spear at his side as though it might anchor him.
Kai paused, eyes flicking to his younger brother. "What do you mean?" he returned, voice gravelly from exertion. "We need answers about your condition. If there's anything out there that might help, it's bound to be in Shumara."
"But Shumara is…" Leon trailed off, grimacing. "Even Sentinels don't go there unless they're forced to. It's deadly."
Kai expelled a heavy sigh, the weight of his unspoken fears etched in every line of his face. "We don't have a choice. Believe me, if I could go alone and leave you safe here, I would. But without my daily containment, you know what would happen."
Leon flinched, recalling the nights Kai had spent painstakingly holding back his chaotic Nafs. "Why not just… forget all this?" he asked, a flicker of pleading in his gaze. "As long as you contain it once a day, can't we keep living a normal life?"
At that, Kai shook his head. His eyes clouded with a mix of frustration and sorrow. "When was the last time you really looked at my right arm?"
Leon hesitated, brow furrowing. "Two years, maybe," he ventured.
His older brother gave him a tired nod, then peeled off his shirt. Leon's heart seized at the sight beneath: from Kai's right hand up to his shoulder—and even creeping across his ribs—the flesh looked ravaged, veins inky black and seemingly moving beneath the skin. It was as though something alive lurked there, gnawing at him from within.
"Gods…" Leon breathed, face blanching. "W-what is that? Why didn't you show me?"
"It wouldn't have changed anything," Kai murmured, slipping his shirt back on with a grimace. "Every time I contain your Nafs, it attacks my body. This corruption grows bit by bit. Eventually, it'll devour me."
Leon's mouth opened, but no words escaped. Finally, his voice cracked in alarm. "Kai, this is serious! We have to—"
"Do you think I've spent these past three years doing nothing?" Kai snapped, anger briefly flashing in his eyes before he sighed and averted his gaze. "Your Nafs isn't like anyone else's. It doesn't obey normal rules—it's practically Zhull. Even your Sahalim… it's not like any Rulin's I've read or heard about."
He moved to lean against a tree, staring into the forest's shadows as though seeking answers. "I reek of a Zhull now," he added in a low murmur. "But you somehow don't carry that stench at all."
Leon struggled to absorb this, confusion and guilt clashing on his features. "How do you mean?"
Kai's voice took on a weary, haunted note. "Last year, I had you test your Nafs on a small animal, remember?"
Leon nodded slowly. "Yeah. It… died. That day's still a blur."
"It looked dead," Kai corrected with a bitter laugh. "After we buried it, I dug it up. In my research, I needed to observe your Nafs up close. Turns out it reanimated—twisted into a sort of mock Zhull. A Murkspawn, essentially."
Leon paled. "That's… impossible."
Kai shook his head. "I wish it were. The more I learn, the more I realize your power eclipses even a Tenebraith's. And it's slowly killing me. That is why we have to risk Shumara." He gave a half-hearted smile—hollow around the edges. "If there's any slim chance to save us both, that's where we'll find it."
They stood in uneasy silence, the forest around them strangely subdued. After a moment, two familiar silhouettes emerged among the trees—Muz and Leon's own horse, returning on a lazy trot.
Leon looked down at his spear, then back at Kai. "I hate this," he whispered. "But if you say there's no other way… I'll follow you into Shumara."
Kai's chest tightened with a mix of relief and dread. He gently patted his steed's muzzle. "Then let's go home for now. We'll prepare ourselves, gather what we need…" His voice wavered for a moment, but he steadied it. "I promise, I'll figure this out—no matter the cost."
With that unspoken oath hanging between them, they mounted their horses. The forest's shadows deepened as dusk settled in, wrapping the two brothers in a hush of foreboding.
Neither spoke as they rode on, each wrestling with the terror of the unknown future—and the grim hope that Shumara might hold their salvation.