The city no longer existed.
Smoke curled into the twilight sky, thick and suffocating, a final whisper of the ruins that once stood where Velmiris had been. The Rift had taken what it wanted.
And what remained—was silence.
Kael sat on the edge of a broken wall, watching the last flames die in the distance.
They had won.
Or maybe they had lost.
There were no celebrations. No victorious cries.
Only a few survivors were left standing, scattered across the ruined outskirts, their faces hollowed by exhaustion.
They were the ones who the Riftborn had not claimed.
The ones who had not fled in terror.
And they were waiting.
For orders.
For something.
For him.
Kael exhaled slowly, rubbing the tension from his temple.
He wasn't their leader.
Not anymore.
Not since Aelthar changed.
And that change—was why he and Lira had made their choice.
By the time the sun set, they would be gone.
----
Lira crouched beside a supply crate, her fingers working swiftly over the straps of a stolen saddlebag.
She didn't look up as Kael approached.
"You're sure about this?" Kael asked, voice quiet.
Lira didn't stop moving. "You're asking now?"
Kael exhaled, his fingers tightening around the hilt of his sword. "We leave, and that's it. We don't come back."
Lira's hands stilled.
For a long moment, she said nothing.
Then—she looked up.
And in the dim firelight, Kael saw something he had never seen before in her eyes.
Not anger.
Not fear.
Resolve.
"We're already gone, Kael," she murmured. "We just haven't walked away yet."
Kael swallowed hard.
Because she was right.
The Aelthar they had followed—was gone.
The war they had fought—was over.
What remained was a man they no longer knew.
And by dusk—they would leave him behind.
----
The first sign was the wind.
A shift in the air. A pressure that did not belong.
Kael felt it before he heard it.
Lira tensed beside him, her hand hovering over the dagger at her belt.
Then—
"You're leaving."
The voice was calm.
Controlled.
But it wasn't Aric's voice.
Kael turned slowly.
And there—standing at the edge of the firelight, watching them with eyes that no longer belonged to a man—
Was Aelthar.
He had known.
Of course, he had known.
"You should be resting," Kael said carefully.
Aelthar tilted his head, but the movement was too slow. Too measured.
"So should you."
Kael's fingers curled into fists.
Lira didn't speak.
Because there was nothing to say.
Aelthar already knew.
This wasn't a conversation.
It was a reckoning.
Kael took a slow breath.
"We fought for you," he said, steady his voice. "We believed in you. And now—"
Aelthar stepped forward.
And the firelight bent around him.
Not shadow.
Not illusion.
Something else.
Something Kael did not have a name for.
Aelthar's gaze did not waver.
"You still think this is about belief?" he murmured.
Kael's jaw clenched. "You're not the man we followed."
Aelthar held his gaze.
And smiled.
"You're right."
Kael's breath hitched.
Because for the first time—Aelthar didn't deny it.
He had changed.
And now, he was asking them to decide what that meant.
Kael and Lira had planned to leave before this confrontation.
But now—they weren't sure they would get the chance.
----
The wind died.
The fires still burned in the distance, the last remnants of Velmiris crumbling into ruin, but around them—there was silence.
Aelthar stood in front of Kael and Lira, his presence impossibly still.
For a moment, no one moved.
And then—
"You were my most loyal," Aelthar murmured, his gaze shifting between them. His voice was calm. Not angry. Not betrayed. Simply knowing.
Kael's hand hovered near his sword.
Lira's breath was slow, steady. Her dagger was already in her palm.
"You're not Aric anymore," Kael said carefully. Not an accusation. A fact.
Aelthar smiled.
"Maybe I never was."
And then—the Rift pulsed.
It wasn't visible.
It wasn't something they could see.
But they felt it.
Kael's vision blurred for a split second. Lira gritted her teeth.
Something was pressing down on them.
Not magic.
Not power.
Something older.
Kael's grip tightened.
"You think we're blind?" Lira's voice was sharp, cutting through the pressure around them. "You think we don't see what's happening to you?"
Aelthar took a slow step forward.
And the shadows moved with him.
"You see what I allow you to see," he murmured.
Lira's blade flashed.
Aelthar's gaze flicked toward it.
And for a single heartbeat—Kael saw something flicker in his expression.
Not anger.
Not amusement.
Recognition.
As if he had been waiting for this moment.
As if he had always known it would end like this.
----
Kael moved first.
Because he knew—Aelthar was waiting for them to make the choice.
And so he did.
His sword cleared its sheath in a single, fluid motion. The firelight glinted against the steel, the runes along the blade pulsing faintly as he swung.
Aelthar didn't move.
Didn't dodge.
Didn't flinch.
And then—the world shifted.
Kael's sword missed.
It wasn't that Aelthar had stepped aside.
It wasn't that he had blocked.
It was as if the space he had been standing in no longer existed.
Kael's blade sliced through empty air.
And in the next breath—Aelthar was behind him.
"Too slow."
Kael spun—
But Aelthar caught his wrist.
The grip wasn't human.
Cold.
Unyielding.
And when Kael looked down—his veins darkened beneath Aelthar's touch.
His pulse staggered.
The Rift's presence was inside him.
Lira moved next.
Her dagger sang through the air, aimed for Aelthar's throat.
For a split second, Kael thought it would land.
And then—it stopped.
Not because Aelthar had caught it.
Not because he had dodged.
But because the blade froze in place, hovering inches from his skin.
Aelthar exhaled.
"You are still thinking in human terms."
The dagger shattered.
Lira stumbled back.
Kael wrenched free of Aelthar's grip, gasping as his pulse steadied.
Aelthar watched them both.
And for the first time—he looked… disappointed.
Not angry.
Not victorious.
Disappointed.
"Is this really all you have left?"
Kael's breath burned.
Because this wasn't a battle.
It was a lesson.
And Aelthar was still teaching.
----
Lira's heart hammered.
She had seen monsters before.
Had fought them. Had killed them.
But this was worse.
This wasn't a monster.
This was Aelthar.
And he wasn't even fighting them.
Kael forced himself to breathe.
"Are you going to kill us?" he muttered.
Aelthar tilted his head. "If I was, would you still be breathing?"
Kael's jaw clenched.
Aelthar took a slow step back.
"You want to leave," he murmured. "So go."
Kael and Lira froze.
It wasn't an offer.
It was a warning.
"You think it's that simple?" Lira's voice was low.
Aelthar smiled.
"It never was."
Lira's grip on her second dagger tightened.
Kael's fingers curled into fists.
Because they knew.
The Rift had already marked them.
It had been watching them.
And now—it wasn't letting them go.
Aelthar turned away.
As if they no longer mattered.
As if they had already lost.
"Walk away, if you still think you can," he said, voice quiet.
And then—
"The Rift will call you back eventually."
The flames in the distance roared higher.
Kael and Lira did not move.
Because they weren't sure if walking away was even possible anymore.