They walked until the Hollow was far behind.
The trees began to look normal again. Still tall. Still quiet. But not twisted. The air smelled like leaves and cold earth. Kael breathed deeper, but it didn't help.
The ache inside him stayed.
He couldn't remember Lyss's laugh. Couldn't picture her face without it fading.
He had given that part away.
Lira walked ahead, shoulders stiff. Her steps were fast, angry. Not at him. At herself.
Kael wanted to speak. To say something that would make the weight lift from her back.
But what words could do that?
They reached a clearing as the sun began to fall. The light touched the grass, turning it gold. A stream ran nearby, soft and slow.
Lira stopped at the edge of the water. She didn't turn around.
Kael stood beside her. He opened his hand. The vial still sat there, cold and dark, the liquid inside like smoke in a bottle.
"Do you think it was worth it?" he asked.
Lira didn't answer at first. Then, quietly, "No. But I would do it again."
Kael looked at her. "You didn't have to."
"Yes, I did."
The wind picked up. It smelled like rain now.
Kael sat down in the grass. He felt tired—not in his body, but in the space where the memory used to live. It was like walking with a limp in his heart.
He remembered Lyss's name. He remembered that he loved her. But the shape of that love was cracked now, like stained glass missing the light behind it.he
Lira sat too, curling her knees up to her chest.
"I saw my brother," she said.
Kael waited.
"He died in the fire. The day the soldiers came. I was supposed to be watching him. I wasn't."
Her voice didn't shake, but her eyes shimmered. She didn't blink them away.
Kael said nothing. Just listened.
"I can't remember the last thing he said to me," she whispered. "It's gone."
Kael wanted to hold her hand, but he didn't. He just sat beside her in the fading light.
After a while, she spoke again. "The sword's quiet."
He nodded. "For now."
Lira turned her head to look at him. Her face was pale, her eyes darker than before. "What happens when the silence ends?"
Kael looked at the vial. "I drink this."
"And then?"
"I don't know."
The wind moved the grass around them. The stream kept running.
Lira lay down, arms folded beneath her head. "We should rest. There's still a long way to go."
Kael didn't move. "What are we even walking toward?"
Lira looked up at the sky. "Whatever's left."
Kael let out a breath. "You always speak like you've already seen the end."
She closed her eyes. "Maybe I have."
Kael lay beside her, staring at the sky. Stars were beginning to appear. Soft, scattered. He wondered if Lyss was one of them now. He tried to remember the story he once told her.
But all he found was silence.
He hated it.
Kael dreamed.
He stood in the middle of a field made of ash. No wind. No sky. Just grey.
In front of him was the sword, stuck in the ground. Its voice spoke from everywhere.
"Do you miss her?"
"Yes," Kael whispered.
"Do you even remember her?"
His hands shook. "Not her voice."
"That's the price."
Kael reached for the sword.
It burned.
"You can take it back," the voice said. "All of it. Give me the rest. Give me your pain, your love, your fear."
Kael fell to his knees.
"No."
"Then suffer."
He woke with a cry.
The grass was wet with dew. The sky was pale with morning. Lira was already awake, watching the trees.
Kael sat up, his chest tight.
"I dreamed," he said.
Lira looked over. "I know."
He looked at his arm. The marks had faded slightly. The leather cord was grey again, not black.
"It's working," he said.
"For now," Lira echoed.
They stood. Shouldered their packs. Began walking again.
The road was dirt now, winding between hills. Birds sang in the trees. A rabbit darted through the brush.
The world looked normal again. But they both knew better.
At midday, they passed a village burned to the ground. Smoke still rose from one of the barns. Bodies were gone, but the blood remained.
Kael didn't ask. Lira didn't look.
They kept walking.
By evening, they reached the edge of a wide lake. The water was still, a mirror for the sky.
Kael sat by the shore. He held the vial up to the light.
The black liquid shimmered.
"Do you think it will really help?" he asked.
Lira knelt beside him. "I think it will help for a while."
He nodded.
"I'll wait to drink it," he said.
She tilted her head. "Why?"
"Because there's something I want to remember a little longer."
Lira looked at him, eyes soft.
"I don't want to forget how this feels," Kael said. "The weight. The ache. It's all I have left of her."
Lira touched his shoulder. "That's what makes it real."
They sat in silence as the sun dipped below the horizon.
Kael held the vial in one hand.
In the other, he held nothing.
But it still hurt.
And somehow, that was okay.
TO BE CONTINUED...