The chamber beneath Serathei was no longer silent.
Though the magic had faded, the air still crackled faintly as if echoes of the power that had passed through the room hadn't quite settled. Eren stood slowly, the sword now sheathed across his back. His limbs trembled, but it wasn't from pain. It was from the feeling that something enormous had shifted within him.
Akreth was no longer a relic. It was awake.
Elira stared at the sword with a wariness she hadn't shown before. She didn't speak for several heartbeats. Then she turned and moved toward the spiral staircase that led them out.
"We have to leave," she said.
Eren followed her, his steps echoing against the ancient stone. "You said someone's coming."
"Not someone," she replied. "Many. There are Orders remnants of old bloodlines that made it their sole purpose to keep Akreth sealed. They were fractured after the last collapse, scattered to the winds. But if they feel its power stirring again, they'll converge."
He tightened his grip. "And they'll try to kill me."
"Yes," she said without hesitation. "But not just to stop you. They'll want the sword intact. There are always those who believe they can tame the flame."
Eren climbed in silence for a moment, mind racing. "If they come… will you fight with me?"
Elira paused at the top of the stairs. The moonlight cast her in pale silver.
"I already made that mistake once," she said. "I won't let another bearer face it alone."
They left the ruins and returned to the forest above. The mist had lifted slightly, revealing a night sky scattered with stars. But the peace was brittle. The air carried a charge now like the world itself was watching.
They didn't stop to rest. Elira led Eren along an overgrown hunter's trail, through the eastern ridge. She said there was a place of safety an outpost hidden by the Veilwood, where old magic still lingered.
They reached it just before dawn.
It was a crumbling stone keep, partially swallowed by the forest. Ivy coated its walls, and the iron gate hung half-broken. But inside, the structure held. A fire pit. A watchtower. Even a few sealed storerooms untouched by time.
Eren dropped his pack and collapsed onto a stone bench inside the main hall. The smell of dust and dried herbs filled his lungs. For the first time in days, he allowed himself to exhale fully.
Elira lit a few lanterns and handed him a waterskin. "We'll stay here for a day. Two at most."
Eren drank deeply, then leaned back against the wall.
"What do you know about these Orders?"
She sat across from him. "The Order of the Silver Veil was the first to rise against Akreth. They believed that the sword's curse was sentience that it wasn't just magic, but will."
"And the others?"
"There's the Red Circle. They think the blade is divine. They worship its chaos. They'll want to claim you as a prophet."
Eren grimaced. "That's not happening."
"There's more," she said. "But the worst of them is the Ashen Covenant. They don't want to destroy the blade. They want to complete it. Restore its original form before the fracture. Before the curse was ever sealed."
He glanced at her. "There's more than this?"
Elira nodded. "The Akreth you know is only one side of the coin."
"And the other?"
"Lost," she said. "Or so we thought."
Eren looked to the sword leaning against the wall. Its runes pulsed softly, not with hunger but with heat. Like banked fire, waiting for kindling.
"Do you believe them?" he asked. "That it can be controlled?"
Elira's eyes darkened.
"I believe it remembers. Every bearer. Every battle. And I think it wants to burn everything so it can forget."
They fell silent, the only sound the crackle of the small fire.
Then a shift.
Eren sat upright. Elira turned sharply. Outside the keep, leaves rustled. A breeze whispered but not in a natural way. Not like wind.
It was footsteps.
Eren reached for his sword.
A shadow passed outside the broken window.
Then another.
Elira stood. "They found us faster than I thought."
"How many?"
"Can't say. But we're not alone."
A voice echoed from beyond the gate.
"Bearer of the Blade! Step forward!"
Eren moved to the door and looked out.
A group of figures stood at the edge of the trees. Robes of grey and silver. Their faces hidden behind bone-white masks.
The lead figure raised a hand. "We are of the Silver Veil. We do not wish bloodshed."
Elira whispered behind him. "They always say that."
Eren stepped forward, keeping one hand on Akreth.
"Then say what you came to say."
The masked figure bowed. "The sword has awakened. The Covenant will come. The Circle is already on the move. But we… we seek to help."
Elira laughed bitterly. "They'll help put you in a cage."
The figure didn't flinch. "There are things even you do not know, Elira of the Shadowline. There are truths beneath your truths. Let us speak before it is too late."
Eren studied them carefully.
The fire within him flickered.
And the blade at his back whispered.