The sun faded behind a gray sky, leaving the road to sink into a suffocating torpor.
The earth was hard, the wheels groaned, and the silence between Asveri and Anor'ven felt heavier than ever.
Asveri spat to the side, his eyes dark.
"Great… we're exhausted, we survived a bloodbath, and here we are, playing prisoners again."
"Happy now? You and your fucking statue destiny."
Anor'ven didn't answer.
He kept his eyes closed, absent.
Asveri clenched his teeth.
"I'm talking to you, damn it."
Anor'ven barely cracked an eye open, indifferent.
"I'm listening."
"Then tell me… what's the plan? Wander like ghosts until the next asshole decides to cage us again?"
A faint breath escaped Anor'ven's lips. Not a laugh. Just a reminder.
"It's not a plan. It's the order of things."
Asveri slammed his fist against the cart's wall, frustrated.
"Fuck… you're really worn down to the bone."
Night fell, oppressive and heavy.
The convoy slowed.
The guards whispered quietly, their eyes lost in the dark hills flanking the road.
Asveri frowned.
Something felt wrong.
He heard nothing.
But he felt.
In the very fabric of the air, he sensed twisted echoes.
Sick minds.
Dirty, warped thoughts, dripping with envy, hate, and cruel intent.
Not hunger. Not fear.
Just the desire to destroy.
Asveri shot upright, tense.
"Shit… this stinks."
"What?" grumbled one of the guards.
Asveri turned to Anor'ven, taut like a drawn bow.
"They're coming. Bad ones. Not here to steal. They want to break things."
Anor'ven slowly opened his eyes.
"This always follows when the world fractures."
Asveri barely had time to prepare.
The screams erupted.
The raiders emerged from the shadows like a shredded wave of darkness.
Not starving. Not desperate.
Joyful.
They laughed as they slashed.
They screamed as they gutted.
They were having fun.
The convoy exploded into panic.
Guards fell within seconds.
Asveri was yanked from his seat, slammed brutally to the ground.
A filthy raider, yellow teeth and bloodshot eyes gleaming with excitement, grabbed his throat.
"You're gonna be fun, kid. Smart mouth, huh? We'll fix that."
Asveri struggled, panicking.
"Let go of me, you fucking bastard!"
"Shut up!" snarled the raider, raising his chipped axe.
Asveri felt the blade descend.
"ANOR!" he screamed.
Elsewhere, Anor'ven had just been violently thrown to the ground by a hulking brute.
His head cracked against the stone with a sharp sound.
His skull split cleanly, a wide red fissure crossing his face.
He stayed motionless for a second.
Then… he moved.
Not gently.
Not calmly.
He rose in one swift motion.
His eyes burned.
No emptiness. No wisdom.
Only rage.
Not wild rage.
A tool's rage.
Primal. Ancient.
He leapt.
His legs shattered the ground, launching his body like a projectile.
He reached the raider holding Asveri.
Without slowing, he delivered a brutal headbutt that shattered the man's skull in a spray of bone and blood.
CRAAACK.
Silence fell immediately.
Even Asveri froze.
"…holy… fucking shit…" he muttered.
He saw Anor'ven's skull — cracked wide open, exposed.
But already, the flesh closed.
Bones fused, veins rethreaded.
In just heartbeats, Anor'ven stood whole again.
He straightened, stoic.
The raiders recoiled, pale.
"What… the fuck is that thing…" whispered one.
"Not human… we need to run…"
But their fear hadn't fully taken over yet.
They were gathering their courage when something interrupted them.
A strange sound filled the air.
Wind chimes.
Low voices, soft, like ancient songs.
From the darkness, shapes emerged.
Veiled silhouettes wearing masks crafted from shells and polished metal.
They advanced without visible weapons, yet radiated a serenity that froze the raiders' blood.
The bandits understood without words.
They were not predators here.
In seconds, they vanished, fleeing into the night without looking back.
Silence returned.
The veiled figures approached.
They moved without hostility, gliding softly across the dirt.
Anor'ven stood tall and unmoving.
Asveri, still panting, was cautious yet curious.
One of them — taller, wearing a mask split like a crescent moon — stepped forward.
His voice was gentle, carrying no threat.
"The chaos has ended. The earth led you to us."
Asveri stood up, frowning.
"Yeah, that's nice and all… but who the hell are you?"
"You don't kill, you don't capture. So what's your deal?"
A faint murmur rippled through the group.
The leader answered calmly.
"We are the Strayed of Selmor."
"Those who build no more, those who pray no more."
"We cross the dead zones. We walk where life falters and where the world forgets."
Anor'ven tilted his head, intrigued.
"Survivors… or witnesses?"
The leader nodded.
"Both.
We have ceased trying to rule.
Here, we gather what little the earth offers.
We welcome wandering souls, but bind none."
Asveri, surprised, pushed further.
"So you don't take slaves? You don't join wars? You just… survive?"
"Live," corrected the leader softly.
"And sometimes, teach. Few listen, but all eventually become like us."
He paused, turning his mask toward Anor'ven.
"You… are already beyond.
But him," he said, nodding to Asveri, "he is still young. Still angry."
Asveri lowered his eyes, unsettled.
Anor'ven broke the silence.
"Why help us?"
The leader of the Strayed answered without hesitation.
"Because death is too loud, and life too brief.
We do not save. We do not judge.
We saw two souls avoiding the blade. That is enough."
Asveri let out a breath, almost shocked.
"You're the first who doesn't want anything from us…"
The leader stepped back slightly.
"We only want you to pass. Nothing more."
Later, beside a simple and comforting fire, Asveri and Anor'ven sat together.
The camp was peaceful.
The Strayed sang quietly as they tended to their tools, speaking little.
Asveri stared at the flames, then at his companion.
"I like it here… it's quiet."
Anor'ven didn't reply.
Asveri turned his head.
"You think we'll end up like them?"
Anor'ven finally spoke.
"Maybe.
Those who survive long enough stop wanting.
And those who stop wanting… become this."
Asveri nodded slowly.
"Maybe that's not so bad," he murmured.
Anor'ven stared at him, unblinking.
"Until the day something takes what you no longer want."
Silence fell.
But this time, it wasn't heavy.
It was a respite.
And it lingered, as they watched the stars — for the first time in a long while — without chains.