Kallen dragged a hand along the pearl necklace sitting on his neck. [Breath of Life] it was called. How cruel.
Nephis was okay. Seren had found her alive and well with Mira. The pathfinder told her that a stray fire blast from the dragon had hit their position and they'd been separated. Kallen didn't distrust Mira or anything, but how did one get separated from a comrade with an aspect like hers? She should have been able to sense Lyss's core.
Kallen scowled beneath the Gilded Warden, resting on his throne. He would have preferred to help with the rebuilding instead of sitting idly in his shattered throne room, but he was needed in order to settle disputes.
Not that many arose to begin with. Most of the Sleepers of the Bright Castle had lost too much to act up now. And they would lose more in the coming weeks when Kallen gave the order to challenge the Spire. But he needed time for things to settle first. For strength to return and people to regroup.
Around 250 people had died in the Titan's assault. Not nearly as many as it could have been. But too many. He wished Lyss had made it. Trying to keep his mind off of it was pointless. It was so unexpected. It had come after the battle was won.
Nephis didn't understand why he was so upset about it. "You'd only known her a few months anyways."
It wasn't about the time that they had together. It was about the time they would have had together. Who knew if their unspoken thing would have been spoken. Who knew if they would have gone their separate ways, or…
To watch someone die in front of him, clutching him and begging him to stay… it was something no person should have to bear. It was such a terrible reality check. Kallen wanted to reject that reality, but there were still those who needed him, and so he had to push on.
But that didn't mean he would remain the same person as before. It felt as though something of his had gone the moment the light left her eyes. Something small, but fundamentally him no less.
It wasn't because of Seren's flaw, he told himself. Her flaw was not the reason Lyss was dead. That two hundred fighters had died for nothing. No, they were dead because of the Nightmare Spell.
It's not Seren's fault.
Kallen let out a deep, pained sigh and let his hand fall from the necklace. They thudded lightly on his leg, but the weight behind lingered.
He hated how loud everything was outside. It should be quiet, hushed, grey and cloudy. But there was movement and shouts and too much exploding through his mind. Peace was what he needed. To be back home with his father and mother. He was still just a kid, not hardly qualified to be in charge of some seven hundred powerful people.
But he had Gunlaug's echo. The symbol of the Bright Lord, and he wasn't going to give it up. And thus he had no choice but to continue.
Kallen brought a hand to his face and allowed the liquid metal to peel from him. He rubbed the stress from his eyes.
"Don't go," Lyss had said.
He hadn't left. He'd fulfilled her dying wish—held her, sure, but what had he done? What had it changed? Perhaps he'd given her some semblance of peace. At least she hadn't died alone. His throat tightened, but a soft knock came at the doors, and after a pause, he called for them to enter.
Mira stepped through, an unsteady gait speaking of some sort of injury she'd sustained during the fight.
"Captain—Bright Lord, I mean." She approached his throne. "Nephis relayed your wish for me to find out who of our old squad passed."
When she finally reached him, she kneeled, and was close enough to trip his [Ariel's Whisper] Attribute.
What the Daemon spoke sent a spark of anger through him. Ariel said, "She's afraid you know she got Lyss killed."
Kallen stilled. He stared at the woman with wide eyes as she recounted who of his precious squad mates had passed.
"Both Lucius and Lyss didn't make it, it seems." She didn't dare to look up and suffer the psychological pressure of Kallen's armor, but there was still a persistent tremble in her body.
"Hey Mira," he said. Her shoulders tensed. "Come walk with me."
~~~
Caster
Caster approached the great chamber of the Bright Lord, figuring the chaos of rebuilding and searching for the dead would be an appropriate time to bring up what he'd read in that tome Memory Kallen had given him.
It was a troubling thing, to think that he was the assassin that Song had sent, but there was also a burning question within.
Was he—was his clan aligned with Song? The backing of the House of Night would certainly be… difficult to deal with. But also, there was a chance that he wasn't. There was an equal chance that he was simply ordered because of some other factor, or a temporary alliance, or a hundred other things.
Which is why he wanted to hear it from the Legacy himself.
Not that Kallen was a true Legacy. He hadn't been raised as one, but somehow, Caster found himself able to respect him to a degree. He didn't hide his strength, his grandfather was a renowned Saint, and his direct connections far exceeded those of Caster himself.
He was no outskirts rat like Sunny, or a simpleton like Effie. Nor was he quite as unreadable and mysterious as Cassia.
Kallen was indeed an odd entity, but a potential ally if Caster played his cards right.
He rose his hand to knock on the double doors of the throne room, but they opened inwardly just as he did so.
The Bright Lord himself walked out, trailed by a nervous woman whom Caster didn't quite recognize. He turned his head to watch them leave, frowning.
The two of them walked wordlessly through the streets of the Castle, seemingly headed for the gates. Silently, Caster followed every few hundred feet or so, using a Memory that helped him discern Kallen's location.
There weren't any guards stationed at the main entrance, so all three of them slipped out without any issue. While there were eyes on Kallen, no one seemed to notice Caster lurking in the shadows.
He followed as the pair passed through the dark city, taking seemingly random turns at the woman's discretion. Miraculously, they managed to avoid any sort of Awakened or Fallen Nightmare Creatures, which made Caster think that this woman was some sort of pathfinder.
But what would Kallen want all the way out here?
The answer was apparent when they made it to the sea. Kallen stopped and looked back at the woman.
"Mira," he called out, then he summoned a Memory in his hand. "Do you have anything to say?"
"What do you mean?" The woman hesitated, eyes averted from Kallen's golden figure. "I told you the truth… me and Lyss got separated when a stray blast of fire hit our position.
The Memory in Kallen's hand glowed.
"You're lying."
She sputtered. "No… well… we got separated. But then—"
"Did she die because of you?"
Caster leaned forward.
Mira didn't answer for a moment. She simply stood in place, shivering with fear.
"Yes." Quickly, she threw her hands up. "But, I promise—"
Kallen exploded forward, armored hand reaching for her neck. She tried to fall backwards, but his fingers curled around her throat, lifting her off the ground for a brief moment.
Mira grasped at his arm, but he held tight, turned, and threw her into the Dark Sea. The water was shallow, so she hit the rocky beach, and rose to free herself, but Kallen raised a hand, and the water around her shifted, dragging her under as she shouted and thrashed against the waves.
Kallen simply stood there, looking at the sea until a lifeless body floated to the top. He stared at the corpse for a few moments, then turned around and began to walk as though nothing had happened. It was impossible to read his hidden expression.
Bodies didn't tend to float that quickly after death did they? He wasn't sure
"Caster?" Kallen said.
Caster wasn't particularly hidden. Though, he was beginning to regret his decision at least a little. Not that he didn't think he could get away, or that Kallen would try anything, but the situation certainly made things awkward.
"Yeah," he called back, walking into full view. "It's me."
"Good," Kallen said. The golden echo armor opened up in the front, and Kallen stepped out of it, wearing simple, torn clothes. The attack had happened last night, and he likely hadn't gone to sleep, thus he was still wearing the same bloody clothes he'd put on after things had settled down.
"I see your arm is doing better," Caster said.
Kallen dismissed the floating echo—probably as a show of good-will. "It is. Why did you follow me?"
Lingering for a moment, Caster wondered if he should fall to a knee, but decided against it. The Nightwalker probably considered such things superfluous anyway.
"I had something to speak to you about. Regarding the… tome you gave me."
Kallen looked at him with a veiled expression, seemingly unbothered that he'd just killed someone. "Hm. Now is as good a time as we will get," he said. "Go ahead, Sunny's shadow is busy helping him at the castle, we're alone."
It was odd how numb the boy seemed. Caster hadn't placed him as a killer. In fact, he'd spared even Gunlaug—who'd escaped during the Titan's attack on the castle.
Caster settled himself, then approached the new Bright Lord and took a seat on the rough terrain. "Alright. As you can see, I did not go after Nephis when I could have. Out of respect for your message."
Kallen sighed, then bared a smile that did not reach his eyes. "And I thank you for that."
"However," Caster said. "I would like to ask you a few things."
"Okay."
"Would you mind summoning that Memory of yours?"
Kallen summoned a circular orb. The lie detector he'd gotten from his clan or Gunlaug's vault.
"Is the House of Night allied with Clan Song?"
Kallen shook his head.
"Are you allied with Ki-Song?"
"Not directly."
"Why did she chose you, then?" Caster asked. "From what I've heard, that doesn't seem like her. It seems… sloppy."
The black sea behind them finally stilled from the disturbance Kallen had created.
"I gave it a great deal of thought as well. The best I can assume is that they had an oracle or diviner on their side who determined it impossible for any of their chosen sleepers to carry out the order."
He paused, and an invisible weight pressed him.
"My guess is that they found out about my true name, and chose me. Perhaps that oracle foresaw me completing the task. Or foresaw that I was the most adept for the job… or someone's flaw came into play."
"Who's flaw?"
Kallen gave him a tight lipped smile, but didn't answer.
His sister's, then?
"So your house had nothing to do with it? The House of Night remains neutral?"
Kallen nodded. "That I am sure of."
Caster took a deep breath, and looked out at the calm sea, observing the way it ate what little light was cast down from the night sky. "That's reassuring."
"I'm glad I could reassure you," the Nightwalker said.
Caster studied him. The way his exotic eyes seemed hollower than before. It was easy to piece together that he'd lost someone to that Titan yesterday. Maybe not someone completely dear to his heart, but someone he at least cared for in some capacity.
Someone's whose short blip of time spent in his life would cause lasting repercussions.
The two of them let the silence linger for a while, but finally, Caster's duty won out and he forced himself to ask, "Do they suspect you? Nephis and her cohort?"
"… Not that I am aware of. In fact, I can guarantee you that they do not."
"Do they suspect me?"
Kallen nodded. "Most likely."
Caster hesitated. He had expected as much, but it still threw him off to hear it. "What's your plan for killing her?"
The Legacy leaned back, placing his hands on the rough ground behind him. "I'm not sure. But it will have to be after we challenge the Spire. Aside from me with Gunlaug's echo, she's probably the most powerful fighter here. And we'll need her Dawn Shard as well for the spire I'd wager."
"So we do it after the gate back to the waking world is open?" Caster lingered. "That will be… tricky."
"It will. But I have the most powerful Memory, and the most powerful Echo on the Forgotten Shore."
Caster wasn't sure what this Memory he was referring to was. Could it have been the trident he'd slain the Titan with? Through the haze of battle, Caster hadn't seen him use it much—he'd mostly just heard second hand accounts of its power.
"I have a weapon that doen't particularly like to be summoned. It will, however, allow me to bring itself out against the two of them…" he took a breath. "But I don't think it will let me if you're there."
Caster glanced at the spherical Memory. It did not glow. Kallen hadn't told a lie, though, predictably, he wouldn't expand on why the weapon didn't like to be summoned. Instead, he asked, "The two of them?"
"Sunny and Nephis," Kallen confirmed. If Nephis is ready for you, then Sunny probably will be as well. I don't know that she could trust anyone else to help her with this."
Caster scowled. Figures.
The Nightwalker continued. "So I have something of a proposition. "With your aspect, you'll surely beat both of them to the spire's portal. I'll try to get there before either of the two do as well. We'll fight them together for a while. You should go all out, try to deal as much damage to Nephis as you can before retreating through the portal. When you're gone, I'll be able to use my full strength, and hopefully the two of them will be weakened."
"I don't know. It sounds like you're asking me to abandon my duty and trust that you won't try to… escape? To flee if you think you'll lose."
Kallen held his gaze with those eyes of his, far more stern than they had been back at the academy. He'd seen things and done things that the past him couldn't have dreamt of. Suddenly, Caster felt that he had been wrong, there was conviction in the boy's face.
"Feel free to question my morals, but please do not question my motivations ever again. You read what was written in that tome."
Indeed he had. Caster hadn't a clue why Ki Song would overextend so much, risk open hostility with the House of Night for such an order.
Getting Nephis out of the picture, was a high priority. For both clans. But he couldn't imagine why they wouldn't chose a Sleeper of their own, it didn't exactly add up.
There was Kallen's explanation to consider, but it wasn't entirely logical. It was based on assumptions and guesses.
What was her angle?
He didn't know, but he did rise to his feet and brush himself off, glancing at the floating body of the pathfinder. Kallen rose as well. Together, they walked back to the Bright Castle.