“ERIK! Where were you? They just closed the entrance!” a male voice called out.

  Erik turned and saw his childhood friend, Taron. The tall young man’s long red hair framed his worried expression.

  “I-I… riders from one of the s got in my way!” Erik stammered out and then added in a fused voice, “... there was a vision.” He wasn’t sure if he should share the rest; he might seem like he was losing his mind.

  “Riders? Vision?… Were you spag off again?” Taron looked at him in fusion.

  Right then, a deep voice called out, “Einrik Naudrson.”

  Hearing his full name made Erik flinch, he turned and saw that at the entrance of the guild stood one of its explorers.

  The young man gulped and marched to the door with a bleak expression.

  Is this it? Will they think I was skipping out and execute me? His thoughts despaired as he arrived in front of the gate.

  The man was dressed in unassuming armor and furs, but Erik still did not dare to uimate him. All explorers had a Talent at least somewhat useful in fight, and any one of them could kill him effortlessly.

  The man looked him up and down with i before saying, “Your aors must be watg over you, boy. The branch leader ordered that we have the ritual site running in case anyone arrived te… even though you are the only o.”

  “The branch leader?” Erik turned his gaze towards the top floor. There, at one of the windows, he saw the silhouette of a broad-shouldered man looking in his dire, but he disappeared after a moment.

  “Aye, stay here for a bit. I’ll let the others know, and then e fetch you after.” With that, the explorer disappeared ihe guild.

  Breathing a sigh of relief, Erik wao colpse on the ground right then and there. But he couldn’t. He still o actually gh the ritual. Taron had apparently overheard the versation and walked up to him with an amazed expression.

  “I ’t believe this happened," he excimed and then added quietly with a lively expression, “Do you secretly know the branch leader?”

  “No… I’ve never met him,” Erik said, frowning in fusion. The day hadn’t started off in the best way, but disaster was avoided.

  “Don’t worry brother, after this you will be able to live a normal life,” his friend said in a reassuring tone.

  The young man’s expression hardened slightly. “Yeah, sure.”

  “Don’t give me that,” Taron’s smile disappeared.

  “I’m not in the mood. Not today,” Erik said tersely.

  “Yeah, me too, I don’t want t it up again. But I feel like I have to, before you get yourself killed. The Ulednar are hardened warriors, where eae has quered multiple Whispers... I just don’t think that path is right for you, Erik. It’s too ruthless, too unfiving. I’m not saying to give up on your dreams, just to find a safer way. There is nothing wrong with living a quiet life.”

  Erik did not say anything. Long ago, he had realized that the two of them simply saw things differently, and there was no point in arguing over this anymore.

  “Just please, promise me that you’ll think things over, before you rush into something that will get you killed.”

  Erik just gave him a nod and decided he wao ge the subject.

  “Thanks for ing... I wasn’t expeg to see you today. But how did you know I hadn't gohrough with the ritual a already.”

  “The explorer you just saw is a friend. He told me you hadn’t,” Taron said, waving dismissively. “And of course, brother! Did you think I would skip the most importa of your life?” He then cpped him on the shoulder.

  “No, but with how busy things have gotten for you since you Awakened your Talent st year... I wouldn’t bme you. I would have uood if you didn’t e.”

  “No way! The instructors are drivio the ground in preparation for the Whisper, but I gave them the slip today,” Taron said, while smirking.

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea? If your won’t give you more time, you don’t have much left…” Erik said, his voice tinged with worry.

  His friend shrugged casually and said, “They won’t. And at this point, I’m as prepared as I be. I’ll either quer it or die trying—simple as that.”

  Erik gave him a slight nod, "have you decided on whie you will attempt?"

  Taron gnced around before leaning in to whisper, "Yeah, there’s a Whisper in the foothills of the Draugkeld Mountains, a few hours east of the city. The believes it’s… a special one. On top of that, based on the iions, they’ve cluded it shouldn’t be too difficult to quer. One would only o find and touch the Whisper Tree to exit."

  "Alright. Be careful..."

  "Always am!"

  “I am still surprised they couldn’t bend traditions even a little bit for their favorite s, and not forto it or at least give you more time,” Erik said.

  “HA! When did you bee so funny. I hought they would. I ted and I am not the only heir. There are a lot of strong didates.” His face became expressionless.

  “There are many watg my every move, waiting for me to slip up… but they’ll wait in vain. I will climb to the top…”

  Taron’s eyes grew chillingly cold. “And I’ll find them, Erik. They’ll pay for what they did to us,” he added with quiet resolve.

  “I’ll find out which cult it was!” Taron mumbled, the st part more to himself.

  Erik kept quiet. He knew his friend was i on revenge against an imaginary foe and nothing he said would sway him otherwise. He had tried.

  And the thing was that Erik fully uood him. They had grown up in the same small town. And aside from their families, they also lost friends. The two of them were part of a group of five children that were close like brothers and sisters. Only three survived, himself, Taron and Freya, after that tragit—and that's all it was, a tragit.

  But it had left a massive scar on each of them and they were still haunted by it to this day, dealing with it in their own ways.

  Taron had heard a vague rumor about an old, insidious cult operatiheir hometown before the i, but Erik dismissed it. His parents had never mentioned such a thing, and there’d been no prins of a cult. The rumor, inating from a local gang in Skulheim, seemed unreliable—just expensive misinformation.

  He didn't know what to say, but his friend picked up the versation after a moment.

  “Erik, do remember when we used to spent our time digging through old books looking for any scrap of knowledge about Talents? In one of the scriptures left by the Exalted, there was something that always stuck with me.”

  “Only unquenchable thirst from the upstream river lead oo the sea of stars… yeah, I remember,” Erik said.

  It was something that always stuck with him as well. It was also one of the few things he remembered his parents telling him.

  Taron gave him a nod and said with a thoughtful expression, “It’s perverse, but I think I am starting to uand it.”

  “Freya always says that as well,” Erik said with a faint smile. “Did you see her?”

  “No, but she apparently already went through the ritual.” Taron answered absentmindedly.

  The young man smiled. He would o meet up with her at some point, but he wasn’t on the best of terms with her gang, so it might be a bit difficult.

  "Good. I am gd she didn't follow through with those ridiculous tales about people Awakening by entering a Whisper—it's simply suicidal to do that." Erik said.

  Taron opened his mouth, but then closed it. He looked like he wao say something.

  Before Erik could ask him what it was, they were interrupted as the explorer showed up at the guild’s doorway and called out, “Boy, e this way.”

  “You’ve got this.” Taron gave him final words of encement as the two friends exged a nod.

  Erik took a deep breath and stepped forward—eager to begin walking oh toward his dream. He ched the medallion in his hand. It was cool against his skin.

  Whatever awaited him inside, he would face it. He had to, failure wasn’t an option.

  Ihe guild, Erik was guided through the grand hall, its walls adorned with a banners and the preserved trophies of wild, ferocious beast—silent wito the daring quests of the explorers.

  He couldn’t help but wonder if he would be able to aplish something like that one day. Looking at the five-fe head of a red bear, he struggled to imagine being able to kill something like that.

  As they were approag a stairway leading down, there was a rge tapestry that caught his eye.

  It was of a man with a long dark beard and dark billowing robes. Sacred glowing runes were tattooed on his shaven head, giving him an intangible air of purpose. His leaf-green eyes were fixed on a mountain stretg beyond the horizon. But the striking part of the image was that he was standing on a rge jagged hill made of bones.

  As if spilling out of that macabre mountain, a cracked human skull ced on a pedestal in front of the tapestry with words carved in the wood below it.

  The same ones as those left by the Exalted.

  Erik couldn’t help himself and asked, “Who is that?”

  The explorer paused and g the tapestry before turning to the young man. “That’s Bjorn Skuljar. It happened a long time ago, so not many remember, but he is the ohat established this city and guild branch."

  He seems to have embraced those words as well... Erik thought.

  The explorer added, “They say these grounds were pgued by a horde r, which he destroyed single-handedly.”

  “Pgued by what?” Erik had never heard of that.

  “Aye, I fot. That’s their a name and what we call them, but normal people know them as Undead. Uhe Nilgrim, they are weak individually. But still dangerous if there are too many in one pce. And where there is ohere will be ahankfully, they are almost mindless, driven mainly by instinct—even the Higher-Ranked ones,” he expined.

  Erik face paled a bit. The Undead was something had heard of. In fact, most people in this part of the world knew of them. They weren't that on, only appearing in specific location, but the mountain a few hours away from the city had an unusually high number of them. And they had a ghastly reputation, many small towns and vilges had been ripped apart in the past by rge hordes of Undead.

  “Why do you think he did it?” Erik asked.

  The explorer remained silent for a few moments, looking at the man iapestry.

  “For the same reason any person would do something unreasohe people they hold dear. It’s said he was looking for the right Whisper for his son to enter and Awaken a Talent…” He snorted and added harshly, shaking his head “Lunacy.”

  He then shrugged and said nontly, albeit with a hint of admiration, “Also, alone against a rge horde? The story is a myth if you ask me.” The man then tinued walking towards the stairs. “e on, the others will be waiting.”

  Erik gave a slight nod, but couldn’t help picturing what it would feel like to face a horde r on his own—reeking of death, tless eyes staring down at him with malice, marg towards him in sile was a chilling thought... and then a random and an even more chilling one followed.

  What would it feel like to and such a force? A shiver ran down his spine. He shook his head, he o focus. Now wasn’t the time to daydream about random stuff that did not him.

  They desded the staircase, their steps eg faintly in the depths, aered a rge underground chamber.

  Robed figures awaited them there, some were already ting in low tones and standing in specific locations in a massive runic circle etched on the floor. A few loorches interspersed throughout the room were the main sources of light. And the air was surprisingly fresh, as if Erik was standing outside in the open.

  The young man gawked at the object that captivated his attention... a rge glowing seed.