Before the sun even rose, Kiyeri woke up, someone was moving his shoulder.

  "Kiye..." A very quiet voice called,

  “Kiye, “ once more, a little louder.

  "Kiiiiyeeee," this time directly in his ear.

  "Hmmmmm" Kiyeri growled, rubbing his eyes and sitting up in bed. After blinking a few times and looking around, he finally realized where he was and groaned, "I told you to wake me up, you've been sitting here all night?"

  "I'm not compining." Ashiya smiled and pointed to the table, "I brought coffee."

  Kiyeri woke up completely in that instant and jumped out of bed. It was always an indisputable truth that if you want to bribe Ashiya - bring wine. If you need Kiyeri - bring coffee.

  Compared to how they had been living tely, the comfortable accommodation and food alone were wonderful, but coffee? A rare pleasure. Sitting at the table, one poured the cups while the other buttered buns. After biting into the bun and taking a sip, Kiyeri couldn't contain his satisfaction, "Mmmmmmm... We need to enjoy ourselves, this is probably the st time we're eating like this."

  "Do you have a pn?" Ashiya sipped coffee with raised eyebrows.

  "No!“ Kiyeri looked at him, cheeks stuffed with food, looking silly. “Let everything go its own way!"

  Ashiya snorted, spitting out the coffee, it's good that he had time to turn away and they both started ughing. Knowing that they were all sitting in the same boat gave them some courage, the most important question was who was steering. Besides, information was needed to prepare a pn, and it was still fatally cking. How to count the teeth of a lion without falling into its jaws?

  After a good half hour, all five were already on horseback. Seyre was generous enough to rent a pair of horses to Kiyeri and Ashiya, who had come here on foot, after all, one must not arouse suspicion. They soon reached the city gates, where Enta and a group from the Sun Kingdom were already waiting for them. After a short chat and an exchange of greetings, about twenty people headed towards the border.

  The destination was not very far, the group pnned to ride to the nearest rger city, stay there, and be in the capital the next evening, but if the prepared hardy horses only needed a few stops in between, then the two rented ones needed more. It was clear from their appearance alone that the horses were not military kind, but the Sorians didn’t ask questions at the first stop While the horses were at the pond, the Moon citizens, Enta and a few other colleagues sat in a circle on the grass and chatted about the weather...and nature....

  If everyone was still retively rexed yesterday, today they were already tense from the morning. A night of pondering what is what leaves most people with a slightly unstable psyche. Such a trip to visit is unnatural, if you look closely, and if it didn't seem that way yesterday, today everyone seems to have sobered up from that thought. However, despite everything, the trip went smoothly and if the older soldiers behaved as they should, then the younger and less experienced ones seemed nervous and tense during the short stops, which made Kiyeri ugh, "Do they think we're just going to sughter them all out of nowhere?"

  In the evening, having reached the town where they were pnning to stay for the night, the group was preparing to tie up their horses in the town stables when Kiyeri saw that a thread had come loose from the cloak of one young Sorian. Thinking that there was nothing to worry about this te, and he would reach his destination one way or another, Kiyeri decided to py a joke.

  Approaching the young man with a smile, he quickly drew his dagger and extended his other hand towards him. At that very second, a real mess began to boil. The tter opponent jumped back a few steps and even did a backflip, turning pale. The faces of Enta, several of the elders of the Sun and the three moons darkened, but not one of them moved.

  That frightened kid, grabbed his weapons, and some other juniors joined in. The air froze, in the deadly silence, one could hear who was breathing heavily and who could not swallow saliva, but Kiyeri's facial expression did not change at all, wearing a fake smile he turned the dagger in his palm several times, and talked calmly.

  "Young man, your cloak is going to fall apart, let me fix that thread."

  That soldier carefully lowered his eyes for a second, but not his face, then looked again at Kiyeri who was already moving towards him, then back at the cloak, his body gathered all its energy, ready to jump at any second. Kiyeri bent down with slow movements, cut the thread hanging from the corner, then turned around in a carefree manner and walked back towards his horse.

  Loud, shrill ughter pierced the frozen air from all sides, the company turned their heads in that direction. Ashiya sat astride with his head thrown back and ughed. He gnced at Enta, his voice filled with arrogance “Noobs.”

  Kiyeri thought, “Wow if these were my soldiers, they would run around the camp without dinner when they returned. Maybe even until morning.”

  Enta looked at Kiyeri with a stern face, holding the reins, but having concluded that the future prisoners would travel of their own free will and that they would not be able to disarm them here and now, she threw the command to her people - the break was over. Needless to say, the rest of the journey was uncomfortable for everyone, to put it mildly. As they rode side by side, Ashiya ughed and quietly repeated “Well, that one backfired” to Kiyeri.

  Having saved a whole day of travel like this, they were already in the capital of the Sun the next morning.

  The Sun was a very small kingdom, one could ride a horse through it in a week. The complete opposite of the Moon, which would be impossible to cross in an entire summer. Although their kingdoms developed together, the cultural differences were enormous. If you think about it, Sun couldn't even be called a kingdom, because they didn't have a royal family. For many years, some strange order prevailed among them, the inhabitants themselves elected a ruling leader and if the tter did poorly, he was immediately removed and another was elected. Moreover, that leader did not act alone. The whole country was divided into parts, which they called municipalities, and those municipalities, in turn, also elected leaders who worked alongside the main ruler of the country, helping him solve problems. It was a very strange difficult-to-understand system for any foreigner. How such a government could work and how chaos did not erupt, if all issues were solved by a bunch of different people, old and young, rich and poor.

  The vast majority of the inhabitants of this nd were educated people, both spiritually and literarily, and though their culture was very different from other nds, they always spread the so-called tolerance and very rarely poked their noses into the affairs of foreigners, but willingly accepted everyone who wanted to learn. Many Sorians knew the lunar nguage perfectly, simply because the country was neighboring and people traveled here a lot.

  Kiyeri had visited this pce many times and understood their methods quite well, so he did not feel fear for his well-being In this nd, everything could be resolved diplomatically.

  When they were brought to the pace, they were presented to a rge hall, perhaps intended for banquets. In the corner stood a massive oval white table, surrounded by a dozen of white chairs. High ceilings and rge windows, a luxurious red carpet with golden sun patterns. The guests were seated on the left side of the table, behind each of them two guards of obviously high abilities.

  As soon as he entered, Kiyeri noticed the tightened security, the pace was surrounded by a high-level barrier that nullified mana. "Didn't even throw to sit behind bars? As always, productive work" Kiyeri was happy for saving some time.

  After a short wait, a woman rushed into the hall with quick, determined steps, accompanied by two armed soldiers. The current ruler of the nd - Zarine. Although she was small in stature and petite, no taller than a teenager, the aura and self-confidence she radiated were particurly impressive, such a person could drive away any thug on her way with just a gnce. She wore white trousers and a short peach tunic. Kiyeri had chatted with her several times at receptions and felt great respect for her. Zarine, in turn, was very interested in Kiyeri's abilities.

  The mistress quickly sat down at the end of the table, supporting her temple with one hand. She looked at each of the guests intently, but with irritation, then sighed loudly and gnced at Kiyeri, who was sitting closest, "Speak." Her tone clearly showed an attitude of "I don't have time for this."

  “What a great coincidence,” thought Kiyeri, “I don’t have time either.”

  Without saying a word, he turned to the guard behind him and slowly raised his hand to his neck. Zarine raised her palm, signaling the guard not to take action. Lowering his colr, he showed what he had come for while watching the reactions of his colleagues. The frozen faces of at least two of those sitting there spoke for themselves.

  Just as slowly, Kiyeri sat up straight again. Zarine tapped her fingernail on the table several times, then began to bark orders. “ Those three — dungeon. The rest, stay. Leave us”

  The order was immediately carried out. Although they had all been disarmed as soon as they entered the city gates, and it was not possible to use mana in the pace itself, the guards acted with extreme caution. Escorting each of them by both arms, they led the prisoners through the long corridors and down the stairs.

  This dungeon was hidden under the pace itself. After passing through several dark passages, the Kiyeri-Ashiya-Seyre trio was brought to a room where a sturdy woman was already waiting. They recognized her immediately, she was the Bearer of the Sigil.

  There were three sun Sigils in total, Mia, who had been met at the border, the current ruler Zarine, and Sonanta, standing before them. The three prisoners were seated in metal chairs, their hands and feet shackled. Sonanta ordered the guard to leave and, after waiting until they were far enough away, she walked around each of the guests, talking while checking their Sigils

  "The torture chamber would probably be a more appropriate pce to bring you, but they haven't been used in our nds for a long time," she looked at Kiyeri and smiled, "although I heard that it may not work on you."

  Ashiya's face darkened, "If you think a few chains won't let me break your neck, keep talking."

  Seyre couldn't help but intervene, "I don't think our actions warrant such punishments. There's no need to torture anyone and there's no need to break their necks, we can all have a civilized conversation."

  Seyre's situation was truly unenviable, tasked with protecting Dali and Ruki, who are now in a state of limbo. Unable to return home because someone is trying to kill him for some unknown reason. Locked in a dungeon in foreign territory together with a masochist, who's pying with fire, and a maniac who burns everything on the way. Thinking about this, Kiyeri couldn't help but feel sympathy.

  "Seyre, your loyalty to the royal family is truly impressive, but try to think for yourself sometimes. You're the only one who didn't understand where and why you're traveling today."

  Seyre was left speechless.

  Kiyeri smiled at him with the corner of his mouth and leaned back, "Well, there's really no need to torture me, because I came here specifically to talk and ask for help. Sister, do you know what my mark means?"

  Sonanta didn't answer anything. And it seems that sister didn't bode well with her. " Guess the sibling act has an expiration date." thought Kiyeri, then added, "I don't know. These two don't know either. But you, Mia and Zarine definitely recognized it, and judging by your reaction, it doesn't mean anything good."

  Sonanta thought for a while before looking deep into Kiyeri’s eyes and shot a series of questions which he immediately answered.

  “What happened to the former carrier?“

  "He suffered pain and lost his mark, but he survived." Kiyeri didn't know whether to add that Zeni was missing, after all, the sources were unreliable.

  “Were there any deaths?“

  “Every priest - inside and out - died.“

  “Whose blood was used“

  “Used where? I didn't see any blood anywhere.“

  After Kiyeri's answer, Sonanta's eyes narrowed and she paused for a moment, then continued.

  "How many times have you been Beyond?"

  “Twenty, maybe more, maybe less.“

  “Did you have to fight the Voidborne every time?“

  Here, Kiyeri hesitated. He gnced at Ashiya out of the corner of his eye, then answered, "Yes."

  Kiyeri heard a sharp click of a tongue but decided not to look in that direction. Sonanta seemed to catch on to the situation, but ignored it, only gncing at the chains. At that moment, Seyre looked as if he had fallen from the sky and could barely manage to speak.

  "What... how... why? How did you get there? Why were you there? How did you get back?" An unusual sight from such an always-focused warrior, but you can't bme him - anyone who saw Voidborns would react like that.

  Sonanta gave him a hushed look, checked Kiyeri's mark once more, and sat down in front of them, cutting straight to the point.

  "Many know that about five centuries ago we had much more Bearers. Realizing that it would be more effective to have a few, but much more powerful, our sages found a way to combine the Sigils by combining the Celestial Stones themselves. When this was done, we were left with three Stones. The ritual was not particurly useful, so its description was lost on the way to the present. This is the official story."

  Sonanta thought for a minute, as if doubting her decision to speak, and let out a sigh. "Kiyeri, you are damn lucky that you are just a simple peasant."

  Kiyeri raised an eyebrow, "An unexpected combination of words for a man who has cursed his nature all his life, but carry on.“

  “Even though I think I know you well, and I trust my ability to read people - if you were one of those,” she waved her hand at the other two, “you three would die here and now, no one would convince me that you came with good intentions.”

  The trio understood what Sonanta meant. The Moon royal family was truly obsessed with power, it seemed that the instructions to expand and multiply ran through their veins. The practice of other countries showed some kind of cycles of change, several generations of rulers tried to expand their nds, several others after them tried to negotiate diplomatically, and even their closest sister nds had developed that complex political spiderweb, but not them.

  Kill, plunder, occupy then bear more children and sughter again. Century after century they destroyed everyone around them by taking nds, multiplying their numbers, and strengthening their capabilities. And who could resist? From the very beginning, they had an overwhelming advantage in energy stones and minerals. All citizens of the country rejoiced and revered such battles, although often every second hut did not have bread on the table.

  Sonanta leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, "The real story is quite different, known only to a handful of people. The unification was the greatest sin of our nation and the darkest time in our history. Back then, our rulers were still spineless, while your people plundered territories in all three directions, they would turn the other way, saying that it did not concern them. They thought that as long as we had the advantage in knowledge on mana and good retions, nothing would threaten us, but soon such recklessness became very strong. The Moon announced the demand to the Sun to surrender gracefully and give up the territories. If the demand was not met within three days, everything would be razed to the ground and taken by force. Our people were driven into a corner. If we fought, we would lose, the other side had more resources and soldiers, all of whom were as ruthless as they come. If we retreat, we might be able to survive for a while, but having gained even more power, they would go to the ends of the world, the only way was to attack first and to attack hard, but we cked power."

  The trio looked at each other, and slowly the story began to come together. So the events that happened five hundred years ago in the Land of the Sun, were being repeated just a year ago in their own home?

  Sonanta continued, "It is not known how long the sages kept secret the ritual of sacrifice or by what means they discovered it, but the rulers, terrified by the looming disaster, gave in to their will. Tens of thousands of people were herded into the center of the capital near the temple, no one divided them by gender or age, there was no time for that. The three most talented Bearers of the Sigil were locked in the temple with the sages when the ceremony began. No one knows exactly how this ritual works, but people began to fall like flies one after another, their souls twisted into silver threads and penetrated the temple, where they were collected into the dagger of the Millennium."

  "The same one we have back home? Or were there more of them?" Kiyeri asked.

  Sonanta's eyes seemed to be staring at nothing, "After collecting the offerings, that dagger was smeared with the blood of those three warriors and stuck in the stone. Those three suffered immeasurable pain, writhing on the ground for a long time, screaming and crying until they lost their voices. When it was all over, their bodies were marked with the same empty circle that you now wear on your chest, and they left the temple as the most powerful creatures ever seen."

  Kiyeri‘s head was spinning, his thoughts racing and weaving at a tremendous speed. Ashiya spoke up, "Wait, nothing matches. Kiye says there was no blood and he wasn't suffering, he was just in Beyond. Zeni survived too."

  "What happened next?" Kiyeri interjected.

  "There was even more blood ahead," Sonanta's face darkened. "Those three warriors could sweep away a mountain with one stroke, and part a sea with another. They led our soldiers into enemy territory, burning everything in their path, leaving behind them bare fields strewn with piles of corpses and pools of blood. But the worst thing was that they could not die, no matter how many times they fell, they kept getting up, no matter how many times they cut off their arms, legs, or heads, everything grew back, but to everyone's surprise, their strength was still not enough.

  “Even after the enemy masses were swept away from the border, they were quickly repced. No matter how powerful our people were, they cked strategists and learned that tactics mattered a lot. The soldiers returned to the sages who had another pn. All the remaining Sigils must also be sacrificed. So those three warriors each killed their brothers and sisters with their own hands with the Millennium Dagger, thus appropriating their signs and merging sixteen Sigils into three. Now the enemy had no chance. Having reached the pace, they took the King's head and after many days returned home completely exhausted and broken."

  "The King's head?! - Seyre raised his voice, “No one has ever touched a hair of the royal family in thousands of years!"

  Sonanta snorted, "Says the one helping spread royal propaganda!"

  Seyre only flinched, apparently remembering all the unrealistic fairy tales spread to his compatriots and quickly shut up.

  Sonanta just rolled her eyes, "Those three warriors did not live long. They were kept hidden from everyone's eyes in dungeons, shouting and screaming day and night about the souls who wanted revenge and how they punished them for their sins, waiting by thousands beyond the border and tearing them to pieces. Unable to control the situation any longer, the sages finally stabbed them with that dagger. Only three signs naturally returned to their pces in the Celestial Stones, the rest were lost forever. Both sides negotiated for compensation for a long time, and in the end, the Moon demanded a considerable share, along with receiving that dagger. There was no one alive who could say how to collect souls into it, but the artifact had a purpose anyway. Fearing a repetition of history and convinced that the Moon could not use it like that anyway, my people gave the dagger away. Everything was buried under the bel of mutual shame — and to this day, it maintains the peace."