Chael turned his head slightly, adjusting the angle of his spear so that the reflection shifted.

  Through the gleaming silver of the spearhead, he studied her.

  Echidna stood beside him with her arms crossed as she gazed over the expanse of the ruined city. Her silver hair was messy with strands slipping loose from beneath her tricorn hat. Her expression was unreadable. It was calm and collected, but her silver eyes looked a little hollow.

  Like she was here, yet not.

  Chael exhaled, turning his attention back to the vastness of Nytheril.

  "Nytheril…" he muttered after a long silence. "It appears this place was once as mighty as Eldermire City."

  Unbeknownst to Chael, the faintest flicker of something crossed Echidna's face.

  Shock.

  Unrecognition.

  She was staring at him. It wasn't just a look, but a long and shocked stare. It was as though, for a brief moment, she didn't recognize him at all. Her gaze was too intense for what should've been a casual conversation.

  Then, she shook her head. She furrowed her brows with her arms tightening over her chest.

  "Nytheril?" she echoed, her voice uncertain.

  Chael frowned and turned toward her fully.

  "Yeah," he said slowly. "That's what this place is called."

  Echidna's frown deepened. "How do you know?"

  Chael gave her a flat, unimpressed look.

  "What do you mean, how do I know?" His brows furrowed further. "We heard it yesterday from-"

  He stopped abruptly.

  A cold silence stretched between them.

  The words had come instinctively, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized… he didn't actually remember where he had learned that name.

  Chael's jaw clenched. His mind raced backward, combing through the past day, searching for the moment he had heard the name Nytheril.

  Then, his gaze drifted toward the colonnade.

  "That's right," he muttered under his breath, the memory slotting into place. "That half-ghost who attacked us yesterday - he said it."

  His eyes flicked toward Echidna, his voice sharper now. "You were there."

  Echidna stared at him.

  Something passed over her face. She then pinched the bridge of her nose, her expression twisting slightly.

  "Was I…?"

  Chael's breath slowed.

  There was no humor in her voice. Nor did Chael hear any sarcasm. She wasn't mocking him.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  She genuinely didn't seem to remember.

  And for the first time in a long time, that unsettled him.

  For a long while, neither of them spoke.

  They simply stood there, staring out over the ruins, taking in the view of a world that had long since been abandoned.

  Then, Echidna lifted a hand and pointed.

  "That statue," she said, her voice quieter now. "It reminds me of Drakos."

  Chael tilted his head slightly. "Drakos?"

  Echidna nodded. Her silver eyes flickered with something unreadable. "A warrior from Eldermire City. A prodigy. Twenty years ago, they built a statue just like this one in front of the Vel'Kor Estate."

  Chael's spear reflected light off the twin moon and shone down onto the statue of the Saintess of Carnage.

  He had heard of Drakos before. It was impossible not to if you lived anywhere near the empire.

  Drakos - the Draconic Knight.

  He was the youngest Harbinger to ever step into the Veiled Realm at fourteen. Then, at only eighteen, he reached the Ascended Realm.

  His rise had been unlike any before him and he was a prodigy in every sense of the word. Not only had he dominated battlefields, but he had also become a legend in his own time. His name was synonymous with heroism and his deeds were etched into the annals of history.

  And then, one day, he vanished.

  No body. No final battle. No farewell.

  He had simply walked away from history.

  Echidna crossed her arms. "I always found him interesting. He wasn't born in Eldermire City, you know. He just… showed up one day. Came to the city when he was fifteen with no memories of his past, no idea where he came from. A wanderer."

  Chael didn't answer immediately.

  Instead, his gaze drifted toward the horizon.

  The ruined city below. The spires of the Yue Clan in the east. The fortress that lay far in the mountains.

  How many warriors had bled for these lands? How many forgotten names lay buried beneath the snow and stone?

  A wanderer.

  His lips parted slightly before he even realized he was speaking.

  "Sometimes I feel like a wanderer too," Chael muttered, his voice edged with something distant and cold. "Like the world is a place I'm only passing through. Unlike Drakos, though, I've lost the map to where I belong."

  Echidna turned her head toward him, listening.

  "I don't know what to fight for anymore," he continued, gripping the shaft of his spear a little tighter. "Except to make sure I survive, scrape together some peace, and maybe find some purpose before fate decides to swallow me whole."

  The wind howled softly around them.

  Echidna turned her head to the ruins of Nyrethil stretching endlessly before them. The crisp wind cut through the air.

  Neither of them moved to leave the balcony.

  Then, finally, she spoke.

  "That works for you," she murmured, her voice quieter now. "I guess you can get out or die trying, and either would work for you."

  Chael smirked faintly. "You're starting to understand me."

  Echidna let out a dry chuckle, but there was no real amusement in it. Just exhaustion.

  She tilted her head back slightly, looking up at the twin moons as if searching for something beyond them.

  "I have a reason to get out too," she admitted. "Everything I've done in my life - being a slum thief, joining the Mongrel's Vow, feigning cruelty, and eventually becoming their leader and scraping together as many coins as I could - it was all for a reason."

  She hesitated.

  Her fingers twitched at her sides.

  "But…" her brows furrowed. "I can't remember it for some reason."

  Chael didn't react outwardly, but something in his gut twisted.

  "Feigning cruelty?" Chael frowned, "The hell does that mean?"

  Echidna let out a shaky sigh and clutched her head, "I... don't know..."

  He recalled the way she had shot him even though he had already been subdued, broken his hand even though he had been outnumbered, and watched as an idle bystander as her men beat him to a pulp.

  He had thought Echidna was a psychotic and heartless woman, but now, as he recalled the way she had screamed when fighting the Hollowed Choir it seemed like there's a lot more to her story.

  "You really can't remember?"

  Echidna let out a slow exhale.

  She pressed her thumb against her temple and rubbed small circles into the skin.

  "No matter how hard I try," she muttered. "It's like trying to hold onto mist. The more I chase it, the more it slips through my fingers."

  Chael sighed. "Maybe it's just a side effect from the black mist that the Hollowed Choir screamed out."

  Echidna rubbed her forehead, "Maybe..."

  The silence between them stretched, heavy and unspoken.

  Chael turned away from the balcony, his grip tightening around the shaft of his spear as he strode toward the door at the far end of the room. He had seen enough from the outside. Now it was time to move.

  "I'll go and scout," he said flatly. "I'll try to learn as much about this place as possible so we can make a plan to leave unscathed."