The request was simple.
Investigate a ruined village.
Lucian scanned the quest details as he walked beside Elara through the adventurer's guild. The report was vague—a remote settlement reduced to nothing overnight. No signs of raiders, no survivors, just… emptiness.
Elara stretched, yawning. "Sounds like a ghost story."
Lucian exhaled, eyes narrowing at the parchment. "It sounds like something else."
Elara glanced at him. "You think it's connected?"
Lucian didn't answer.
But in his mind, he was already there.
The way those creatures had moved. The mark burned into the monster's flesh. The way the city's special forces had erased them with terrifying efficiency—like they knew exactly what they were dealing with.
And now, a village vanishing without a trace.
It wasn't a coincidence.
Elara smirked. "Well, whatever it is, it's our problem now."
Lucian rolled the parchment up, shoving it into his coat. "Let's move."
---
The journey took two days.
By the time they reached the outskirts, the air felt… wrong.
No birds. No wind. The kind of silence that didn't belong in a place that had once been full of life.
Lucian crouched near the remnants of a burned-out house, running his fingers along the scorched wood. The destruction wasn't natural.
It was precise.
Like something had erased this place—not just killed, but undone it.
Elara stood behind him, arms crossed. "Well. That's unsettling."
Lucian stood. "Be ready. We're not alone."
And then—they heard the footsteps.
Slow. Steady. Purposeful.
Lucian turned, hand already on his sword.
And there, standing at the edge of the ruins, was a man he never thought he'd see again.
Kael.
His coat was tattered from travel, his sword strapped tightly to his back. His gaze locked onto Lucian, sharp and unreadable.
For a long moment, no one spoke.
Then Kael tilted his head, voice calm—too calm.
"Been a long time, thief."