Kael woke to the sound of Nyros pawing at his shoulder, insisting with fox-level urgency that the sun was up, the world was unsafe, and breakfast should be obtained immediately.
Eira was already awake outside the guesthouse, adjusting the weights on her ribbon-staff while muttering something about “stupid underground creatures with stupid rhythm-tracking eyes.”
Nima was curled on a bench under a blanket that definitely wasn’t his, drooling peacefully.
Rhoen stood in the square speaking with two Guild scouts, pointing at a rough charcoal sketch of the map Kael had memorized.
Despite the peaceful morning light, Glade-Way felt wrong.
Windows were shuttered.
Shopkeepers whispered instead of greeting.
People avoided the stone path near the hill.
Rumors spread faster than resonance.
Kael stepped into the square, Nyros pacing at his heel.
Rhoen looked him over. “You slept?”
“Not really.”
“Good. Neither did anyone else.”
Nima emerged from under the blanket, confused. “Wait, we’re admitting we didn’t sleep? I thought we were lying to each other for morale.”
Eira joined them, staff over her shoulder. “Nima, no one believes you slept.”
“I absolutely slept,” he said proudly. “It was my coping strategy.”
Kael smiled faintly.
But that smile vanished when Rhoen lifted a parchment, its ink still drying.
“We’ve sent urgent messages to the Echo Guild Council,” Rhoen said. “But it will take time for them to respond. Until then…”
He looked at Kael.
“Your group will be escorting the northern mission.”
Eira nodded. “We figured.”
Nima screamed. “WE WHAT—?!”
Rhoen ignored him. “This is not a standard assignment. The northern point is… uncharted. No settlements. No maps. No rhythm stabilizers. The Guild avoids the area entirely.”
Nima whispered, “Why are we going there then.”
Kael answered quietly. “Because something there is calling the Fragments.”
Rhoen exhaled sharply. “Kael… I don’t like how it reacts to you.”
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Kael didn't either. But he only said, “We don’t have a choice.”
Eira stepped closer to him. “We’ll go with you.”
Nyros yipped, absolutely agreeing.
Nima pointed at himself. “I would like to be formally exempt.”
Eira grabbed his collar. “You’re coming.”
Nima accepted his fate.
Rhoen lowered his voice. “Kael… your presence alone may awaken whatever is sleeping up north. You need to keep your resonance locked down. No Mist surges unless the entire team is dying. Again.”
“I know,” Kael said.
“Do you?” Rhoen pressed. “Yesterday you nearly let the Mist flare in front of six hunters.”
“That was controlled.”
“That was terrifying,” Nima muttered.
Kael shrugged. “Sorry.”
Eira snorted. “He’s not sorry.”
Nyros confirmed with a tail flick that Kael was not, in fact, sorry.
Rhoen groaned. “Look—just stay low profile. And if anything recognizes you—”
Eira finished, “Run?”
“No,” Rhoen said. “Pretend you don’t know them.”
Nima blinked. “Pretend Kael doesn’t know the demonic horrors that keep trying to kidnap him?”
He nodded. “Yeah. That’s solid advice.”
Rhoen continued, “You leave at dusk. The northern pass is safer at night.”
Nima stared at him, horrified. “What part of ANYTHING we’ve done so far suggests night makes it safer?!”
Rhoen kept talking. “The Guild is assigning two scouts and an herbalist to travel with you. Supplies are ready. Routes are marked. Stay on them. Do not investigate anomalies. Do not engage lone creatures. Do not respond to—”
His gaze pointedly flicked to Kael.
Kael sighed. “Voices calling my name. Yes. I got it.”
“Good.”
Nyros barked with determined defiance.
Rhoen gave him a tired look. “That… includes foxes.”
Nyros barked even louder.
Kael scratched his head. “He’s not listening.”
“I know,” Rhoen said.
Eira punched Kael’s shoulder lightly. “You ready?”
Kael looked up at the northern horizon.
The Mist inside him pulsed in answer.
“…No,” he admitted.
“Good,” she said. “None of us are.”
Nima groaned. “I was ready to stay home forever. Does that count?”
They spent the next few hours gathering supplies:
-
insulated cloaks for the cold northern winds
-
resonance lanterns
-
thread-anchors for unstable terrain
-
dried food that Nyros immediately tried to steal
-
Eira’s emergency tea stash that Nyros also tried to steal
Villagers watched silently as Kael passed.
Not afraid.
Not angry.
Just… uncertain.
The kind of look people give someone who accidentally stepped into destiny’s spotlight.
Kael kept his gaze low.
Low profile.
Just a traveler.
Just a sword.
Just a fox.
Nothing special.
Except everything special.
Eira walked beside him. “Don’t do that.”
“What?”
“Make yourself small.”
Kael blinked. “I’m not—”
“You are.”
Nyros nudged him in agreement.
Kael sighed. “It’s safer that way.”
Eira paused. “For you… or for everyone else?”
Kael didn’t answer.
Because he wasn’t sure.
As dusk bled across the sky, the Guild scouts arrived at the gate.
Rhoen handed Kael a wrapped parcel. “Open it later. Only if needed.”
Kael frowned. “What is it?”
“A last resort.”
Nima backed away. “I don’t like that.”
Eira crossed her arms. “We’re not going to open it.”
Kael tucked it into his pack. “I hope not.”
Rhoen put a hand on Kael’s shoulder. “Whatever is calling you… deal with it. But don’t get swallowed by it.”
Kael nodded.
They stepped beyond Glade-Way’s gate.
The sky darkened to deep violet.
The northern wind carried a low, distant hum.
Nyros froze.
Eira stopped walking.
Nima nearly fainted.
Kael closed his eyes.
The hum formed a rhythm.
A rhythm he knew.
Waiting.
Calling.
Pulling.
“…The northern Fragment,” he whispered.
Eira shifted her grip on her staff. “Then let’s go meet it.”
And together—
Kael, Eira, Nyros, Nima, and the Guild scouts—
stepped into the fading light,
following the thread that pointed north.
Toward the unknown.
Toward the next Fragment.
Toward the storm.
The northern hum will grow stronger.
And what waits in the frost won’t be anything the Guild has prepared for.
The Frostline Border.