Auren bolted upright on the stone table, his first breath tearing through his chest to flood his lungs.
His eyes were wide with terror, though everything remained a blur. The only sound rushing in his ears was the erratic, panicked pounding of his own heart. His mind was still reeling from the violent jolt of being wrenched out of the darkness. And then... the memory struck his mind like a bolt of lightning.
Darven's cold whisper. The horrific, wet sound of steel tearing through his flesh. The blood erupting from his mouth, and his sister's scream...
Auren's breath hitched in his throat. In absolute terror, his trembling hands immediately clutched at his chest. His fingers searched for blood, fully expecting to find a massive, fatal gaping hole beneath his shredded clothes. But there was nothing. His skin was smooth; there was only a faint, warm ache right in the center of his ribcage, exactly where the green light had penetrated moments before.
"How..." he rasped, his voice muffled. He recoiled, scrambling backward until his back hit the cold edge of the table.
As the blur in his vision slowly cleared, he noticed the silhouettes standing around him. Four strangers... and right at his bedside, an unyielding figure whose upright posture seemed to fill the entire room.
Auren raised his head and saw her.
Poison-green hair that seemed to ripple gently despite the absence of wind... Flawless, pale skin... And a thick blindfold embroidered with green runes on black, completely covering the upper half of her face. The woman wasn't looking at him; her eyes were physically covered, but Auren could feel it in his very bones that she was watching him with her entire being.
Auren's small body trembled like a leaf. This place he had opened his eyes to after enduring such hell, these strange people... It was all too much. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he pressed his back hard against the stone table.
"Who... who are you?" His voice came out frail and cracked. "Where is this? Am I in... am I in a Luxaris dungeon? Please... don't hurt me!"
Nythar, standing in the corner of the room, grimaced in sorrow at the boy's desperate state. Just as he was about to step forward and say something to comfort him, Yuria stopped him with a single hand gesture.
Yuria slowly leaned down to the boy's level. Her face beneath the blindfold was entirely expressionless, but her tone was as clear and unwavering as the confidence a commander instills in their soldiers. In that moment, Auren didn't need affection; he needed a solid ground to keep from losing his mind.
"There is no need to fear, child," Yuria said. "The dogs of Luxaris can never set foot here. This is my domain. My name is Yuria."
Auren swallowed hard. He had never heard the name before. Besides, there was only one name echoing endlessly in his mind.
"M-my sister..." Auren's eyes frantically scanned the surroundings. He looked at the dim corners of the room, the trio standing by the door, the man in the corner. When he couldn't find her, his breathing accelerated again. "Where is Lysera?! She... she was among the soldiers! My sister was screaming when Darven ran me through with his sword! Where is she?!"
Yuria stood up straight, calmly clasping her hands in front of her robes. Lying was not in her nature; she chose to speak the truth, no matter how cruel it might be.
"When I arrived at that forest... there was only mud, ashes, and your lifeless body," Yuria said, her voice so flat it was devoid of any emotion. "The corpses of Sira and Thalos were not there. The Luxaris dogs had dragged them away, taking them like trophies. There was nothing left I could do for them."
Auren didn't yell when he heard those words. He didn't scream. The absolute certainty in Yuria's voice had crushed the very last crumb of hope inside the boy. Sira was dead. Thalos was dead. Even their bodies were in the hands of the enemy. He pulled his knees to his chest, wrapped his arms tightly around his legs, and bowed his head. Only his shoulders shook; his tears falling onto the stone table mingled with silent sobs. It was a grief far too heavy for a tiny child to bear.
Nythar, in the corner of the room, gulped and lowered his head. Even Lavinia, waiting at the door, had to look away in the face of this silent agony.
Yuria, however, did not interrupt the boy's crying. She merely tilted her head slightly to the side; her mind behind the blindfold was re-scanning the complex aura traces left in the forest.
"Your sister?" Yuria asked after a while. There was a faint trace of curiosity in her voice. "In the forest... I sensed something else besides the scent of Sira and Thalos's blood. I'm not talking about the foul stench of the Luxaris soldiers. There was the scent of a very ancient, familiar power awakening there, but there was no trace left behind of a sister or another surviving child. You had a sister?"
Auren lifted his head, wiping his wet cheeks with the back of his hand. His eyes were bloodshot.
"I-I have two sisters..." he whispered, sniffling. "One was always in her bed, we never went in to see her... Sira was carrying her on her back when our house was destroyed. The other... Lysera. She was with me. We were running in the forest. She tried to protect me! But the Luxaris soldiers caught her. Darven... when Darven stabbed me with the sword, Lysera was in their grasp. She was thrashing around... They took her too!"
Yuria's lips thinned into an invisible line. The puzzle pieces in her mind were rapidly falling into place. The "bedridden sister" Sira was carrying was that awakening ancient entity she had sensed in the forest: Devranna. The other girl who fell into the hands of Luxaris was an ordinary human, but she was this boy's only tie to the world.
"So they took her alive," Yuria said, speaking more to herself. "Luxaris wouldn't bother capturing an ordinary child alive. There could only be one reason a commander like Darven would let her live... To break her will and turn her into a weapon, or to use her as bait against you and your family."
Yuria's words ignited a small, desperate spark in Auren's dark mind. His sister was in their hands. Sira and Thalos were gone. But there was one more person!
A frail hope suddenly gleamed in Auren's tear-filled eyes. His small hands gripping the edge of the stone table trembled.
"I-I have an older brother!" Auren said, his voice suddenly rising with a mix of excitement and desperation. "Kaelrin! My brother went to the capital... He was chosen to join the Luxaris Guards. Darven called for him personally! He is very strong... If we go to the capital, if we find my brother, he'll help us! If he finds out Lysera is in their hands, he'll never forgive them!"
Sitting in the corner of the room, Nythar cringed at these words and lowered his eyes to the floor. Aelrindel, standing at the door, gently squeezed the cane in his hand and sighed silently. This naive, childish hope only evoked a profound sense of pity in the hearts of the seasoned warriors in the room.
The cold, unwavering expression on Yuria's face, however, did not change at all. From behind her blindfold, she tilted her head slightly toward Auren.
"Are you sure..." Yuria said, her voice as sharp and real as a blade. "Are you sure your brother will truly still be your brother anymore, child?"
Auren's eagerly parted lips trembled. The fleeting hope in his emerald-green eyes gave way to a deep confusion. "W-what do you mean? He is my brother. He loves us very much. Sira, Thalos, us... He would never abandon us."
Yuria crossed her arms over her chest.
"One of the things Luxaris does best isn't swinging swords; they are masters at slaughtering the truth," Yuria said, the weight of her every word crashing down on the boy's shoulders like a mountain. "Twisting events to their liking, spinning their own murders as the crimes of others is their core strategy. That is how they conquered the world a hundred and fifty years ago."
Yuria took another step closer.
"You say the commander who killed you, destroyed your family, and abducted your sister personally invited your brother to his army. Do you think when he arrives at the capital, they will tell him, 'We slaughtered your family with our own hands'? Or will they pin the blame on Sira and Thalos, who hid in your house for years, or on fabricated rebels, turning your revenge-fueled brother into a loyal hound for their own army? Who knows what lies they will feed him..."
Auren's breath caught. His blood felt like it had turned to ice in his veins.
Yuria's ruthless logic violently threw open a terrifying, locked door in Auren's mind. That moment in the forest... Seconds before the cold steel pierced his chest, while he was crushed beneath Darven Solmar's knees, the venomous words the man had whispered in his ear struck his mind like lightning.
"Just imagine... your brother Kaelrin will be one of us. He will turn into a loyal dog of Luxaris, and the only truth he will know about you is that you were murdered by two traitorous Senior servants in the region..."
"You might not be able to say hello to your brother Kaelrin... but your death will be the cement that seals his loyalty."
"N-no..." Auren rasped. His trembling hands flew to cover his ears, as if trying to silence Darven's echoing voice inside his head. "He told me... Darven told me this! They will tell my brother that Sira and Thalos were traitors! They will use my death to make my brother one of them!"
Auren's sobs gave way to a muffled scream. His brother was alive, but he was now in the enemy's hands, a weapon for the enemy. His sister was being tortured, the people he considered family were dead. He was utterly alone in the world.
Yuria looked down at the shivering boy clutching his ears. It was agonizing, but necessary. The illusions in his eyes had to be entirely shattered.
"So, what will you do now?" Yuria asked, her voice cutting through the room's silence like a knife. "What is your purpose?"
Auren slowly pulled his hands away from his ears. With tears streaming down his cheeks, he shook his head. "I don't know..." he whispered helplessly. "I don't know anything."
Yuria continued to look down at him. "What is your name, child?"
"Auren..." he replied in a shaky voice.
Yuria uncrossed her arms and slowly turned toward the door. "I cannot help you, child," she said in a flat tone. "There are people in this world now that even the Gods cannot handle. I am merely a soul who has lived longer than she should have; do not expect help from me."
She walked toward the door with slow, noble steps. Just before exiting the room, she stopped, turning her head slightly over her shoulder toward the boy.
"But if you have nowhere to go, you can stay here," Yuria said, her voice echoing in the dim room. "You can ask the others whatever you are curious about, whatever you want. Do what you believe is right. If you truly want to see your brother and sister again... get stronger."
Without another word, Yuria glided out the door.
Aelrindel, who had been waiting at the door, shot a brief glance at the others inside and immediately followed his Lady out into the corridor. Approaching Yuria in the mansion's silent hallway, he bowed his head slightly.
"My Lady..." Aelrindel said, a deep curiosity and respect in his voice. "What do you intend to do with this boy?"
Yuria kept looking forward into the darkness without slowing her pace. For the first time in centuries, a very hidden, subtle crumb of affection could be felt in her voice.
"Guide that boy, Aelrindel," Yuria said. "Be a mentor to him. If that dark soul inside him returns, give him a reason for that darkness to fade away. Let him experience everything, let him see everything, but remember..." Yuria paused for a brief moment. "Right now, he is just a child."