The stone doors clicked shut. Silence returned. It wasn't the silence of a hunter, but of two equals standing in a room built for secrets. Koma didn't look at the Void or the departing sisters. He simply waited.
The air felt thick. The mountain itself seemed to lean in, listening for the real reason this meeting had begun.
Kova walked to the center of the roundtable. "Juno will train Koa," Kova said. His voice was steady. "They're both fire bearers. Koa will learn under her. It's the only way to ensure she's prepared for what's coming."
Koma let out a dry, hollow sound. He pushed away from the pillar and walked slowly toward the table. "I do not care what you do with the girl," Koma replied. He looked at his brother with pure indifference. "If they're all useless, what point is there in training them? You're wasting resources on a fire that will never be hot enough to matter. You spend too much time worrying about the weak when you should be sharpening the strong."
Kova met his brother's stare. "Every flame has a purpose if directed correctly. Koa has potential that you refuse to see because you're looking for a mirror of yourself. Strength isn't always a blunt object, Koma. Sometimes it's the spark that starts the conflagration."
"I am looking for results," Koma snapped. "I see a group of children pretending to be strong. Stop coddling them. Training the weak only gives them a false sense of security before they're crushed. I have no patience for potential that takes years to manifest."
"Get used to it," Kova said. His tone left no room for argument. "My decisions regarding their training are final. We have more pressing matters than your boredom. We are here for a reason."
Kova reached into his cloak and pulled out a heavy bundle wrapped in aged leather. He set it on the table with a dull thud. The air shifted. The leather was scarred and stained. It smelled of ancient magic.
"I have the secret scrolls," Kova stated. His voice was low. "I obtained them from the King's secret vault. I was in and out before the shadows could even shift. We need to read them immediately. It may tell us things regarding our bloodline. Things they didn't want us to find."
Koma leaned over the table. Predatory curiosity replaced his indifference. "The vault? I'm surprised you didn't just take the whole wing of the palace down. That would've been easier than sneaking past the guards."
"Noise is for the unskilled," Kova replied. "I do not deal in loudness. I move faster than eyes can track. If the King knew these were gone, he'd have every guard in the realm at our door by morning. But he's currently blissfully unaware that his past has been stolen."
Kova untied the bindings. He pulled the first parchment free. "Let's see what the old man thought was worth hiding. If he went to such lengths, they must contain more than just boring history."
The first scroll unrolled with a dry crackle. Kova leaned in, reading the list of founders. "Kalamity Speedhardt. Leona Speedhardt. Luxon Hallow. Elara Thorne. Jaeren Whiteflame. Seraphine Vale."
Koma scanned the lines. "This looks similar to a scroll we read at home," Koma said dismissively. "It's the same redundant lineage we had to memorize as children. Skip this. I didn't come here for a history lesson."
Kova picked up a second scroll. His eyes narrowed. "This one is different. It's a journal entry in the King's own hand. It records an event from when he and our father were young. It says they came across a Three-Eyed Horseman and his steed frozen in stone and bone in the deep wastes. They found it in a cavern. The entity had three massive, hollowed eye sockets. They thought the horseman was before their time. Something from a world that ended before theirs began."
Koma leaned in. His eyes darkened. "Hollow sockets. This further proves everything. We stole an eye from father's vault and gave it to Hykee. We knew these things existed."
Kova looked up. His expression was troubled. "Speaking of that, we shouldn't have done it. It's drastically changed him. The eye we took is a burden he wasn't ready for. I can see the toll it's taking on his mind and body."
"Don't speak to me regarding him," Koma snapped. His voice cut like a blade. "The past doesn't matter and neither does his future if he can't learn how to use the eye. If he's too weak to contain the power, then he's of no use to us. I have no time for regrets."
Kova sighed but didn't press the issue. He turned back to the scrolls. "The King's scrolls are a little outdated. These are observations from their youth. I think father's scrolls might contain more detail pertaining to this Three-Eyed Horseman."
Kova continued reading. "Listen to this. The King says they found one eye in the area not far from the horseman. They tried to put it in the hollowed socket, but it didn't fit. It didn't belong. The King wrote that every eye has a distinct color on the pupil. Kalamity assumed all eyes looked similar. The King told him to keep that eye in his possession."
"There has to be a way to revive it," Koma said. His voice dropped to a low, reverent tone. "If they found it in stone, the power is still there. They just didn't have the right keys. We're wasting time reading about their failures when we should be figuring out what those three sockets require."
Kova shifted to the next section. "The King writes here that there are three other eyes out there that are much larger than the one they found. He says if those eyes were ever found and used, it could result in reviving the horseman. They don't even know what the eyes do yet. They hadn't found more than that one small one, but they were already terrified of the potential."
Kova reached the end of the third scroll. "They documented the site because they realized that if this horseman existed and died, then there might be other things on par or even stronger. It made them realize how small they were. It is signed by both of them. The King and Kalamity Speedhardt. They signed it as a pact to understand a power that was never meant for men."
Koma stared at the signature and pulled back. "They spent their lives looking at a grave and calling it a kingdom. It does not matter what they found if they did not have the strength to use it. I have heard enough."
Kova looked at the remaining scrolls. "I will read the rest another time and tell you what I find. There is more here than old memories."
"That is fine," Koma replied. He turned away. "I am going to rest. Do not wake me unless you find something that actually matters. I am tired of looking at the past."
Kova watched him leave. The heavy silence closed in behind Koma's retreating form. Kova looked down at the ancient parchment, speaking to the empty room. His voice was a whisper of ambition. "If there are gods out there, I want to find them."
He began to roll the scrolls back up. His movements were slow. Methodical. The first step had been taken and the path ahead was beginning to clear.