Echoes of the Forsaken.

The darkness pressed in from all sides of the cave, barely held back by the dim, flickering light against the stone walls. The air was thick, damp earth, sweat, and blood mixed into something suffocating.

Nero could see through it, through the Darkness that felt so far from everything else. But it didn't matter. His gaze rested on his sister. Blood clung to her clothes, her hands pressed against another girl's burned face, trying to heal what little she could. The girl barely clung to consciousness, her body trembling.

It was cold. Bearable but still cold.

His eyes shifted to Nemsus. He lay sprawled on the stone floor, breath ragged, his clothes soaked in blood, whispering to himself, voice low, shaking like a man trapped in a nightmare he couldn't wake from.

"Why... why him?"

A sharp exhale escaped Nero's lips. His shoulders shook slightly.

Nero thought, for just a moment, that Nemsus would pull himself together. He'd grit his teeth, swallow it down, and force himself to move forward. But then, their eyes met. And all that sorrow twisted into something else.

Rage.

"You accepted this." Nemsus' voice cracked, a choked sob bleeding into bitter laughter. "You were part of it."

His laugh was breathless, filled with agony, disbelief, and something close to pity.

A shadow curled from Nero's raised hand, spreading like smoke through the cave. The sound of Nemsus' ragged breathing quieted. But the madness in his eyes didn't fade.

"He knew we had to do it. But he won't admit it. Not like this. He still thinks he could've saved him. But he couldn't. The moment he fell, the moment they saw us, it was already over." Nero's mind was already at its limit from everything that had happened, but Nemsus's state was even worse.

Nemsus only stared before turning his head toward Delilah, his voice rising into something more than grief. A scream, a plea. "Delilah... why? Why did you kill him?!"

She lifted her head, golden-black eyes meeting his. There was nothing there. No guilt. No anger. Just emptiness. That emptiness shattered something inside him. His fists slammed against the ground, his entire body trembling.

"My father... the village... and now…"

"AGHHHHH!"

His agony echoed through the jagged walls, filling every corner of the cave. Nero sat still, silent. Watching as Nemsus hits the ground. Anything he said would only make it worse. His mind circled back, over and over, to his choices.

"I could have stopped it. Could have saved him. But for what? Two more minutes? And risk all our lives? No. My priorities were always clear. Starting from my sister. Ending with Nemsus."

His gaze drifted to the girl at Delilah's feet. Her eye was gone, burned away, leaving a dark, gaping hole. The skin around it was ruined, charred, and twisted. A small, tired smile flickered on Nero's lips, mocking, but not at her.

At himself.

"What cruelty." He whispered, rubbing his face with one hand as if trying to wipe away the weight pressing down on him.

"I told you, Viser. I told you that I needed you. But in the end, it always comes to this."

A tear slipped down his face, silent and unseen, as his mind drifted slowly, unwillingly back to a different time. A time before the blood. Before the anger. Before the loss.

....

The sun was like a mother with two sons, each doomed by her unwavering gaze. One, she smothered in relentless affection, drowning him in so much warmth that his lands cracked and his seas boiled away, leaving behind a husk too scorched for life. The other, she abandoned to the abyss, turning her back as he withered in endless night, his surface frozen solid beneath a sky without dawn. She never looked away, never changed, never cared.

Between them lay the twilight, a fragile ribbon of existence caught in the only place her hands did not quite reach. Here, where neither fire nor ice held dominion, the world clung to a delicate balance.

A place where the sun never set nor rose, where the sky was forever painted in shades of dusk, and where life had learned to survive in the thin space between extremes. This was not a world of changing seasons or shifting days, but a world locked in place, bound eternally to its silent warden.

On a slanted rooftop, Nero sat with one leg bent, arms resting on his knee. His black hair cut just past his neck, shifted slightly in the breeze. Beside him, Delilah sat cross-legged, dragging a piece of coal over a scrap of wood. Her long, dark hair, thick and straight, cascaded over her shoulder as she worked.

She was taller than most girls her age, just like Nero was slightly taller than the boys. Their golden-black eyes held the same quiet intensity, though Delilah's rarely reflected anything at all.

Nero glanced at her work, then at the sky. "Why draw that?"

Delilah didn't look up.

"What?"

"The light," he said, nodding toward her drawing. "It's not like we ever really see the sun. Just a glow from the east before it fades into darkness."

She smirked slightly. "And?"

Nero huffed. "And what's the point? It never changes."

She brushed a bit of coal dust from her fingers. "You look at it every day."

"Yeah, because it's there. It's impossible not to."

She turned to him, her golden-black eyes catching the dim light. "Exactly."

Nero frowned slightly. For a moment, he just stared at her, then sighed and shook his head. "You're weird, Dee."

Delilah's smirk deepened, something quiet and knowing hidden in her expression.

"I know." Her voice was steady, almost amused. Then, tilting her head, she watched him.

"But so are you."

Nero scoffed. "No, I'm not."

She looked back down at her drawing. "You act normal with them." She smiled. "But I know you, brother."

His fingers curled slightly around his knee. He didn't deny it. He didn't need to.

A breeze picked up, carrying the scent of dust and distant cooking fires. The sky stretched above them, a deep orange in the far east, fading into red, then purple, before surrendering to the black void of the west.

Nero turned to Delilah, eyeing her carefully. "You're not skin and bones anymore."

She clicked her tongue. "Tch, finally. I was getting tired of fighting off the wind."

He let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head. Some things never changed.

At least with him, she could still be the little girl he had always known. But he wished she could be that way with the world too.

Then, a familiar voice shattered the quiet moment.

"You two, get down here!"

They glanced down to see Viser standing below; arms crossed, his broad shoulders tense. His yellow hair caught the fading light, and his piercing blue eyes held their usual mix of irritation and amusement.

The siblings exchanged a grin before leaping from the rooftop—six meters down—landing with effortless grace as if it were second nature.

"What is it, old man?"

Nero crossed his arms, mirroring Viser's stance. Viser smirked. "Still calling me that, huh?"

Nero did not respond, they just watched him with amusement. Viser let out a short breath, then said,

"I got Two things. First, remember that Level Two Fire Rune I promised you?" Viser smiled "a friend of mine is bringing one."

Nero's eyes lit up, a grin creeping onto his face. With that, he would only need to find a Level Two Ice Rune. Then, finally, he could ascend. He looked at Viser and laughed.

"Nemsus has not stopped showing off since he ascended. Two days, and he is acting like he is unbeatable." Nero shook his head, still grinning.

"I will put him back in his place soon." "No, you won't."

A cheering voice came from behind As Nero turned around, a young man stepped forward, his features a clear reflection of Yellow hair, sharp blue eyes, and a familiar confidence.

He was closing the distance between them before stopping just in front of Nero's face. They locked eyes for a moment before breaking into laughter.

"A lot of confidence for a new ascendent, don't you think?" Nero said, mockery lacing his tone.

"Says the mage," Nemsus shot back without missing a beat. Before either could continue, two sharp flicks landed atop their heads. The soft thuds echoed, followed by their synchronized winces as they instinctively clutched their skulls.

Nero scowled, rubbing the sore spot. He always seemed to forget that Viser was a Dominus. It was easy to, given that the man barely looked past thirty, despite being nearly seventy. Most people in the Dominus realm were well past their sixties, often making others shape their appearance to resemble ordinary old men in their heads.

Viser was different. He not only defied the usual image but carried himself with a presence that made his age feel irrelevant.

"When your elders speak, you listen," he said with a smirk, clearly enjoying the fact that they had given him a reason to hit them.

"You said you had two things to say,"

Nero grumbled, still rubbing his head. Viser nodded

"Yeah. Another friend also called, bu this time from Bluecastle. Viser face change to match his words "He mentioned hearing strange sounds coming from the mountains."

The Song Mountains? Isn't that… normal? Nero thought.

Nemsus raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that normal? They're called the Song Mountains for a reason."

Nero shot him a weird look.

But Nemsus didn't care. A smirk tugged at his lips.

"Even if some beasts came down, the Sage Arus is still in Bluecastle."

The kids were near the empire's borders. Beyond those borders stood a vast mountain range, and past those mountains lay the cold side of the planet, a place where only beasts roamed, not humans. Even the mountains themselves were home to dangerous creatures.

That was why a castle had been built at the edge, where the mountains began. Soldiers stationed there had one duty, to kill anything that made its way down.

Viser's expression darkened slightly. "You can't be too careful this close to the cold side. You'd know that if you actually read the history books I gave you."

Nemsus took a few steps back, letting out a hesitant laugh. The others chuckled, well aware that he had never been fond of reading.

Viser clapped his hands together, giving them a brief nod. "I'm heading out to get what we need for dinner. You three, gather the others, we'll meet at the dining hall."

With that, he turned and set off toward the village, his figure gradually blending into the distance.

A distant bell tolled, drawing their eyes to a towering structure on the horizon. Its reddish-brown walls stood stark against the evening sky, and at its peak, a white clock face displayed numbers from 1 to 23. The hands pointed to 16:00.

Nero never liked those towering structures. With the sun already casting a reddish glow over everything, why did they insist on painting them the same color? Here, where they couldn't tell how much time has passed, humans had to find a way to measure it. Their solution was a twenty-four-hour clock to tell them when to sleep or work among other things.

Nemsus looked at him smiling "It's time to sleep, fellow Mages," Nemsus said, emphasizing the title with a smirk.

Nero did not take that well. He had always beaten Nemsus in every fight they had, but now that Nemsus had ascended, he knew he would lose even before fighting.

Still, he wanted to try it himself to see the difference, the new powers that came with ascending.

"What do you say we put your new spells to the test, Nemsus?" Nero asked, his voice filled with eager anticipation.

"Yeah, right. You think you can take me on now, little Nero?" Nemsus teased, mimicking Viser's habit of adding little before names. His confidence as an Ascendant practically radiated from him.

Nero raised an eyebrow. "Feeling bold, are we?"

He glanced at his sister. "Dee?"

Delilah met his gaze and gave a small nod, her expression as unreadable as ever. She might not show it, but she wanted to see it too, the difference it made.

Nero's grin widened as he turned back to Nemsus. "Let's go."

Rather than fighting near the orphanage, they moved south, away from the place that had sheltered them. The risk of collateral damage was too high—spells, even low-level ones, could mostly destroy walls.

The further they went, the quieter it became. The distant chatter of the orphanage faded behind them, replaced by the rhythmic crunch of their footsteps on dry earth. The warm breeze carried the scent of dust, but the air between them was shifting—something heavier settling in.

Nero flexed his fingers, feeling the familiar weight of his sword. He had always won. Always. But now, things were different. Ascendants were a step beyond, and for the first time, he wasn't sure where he stood.

Nemsus must have sensed his hesitation, because his smirk deepened. He rested his blade against his shoulder, his voice edged with amusement. "What's wrong? Scared you won't be able to keep up?"

Nero scoffed. "You're the one who should be worried. Two mages beating an ascendent, what a shame."

"We'll see about that." Nemsus twirled his sword in one hand, his confidence practically radiating off him.

Delilah said nothing. She just stepped back, rolling her wrist as she adjusted her grip on her blade. Her eyes flicked between them, calculating, watching. "Come on, then!" Nemsus shouted, shifting into a ready stance.