Gilded Ashes: When Shadows Reign

"You control them..." Raizen whispered.

"NO WAY! I just ask nicely!" Elin corrected. "They answer. Sometimes they tell me no."

He could not tell if she was joking. She probably wasn't.

They crossed close enough to the river that mist brushed his face. The water here was dark but clean, smooth, carrying faint reflections of lichen and colorful light.

Raizen noticed small shapes moving just below the surface.

Tiny fish, glowing along their fins. Some had wings where fins should be. One darted up, broke the surface briefly, skipped on the water surface for a bit, then went back under.

"Ukai hunted in the upper forest" Elin said, tone casual. "Beasts, sometimes normal animals, Nyxes when they come too close. You saw a little of that. You saw one of their mistakes."

Her gaze tracked the river as they walked.

"Down here" she went on, "they can't hunt."

"Because you say so?" Raizen asked.

"Because I made it that way."

"What do you mean?"

Elin didn't bother to respond. They climbed up another set of stairs carved into the opposite wall. A hummingbird the size of her chest hovered near Elin's shoulder for a second, its wings a blur of noise and light. It dipped closer, as if tasting her presence, then zipped away to perch on a root.

Elin did not flinch.

"They trust you" Raizen said.

"They can exist here because I'm annoying" she replied. "Trust... It came later."

He almost smiled.

Almost.

They reached a narrower platform that ran along the upper wall like a balcony without rails. From here, the entire basin was visible - waterfall, river, discs, creatures, light. It looked like a self contained world. Like another dimension entirely.

Elin stopped.

"This" she said quietly, "is what the Sky Sovereign is protecting."

Raizen did not answer.

What could he even say?

He leaned his shoulder against the rock and watched a moss-covered boar nudge one of the deer-creatures away from the deeper current, gently, like a parent guiding a child away from traffic.

He watched a cluster of small birds drop bits of fruit near the water's edge, then hop back with excited chirps as fish grabbed the pieces.

He watched a thing that might once have been a monkey, now with long gliding membranes woven from their arms to torso, leap from one hanging vine to another, narrowly missing a hammock.

Everything moved.

Nothing hunted. Nothing wanted to kill.

Whatever this was, whatever rules Elin had baked into it, it worked.

The silence settled.

Then he looked at her.

"Why does Ukai hate you for this?" he asked.

Her jaw clenched, just for a second.

"They don't hate this. Actually, they don't even know this exists. That's the point." she mumbled. "They hate what I did before this."

Raizen waited for an explanation. As always, it never came.

She pushed herself away from the wall.

"Come."

He followed her to the very back of the ledge, where the light dimmed and the rock curved inward. Vines hung thicker here, a curtain of roots and leaves.

Elin reached up and dragged her fingers through them.

They shifted aside.

Behind the curtain, tucked into the rock, was a tunnel.

It was not big. Just wide enough for one person to walk, two if they didn't mind pressing too close. The walls were packed mineral and stone, lined with thin roots and the occasional patch of faint lichen.

A thin, cool breeze whispered out of it.

Raizen squinted into the dark.

"Where does that go?" he asked.

"Up" Elin said.

He looked back at the cave.

"Why do I feel like that is not a pleasant up?"

She didn't answer that.

Instead, she turned to him fully.

"Before we go" she said, "I am going to repeat myself."

He raised an eyebrow.

"No one hears about this place" she said. "Not this tunnel. Not this cave. Not the animals. Not the way they live together. Not the dragon. Not me."

"You already said that."

"I am saying it again."

Her eyes were no longer half amused.

They were sharp.

"Secrets rot when they get passed through too many mouths" she went on. "Ukai walks on a very thin balance. So does Neoshima. If either city knows I live here with this much power and no leash, you won't get any cute political speeches and friendly offers like the Silent Hand."

Raizen thought of Atman, smiling while a ghost Nyx almost crushed his neck.

"What will I get?" he asked.

"War"

Then she shrugged one shoulder, ruining her own drama.

"And then I would have to move, and I hate moving."

He breathed out through his nose.

"I told you" he said. "I will not tell anyone."

She stepped closer and held out her hand.

Raizen hesitated for a fraction of a second, then took it.

Her grip was light. Warm. Unexpectedly soft. Not fragile, just… Calm. Like she had never once worried about someone crushing it.

They shook once.

That was all.

As she pulled her hand back, Raizen felt something brush against his palm.

Not pressure. Not pain.

Just a faint warmth.

For the briefest moment, tiny red particles clung to his skin, drifting like embers that had forgotten how to burn. They sank into his hand and vanished before he could even blink.

Elin had already turned away. "Good."

"Then we can continue" she said.

She pushed a curtain of hanging roots aside and stepped into the narrow passage beyond, not sparing him another glance.

Raizen looked down at his hand once.

There was nothing there.

She ducked into the tunnel.

He followed.

The ceiling was low enough that he had to duck a little in some spots. Roots brushed his hair. The air here was colder, cleaner, untouched by the warm humidity of the cave.

Behind them, the soft roar of the waterfall dimmed, became a hint, then disappeared completely.

For a while, there was only the tunnel and the sound of their breathing.

"How far up does this go?" Raizen asked.

"Not too far" Elin answered.

He snorted despite himself.

They climbed in silence for a few more moments.

The air changed again.

Less stone. More open. A weird, dry smell that scratched the back of his throat.

The tunnel sloped more steeply. The patches of light ahead grew brighter, clearer.

Elin slowed.

They reached a section where the roof dropped very low, almost forcing them to crouch. Ahead, Raizen could see an uneven circle of light - the end of the tunnel.

"This is it" Elin said quietly.

"Another cave?" he asked.

Her mouth twisted.

"Surface" she corrected.

He felt something weird twist in his stomach.

She stepped aside, leaving the last stretch of tunnel clear.

Her eyes met his.

"Go on" she said. "You came here for answers, Raizen. Start with what is in front of you."

He swallowed once, then dropped into a crouch and moved forward.

The last bit of tunnel was narrow enough that his shoulders brushed the walls, light growing stronger with every movement

He squinted against the sudden brightness, eyes watering for a second as they adjusted.

Then he could see clearly.

Every breath left his chest.

"What..."

"Is this...?"