Keiser should have known.
His body had been screaming at him for minutes now, but still he forced the sigil to work. He had burnt it onto Lenko's forearm with the back of his own hand, the only place on his hand left unmarked and unburned. A tether, a command 'take-me-where-he-is'.
He should have known the cost would come due the moment it pulled.
The world blinked out and slammed back in again.
Keiser's knees buckled at once, strength gone as though the sigil had wrung the last dregs of mana out of him. He pitched forward, his boots scraping earth, and only the princess's arm braced across his chest kept him from collapsing outright.
She hissed, teeth clenched, as she fought to steady him... his weight nearly dragging her down. His eyes adjusted slowly to the dark blur around them, but his ears caught it first, gasps, startled cries, the clamor of feet shifting back. And then he saw it... Lenko.
The boy was right there, seated on the ground, his face pale with sweat and grime. Shock held him rigid, fear written plain across every twitch of his mouth, every tremor in his hands. But it was his eyes---those wide, unblinking eyes... that locked on Muzio.
Not on the blood that soaked his body, not on the princess's drawn blade, but on him, as if trying to place what kind of man could cross from one place to another using their own body as a waymark. Keiser couldn't name that expression, and he hated that he couldn't.
The princess swore sharply under her breath. Then, with no gentleness at all, she let go of him... no, shoved him----straight toward the boy.
Lenko startled but caught him on instinct, arms scrambling to balance the sudden weight. Keiser sagged against him, a low hiss tearing from his throat as pain rippled through his side. The boy trembled beneath him, but he didn't let go.
"Shit, don't just stand there!" The princess's voice cracked like a whip, not at him, not at Lenko, but at the crowd that had gone utterly still.
Keiser's blurred vision caught up a heartbeat later.
They weren't underground---not the carved tunnels of safety he had expected---but out here, on the edge of the forest road.
Cold wind sliced through the trees, carrying with it the stink of ash and beast ichor. Around them, dozens of people stood huddled, wide-eyed, their skin pale with fright.
Men, women, children... every face was once thought were lost.
His knees buckled again, and he hacked a breath, lungs dragging like rusted metal. Blood rose hot in his throat, and he coughed, the force of it shaking him. His skin seared as though every sigil carved there was still burning, a brand refusing to fade. The pain crawled deep, burrowing into his bones until even his ears rang with the pressure.
And through that haze, another voice cut. A trembling, almost broken whisper from somewhere in the crowd, "---zio… what have you done? Why are you like this? You were never like this."
The words lanced through him sharper than any beast's branch or claw. His eyes tried to find the speaker, but the shapes of the people bled together, faces merging in shadow and flickering firelight. He only knew the tone... accusatory, mournful, carrying a familiarity that twisted his gut.
For a heartbeat, he almost thought it was someone from before... before all this.
His breath rattled. He swayed in Lenko's grasp. And the whisper would not leave him, echoing beneath the ringing in his skull.
Keiser felt the world tilt, a tremor shuddering through his body as though the ground itself had given way. Someone shook him... at least, he thought they did---but the truth snapped clearer a moment later.
Lenko had shoved his shoulder under his arm, bracing his weight, hauling him up with the raw determination. The boy's grip was clumsy but stubborn, dragging Keiser along as though every faltering step could be forced into motion by will alone.
His vision opened wider, the world staggering into focus through a haze of pain. And with that vantage, he saw...
The princess was fighting again. Not just standing, not just ordering, but throwing herself back into the melee with ferocity. The beasts had tracked the prey, clawing through the safety of a hidden underground settlement and forest trails, following the scent of panic. Some may had never even diverted to the barn at all, drawn instead by the heartbeat of the crowd hidden here.
She was alone against almost dozens of them... swords slashing, teeth snapping... but she moved like her flame, her blade flashing arcs of light beneath the darkening sky. Every strike bought the crowd a few more breaths, every deflection just enough space for another one to stumble further back.
Around Keiser, the air broke with shouting.
"...Get the kids, keep them away!"
"...Mom! MOM!"
"...Hey, old man, what are you doing? Don't just stand there!"
"...Older brother... come on, move!"
It was a storm of human voices, all jagged with fear, colliding with the guttural roars of beasts and the ringing clash of steel. The road was no longer a place of hiding but a battlefield, every cry sharp enough to cut through Keiser's ringing ears.
And still Lenko dragged him forward, stumbling under his weight but refusing to let go, as if he knew that if he faltered for even a moment, both of them would collapse into the tide of beast that the princess has already trying to keep at bay.
Keiser nearly stumbled again... his knees buckled, his breath ragged, the world tipping sideways. Then suddenly his other arm was hooked over another shoulder. He blinked hard, confused, trying to focus through the blur.
"Hey, Wally---why are you here? Get back to---"
"Let's hurry up!"
The voices clashed in his ears. When his sight steadied, Keiser realized the figure beneath his arm was small... too small. A child. One of the kids Lenko had been playing and dancing with earlier, laughter still echoing in memory though now his face was pale, strained.
Keiser's heart lurched. He wanted to tell him to go, to run, to stop holding him up... but his mouth only filled with ash and blood.
His gaze flicked forward, vision swimming. He saw the other children... herded like startled birds... being pushed by trembling hands of women, men, maybe mothers, grandfathers, older brothers, urged down the dirt road toward the village. Their cries blurred together with the panic.
On the fringes of the procession, the braver ones stood their ground. An injured old man with a stick. A woman with a jagged stone. They swung, they shouted, trying to scare off the dark hulking shapes that stalked the edge of the road.
It wasn't enough.
A short blade spun from the princess' hand, cutting the air in a clean arc before burying itself deep into the chest of a beast that had lunged too close. Its screech tore the darkening sky open as flame bloomed across its body, burning it where it stood. The villagers scattered around the heat, eyes wide, stumbling past the writhing remains.
The princess was already moving, fending off the ones that came at her back, her blade catching against thorned limbs and snapping jaws. Then another flick of her wrist---- her other short blade was thrown, lodging into a monster that had slipped too near the front of the procession. Fire caught again.
She didn't hesitate. As soon as the villagers ran past the smoking carcass, she yanked her weapon back into her grip with a sharp pull, steel sliding through air as though bound to her by something more than strength.
It was like watching the heart of the battle beat in two directions at once... holding the rear with fury, lashing the front with precision, forcing the way forward clear.
But Keiser, swaying between Lenko and the child, his vision fractured again, spots dancing before his eyes, the shouting melting into a muddled chorus.
"...Get the kids through!"
"...Faster... don't stop!"
"...Keep them back---KEEP THEM BACK!"
Keiser felt his foot catch---no, dragged back---a sudden yank that wrenched him off balance.
The world tilted, and then the ground slammed into his face. White exploded behind his eyes, sharp pain bursting across his cheekbone. The blow was so jarring he blacked out for a heartbeat.
"---zio! Wake up!"
The voices tore through the ringing in his ears. He could barely place them, overlapping, panicked.
Then clearer, sharper. "Stand back!" Lenko's voice, strained and desperate.
"Run, everyone! Get to the village---hurry up... !" His words cracked into another shout. "You too, Wally! Get back to the other kids, lead them---GO!"
Keiser's head lolled, his vision sliding sideways. He blinked hard, confusion thick in his skull. Through the blur, he caught the fleeting rhythm of pitter-patter feet scattering away, the children's small shadows stretching and shrinking as they fled. The sound grew fainter, swallowed by distance, until only the pounding of his own heart filled the gap.
Keiser thought he had only closed his eyes for a second---just long enough to draw in a burning breath.
When he came to, the light had already faded, and darkness had seeped in.
"Is he awake?" The princess's voice cut through the haze, sharper than he remembered, edged with something hard and impatient.
"I think he's conscious," somebody answered, closer to him. "He seems aware too, but… he isn't reacting back."
Keiser's gaze wavered, blurred shapes moving above him until Lenko's familiar face bent into view. The boy leaned close, the lines of worry etched deep as he checked Keiser's eyes. Keiser frowned at the sudden intrusion, and Lenko let out a sharp breath of relief.
Heat pressed nearer again, crawling over his skin like an open furnace. For a moment, at the corner of his vision, Keiser caught a flicker... purple fire curling and hissing as it devoured something that must have been another beast. The stench of burnt hide drifted over them, acrid and heavy.
His eyes tilted skyward.
The horizon bled orange, the last smears of daylight sinking fast. Shadows stretched long and broken across the ground, swallowing what little safety the sun had offered.
Darkness was coming, and with it, every instinct screamed they shouldn't be here when it fell.
He felt Lenko's hands fussing at his arm, fingers tightening in alarm. Keiser followed the touch down and realized what Lenko saw---his hand and arm, streaked in blood, the skin torn raw and covered in welted sigils that writhed like scars. It looked less like a man's limb and more like something mauled, marked by teeth.
Keiser's fingers twitched. He reached out, weak but deliberate, and caught Lenko's hand.
Lenko flinched, then his eyes widened. "Oh, good... you're back!" His relief tumbled into action, helping Keiser sit up.
The ground steadied, and Keiser blinked at the sight before him. They weren't out there running away from the forest anymore.
They had made it---dragged themselves all the way here.
They were right at the village entrance.
But the gate was sealed.
Shut tight.
The way out of Sheol barred like a wall.
It had never been closed before. Not once. Not until today.