"What!?" James roared, rising from his chair with such force the wood screeched against the floor. "Tell me in detail." His grip tightened around the innkeeper's limbs.
"I—I…" The rat-faced man stammered, his squeaky voice trembling. "I tasked her with bringing in the meat delivery, then went to help… That's when I saw them. They struck her down, tied her up… They kept muttering something about teaching you a lesson."
It's my fault.
James's mind raced as he stormed out into the night. A chill brushed against his skin—ice drifting from the heavens. He lifted his gaze. Amid the starlit sky, pale and weightless, the first snow of the year fell. The days had grown shorter and the nights longer; now the only time to rest would be an unbearable frozen hell.
Pheeeeew.
James whistled. From the dark horizon, a thunderous melody answered. The Haris descended like a storm given wings, its jewel-bright eyes glimmering with shifting rainbow hues, reflecting the stars as though it carried its own constellation.
James mounted in one motion. The great beast shuddered beneath him, trembling as if it could feel the rage burning through its rider's veins.
As they climbed higher, the night itself began to transform. Long serpents of light writhed across the heavens, their emerald and violet hues clashing in a silent war, painting the sky in living fire.
The beast cut through the night sky with furious haste, weaving and banking as though it already knew the path. Soon, a range of colossal mountains rose before them, their jagged forms huddled together like giants cloaked in stone. The cliffs curved inward like talons, cruel and sharp, and from afar the peaks looked as though hooded titans kept silent watch over the land.
These mountains were called Jotunn, a place steeped in fear and whispered legends. Many who ventured there had never returned. Among them loomed one infamous cliff, its jagged crown known as Marigure—the Land of Death.
James ascended toward it, and from its blackened face he saw thick smoke curling into the sky. The mountainside was aflame, glowing like the mouth of some vast beast. Then, faintly, carried on the wind, came a voice—frail, trembling, desperate:
"Help… help…"
The beast hovered near the mountain as James's eyes darted, searching desperately for Ember. The smoke was blinding, but he forced himself to look deeper, straining with every breath. He could hear her voice—frail, calling for help—yet she was nowhere in sight.
"Open veil," James murmured. His eyes shifted, glowing with that strange color they had once taken on when his gift first awoke. Now, he commanded it at will.
The world snapped into clarity. His vision pierced through the haze, cutting past smoke and fire. There—Ember. She was bound to a blackened tree, and around her stood a small army. Axes, swords, and spears gleamed in the firelight as the men encircled her, their silhouettes twisting in the inferno's glow. The flames leapt and writhed as though alive, devouring cliff and forest alike, stretching outward like clawed hands under a single command: catch everything that moves.
The air reeked of char and blood; beasts shrieked in terror as they fled the blaze. James gritted his teeth. Without hesitation, he urged Harid forward. The great beast dove headlong into the sea of fire, weaving between burning trees as the flames snapped and clawed at them, desperate to drag them down.
From the distance, an arrow screamed through the air, slicing cleanly through a tree as it hurtled toward James's face. He tilted his head at the last instant, the shaft hissing past his cheek before vanishing into the blaze behind him.
"Damn it," James muttered, weaving through two more that followed in quick succession.
Amid the chaos of fire and collapsing wood, a new sound rose above it all—sharp, deliberate whistles. Each whistle carried death; every note loosed another arrow aimed straight for his head.
Three came at once, their tips glinting in the firelight. James twisted to avoid them—but before he could recover, another volley tore from behind; the ones he had evaded were closing with deadly precision.
Harid sensed the danger and plunged downward. The arrows screamed past, missing James by inches, their wind biting his skin. But the hunters weren't finished—the shafts curved midair, diving after him like predators locked on prey.
James snapped his fingers. Time seemed to stutter. The arrows froze, trembling in the air for a heartbeat, then clattered lifelessly to the ground.
The journey toward Ember was perilous—even without the arrows and flames. The path had been laced with traps that sprang at James in succession: spears of ice erupting from the ground and cages of crackling sparks dropping from the sky, each more vicious than the last.
At last, he stood before the man—hideous beyond measure. Behind him, James saw Ember. Her clothes were torn, her face bruised and bitten, patches of hair were ripped away as if someone had dragged her by it.
James dismounted, boots hitting the scorched earth.
"Nathan… so this is the man you want to kill?" The voice that followed was harsh and low, laced with a hint of mockery. Its owner wore a tattered hat, his body not nearly as large as Nathan or Regard—yet the way he carried himself made him seem towering.
He stepped forward, his words deliberate."But I understand… Appearances can be deceiving. This… man—ah, boy." He stuttered slightly, then sneered. "He is of the advanced realm in Sar refinement. No wonder you were beaten so easily."
James's eyes burned with fury—one fixed on the man, the other locked on Ember.
"Give her back," his voice rang, carried by a gust of wind that snuffed out nearby flames, "and I might spare you."
Some of the men flinched as James's words cut through the air.
"Hahahaha… you fool." The man's laughter was jagged, cruel. "You don't even realize, do you?" Shadows swirled and thickened behind him, writhing like smoke made flesh. "You are already ruined. Even if you manage to kill us here, it changes nothing."
At last, the figure stepped forward. The shadows peeled away from his face, revealing features long hidden in darkness. His grin stretched wide, eyes glinting with madness.
"Oh, you don't know how long I've searched for you," he said, laughter spilling out maniacally. "For years, I thought you were dead."
"Who are you?" Nathan barked, his voice riddled with confusion.