Chapter 30
The city, with its whispers and schemes, stirred restlessly above the underground. Kael had taken refuge in a collapsed cellar, too narrow for anyone to suspect his presence. His wounds were healing slowly, but every movement reminded him of his body's fragility.
Since the encounter with the boy, a thought haunted him.
That spark of Naivete, that selfless gesture… why had it unsettled him so deeply?
He had always believed kindness to be nothing more than a mask, a hypocritical excuse behind which the weak hid. And yet, the boy had asked for nothing. No bargain. No conditions. Just a piece of bread, offered without calculation.
Kael clenched his fists.
"Kindness doesn't exist…" he muttered.
Yet his heart, against his will, refused to turn completely to stone.
The Echo of the Hunters
But he had no time to drown in such thoughts.
Above, in taverns and alleys, the rumors thickened. The bounty hunters had not forgotten. Kael's face—his former face—still stared from the walls of several districts, accompanied by an exorbitant reward in obsidian sovereigns.
Despite his illusion, suspicion lingered. Some hunters whispered of a mysterious man who had recently settled in the city, whose voice, gestures, and even silences bore too close a resemblance to the fugitive they sought.
The noose was tightening, and Kael knew it.
The Perfect Pawn
He needed a relay, someone to draw attention in his place, to blur the trail.
And he found the opportunity in the lower alleys: a woman, a seller of medicinal herbs known as Nerya. A modest healer, respected for her work, who helped the poor without ever meddling in the city's struggles for power.
Kael observed her for days.
She was frank, naïve, almost too righteous to survive in such a corrupted place. And yet, her reputation shielded her.
One night, he finally approached.
Nerya, arranging her vials, startled as the man cloaked in illusion appeared before her.
"Who are you ?" she asked, wary.
Kael bowed slightly, his voice soft yet penetrating.
"A simple traveler. But I've seen what you do for others. You are… rare, here."
She froze, caught between distrust and surprise.
And Kael knew, in that instant, he had found a new echo. Another innocence to use.
The Hesitant Shadow
That night, returning to his refuge, Kael found himself thinking of the boy and Nerya.
Two beings too pure for this world, two cracks in his armor.
He frowned.
His plan demanded that he manipulate, corrupt, and destroy. But why, in the suffocating silence, did his heart beat harder at the memory of their eyes?
Kael closed his own, leaned against the cold wall, and whispered:
"If I stray… I become weak."
And yet, one insidious question lingered:
Was it truly weakness… or a strength he refused to acknowledge?