Ash still clung to their clothes as they slipped out of the mansion through a service tunnel that stank of rust and damp. Behind them the battle was over; ahead, only darkness and cold night. Prince led the way, sword still wet with the lieutenant's blood. Praise supported Lammy, who staggered with every step, the sigil on his palm now a smouldering scar. Jed brought up the rear, his claws sheathed but his eyes still glowing faintly.
No one spoke. Every footfall echoed like a drumbeat of retreat. Only when the trees swallowed them did Prince slow down. He turned to look back. Through the branches he could still see the mansion's broken windows glowing like angry eyes. They had won, but the victory felt like the opening of a much bigger war.
Lammy sank to the ground, breathing hard. "I can't… call them again," he rasped. "They're gone now. Free."
"You did enough," Praise said quietly, kneeling beside him. Her hands were gentle but her voice held a tremor. She had never seen him command death before. "More than enough."
Jed crouched near the tree line, scanning the horizon. "We shouldn't stop for long," he muttered. "They'll send more."
Prince wiped his blade clean on the grass. "They will. And they won't underestimate us next time."
Far away, in a chamber of black stone, the Revenant Headquarters pulsed with cold light. A massive screen flickered, replaying the footage taken from the lieutenant's visor: the explosion of the gates, the army of the dead, the moment Prince's blade slid into his chest. Shadows moved around a circular table as figures materialised one by one.
First came Veyra of Ice, her skin pale as snow, hair like frozen silk. Frost bloomed across the tabletop where her fingers rested.
Then Kael of Fire, broad-shouldered and smouldering, embers leaking from the seams of his armour.
Lume of Light followed, her outline shimmering so bright that the others squinted.
From the darkest corner stepped Nyx of Darkness, his face veiled, voice doubling as if another spoke with him.
And finally Orin of Sound, slender and sharp, each word he uttered sending ripples across the room.
"The sixth has fallen," Veyra said, voice like cracking ice. "By a boy's sword."
Kael's mouth curled into a snarl. "Then we burn them where they sleep."
"They're not just fugitives anymore," Lume murmured. "They're a threat."
Nyx's unseen hands moved across the table, rearranging glowing markers. "A threat can be turned into bait."
Orin's laugh vibrated the chamber. "Let them run. We'll find them. And when we do, they'll hear us coming."
Above them a larger silhouette loomed — the Revenant Head, hidden behind a veil of shifting static. "You will coordinate," the voice commanded. "One falls, five remain. You will finish what was started."
The five lieutenants lowered their heads, each power flaring briefly in a silent vow.
The heroes camped beneath a jagged cliff a mile from the mansion. A dying fire cast long shadows across their faces. Praise bandaged Jed's arms while Prince stared into the flames. Lammy sat apart, turning the blackened sigil on his palm. The silence between them grew heavy.
"You raised the dead," Praise said finally. "You—Lammy, you made them fight."
"I didn't force them," he whispered. "They wanted to fight. I just… opened the door." He looked up at her, eyes hollow. "But every time I do it, I lose a piece of myself."
Jed shifted uneasily. "We're all losing pieces."
Prince broke a branch and threw it into the fire. "Then we hold on to what's left. Together."
A sudden crack split the night. An ice shard hissed through the air and embedded itself in a tree trunk a foot from Lammy's head. Frost crawled outward from the impact, turning bark to glass. Jed leapt to his feet, claws flashing. Praise grabbed Prince's arm.
Prince rose slowly and pulled the shard from the tree. Cold burned his fingers. He turned it over, studying the frostbite creeping across his skin. In the firelight the shard glittered like a warning.
"They're already tracking us," he said quietly.
"Who?" Praise asked.
He met her eyes. "All of them."
He tossed the shard into the fire, where it hissed and melted. The frost receded but the cold lingered. Around them the night deepened, filled with distant whispers.
At Revenant Headquarters, the five lieutenants stood before the giant screen, the fire of Kael, the frost of Veyra, the glow of Lume, the shifting dark of Nyx, and the trembling hum of Orin merging into one ominous circle. They raised their hands in a silent pact.
"Let them think they've won," Orin said. His voice vibrated through the floor like thunder. "We'll drag them out of the shadows."
The screen went dark.
Prince looked at the others, their faces pale in the dying firelight. "We've only seen the beginning," he said. "They're coming — all of them."
No one argued.