We arrived at the mansion late at night.
The silence there was different from the silence of the road. It was a familiar silence, comfortable, almost welcoming. The interior lights were already on, and some staff members came to receive us with visibly relieved expressions.
Rai'kanna entered first and took a deep breath. "I missed this place."
Lyannis ran her hand along the stair railing. "Nothing like your own home."
Vespera went to the window and looked at the garden. "Everything is just as we left it."
Elara simply smiled, clearly tired. "I want a bath and a bed."
Liriel lifted her chin. "Finally an environment worthy of me again."
I ignored the comment.
I was more tired than I had imagined. It wasn't physical exhaustion. It was mental. Many things had happened in the past few days. The dwarven kingdom, the king's gifts, the princess, the missions, the conversations. Everything felt distant now, as if it had happened much longer ago.
We had a light dinner that was already prepared. No one talked much. The atmosphere was one of rest, not conversation.
We went up to the bedrooms.
As always, the women simply decided they would sleep in my room.
I didn't even argue anymore.
The bed seemed smaller than I remembered.
Rai'kanna on one side, Lyannis on the other, Elara near my shoulders, Vespera closer to the foot of the bed, and Liriel complaining that there wasn't enough space for someone of "her position."
It took me a while to close my eyes.
But when I did, I fell asleep quickly.
And then I dreamed.
But it didn't feel like a dream.
I was standing in a place I didn't recognize. The ground was dark, like burned stone. The sky did not exist. Everything around was a heavy, dense, suffocating fog.
I knew it wasn't real.
But I felt it.
I felt the weight of the air. I felt the smell of something burned. I felt a discomfort that didn't come from the body, but from the mind.
Then a voice echoed.
"You defeated some of them."
I looked around, trying to identify where it was coming from.
"But don't think you can defeat me."
The fog began to move. Not like smoke. As if it were alive.
"You are human."
A form began to emerge in the middle of that darkness.
Tall.
Imposing.
Red eyes glowing in the shadow.
The fifth general.
I knew. I didn't need him to say it.
My entire body froze. Not from fear. From recognition.
"You killed the eighth. The sixth. The seventh."
He took a step forward.
The ground seemed to tremble with each movement.
"You destroyed important pieces of my army."
I tried to speak, but my mouth wouldn't obey.
Then he raised his hand.
And the vision changed.
I saw Vaillor in flames.
I saw the mansion destroyed.
I saw Rai'kanna fallen on the ground.
I saw Lyannis trying to stand up but unable to.
I saw Vespera with her bow broken at her side.
I saw Elara wounded, leaning against a ruined wall.
I saw Liriel kneeling, staring at her own hands as if she couldn't do anything.
And I wasn't there.
I was watching.
Powerless.
The vision disappeared.
I returned to that dark place.
"You are not strong enough."
He continued.
"You just haven't faced me yet."
His voice wasn't loud. It was calm. Confident.
"Soon."
He stepped closer.
"I will come to you."
The fog began to rise at my feet.
Climbing up my legs.
My chest.
Trying to envelop me.
"You will pay for everything you have done."
The last thing I saw were those red eyes moving closer to my face.
And then I woke up.
I sat up in bed at once, gasping.
Sweat ran down my forehead.
My heart was beating too fast.
The room was dark. Silent.
Rai'kanna was sleeping deeply beside me.
Lyannis was breathing peacefully.
Elara hugging the pillow.
Vespera curled up near my feet.
Liriel snoring softly.
I looked at all of them.
All alive.
All there.
I ran a hand over my face, trying to understand what that had been.
It hadn't been a normal dream.
It had been a warning.
The fifth general knew.
Knew who I was.
And knew where I was.
I remained sitting on the bed for several minutes, just staring into the void.
The comfort of being home no longer existed.
What remained was something else.
The feeling that something much greater was approaching.
And that this time, it would not be like before.
I had finally drawn the attention of someone who could not be ignored.
And he was coming.