Zelene tried again.
"Hey… you don't have to pull me. Just tell me where we're going."
But the stranger didn't answer.
Not even a breath.
Only the faint rustle of cloth as he guided her deeper through the underground passage.
Zelene didn't resist.
Something in his touch—light, careful, almost hesitant—told her she wasn't in danger.
No coldness.
No tension.
Only warmth.
A gentle kind of certainty that she couldn't explain.
She let him lead.
The narrow tunnels swallowed the world around them. The darkness here was absolute—no torches, no cracks of light, nothing. And yet… he moved as if he saw everything. As if the shadows were simply another layer of air.
He can see here.
Like it's normal. Like he's lived here all his life.
Her own hands slid along the walls for balance, fingers brushing rough stone, moss, and the occasional wooden beam supporting the tunnel. She stumbled once, and his hand tightened around hers—steadying, not gripping.
Still silent.
Still present.
Still warm.
She tried again. "Can you at least… say something? Anything?"
A pause.
Then—barely a whisper, only one word, the first she heard from him:
"…Safe."
Her heart jolted.
Not because of the word—but because it was the same tone Ray used when they first met. Soft. Guarded. Almost like he wasn't used to speaking.
She didn't get to ask more. He tugged gently and continued walking, guiding her through another left turn, another slope upward, another narrow passage that felt like it could only fit four people at most.
And then Zelene noticed something familiar: the faintest flicker of warm yellow ahead. Torchlight.
Their chambers.
He was leading her back.
He knew the way.
In this darkness… he knew exactly where to go.
They reached the hidden door in the wall—still slightly cracked open. She could hear muffled voices inside. Finn's pacing. Corvin's worried grumble. Ray's sighs.
She turned to the stranger to thank him, to ask him who he was, to maybe invite him inside—just to keep him in the light for even a moment—
But the space behind her was empty.
He was gone.
No footsteps.
No sound.
No trace he had ever been there.
Only the lingering warmth on her hand told her she hadn't imagined him.