(Nisag year 1604, 6th April, Falric village)
"It's a boy."
"Really?" Her voice trembled with both relief and awe.
The midwife nodded, smiling tiredly. "Strong and healthy. He'll grow up tough, just like these lands."
Outside, the wind whispered through the village streets, carrying the scent of earth and wood, as if welcoming the newborn to the world.
A man entered the room, a cigar in his mouth, saw the boy, and left. The mother started crying the man was her husband.
Year 1610. At the age of six, the boy lost his mother.
The man came again that day, saw everything, saw the house they were living in.
"What is your name?" he asked, watching the child.
"What is name?" the child asked back.
The man paused, then said nothing more and walked away. He turned back once and whispered, " Cartal that will be your name. Don't follow me. Pass the fences," he pointed in the direction of Bugo, "and run as fast as you can. Before anyone asks, cross the river. There will be a woman who will take you ahead."
Cartal's voice trembled. "But what is name?" he asked again.
"It's an identity of your own. You'll understand it when you reach the woman," the man said.
Cartal did as he was told. He ran fast and reached the river but he didn't know how to swim.
Cartal reached the riverbank, staring at the rushing water. His small hands trembled, and his chest felt tight. He had never seen water move like this. The current looked hungry, pulling at the rocks and mud.
He stepped in slowly, then stumbled, the cold water biting at his legs. Panic clawed at him, but he remembered the man's words. He splashed and kicked, arms flailing, legs pumping, gasping as the water dragged him downstream.
Finally, he reached the opposite shore, collapsing onto the wet earth, shivering, soaked, and exhausted. Every breath burned, and his tiny body shook from the cold. The fear and loneliness pressed down on him like a heavy stone.
Through the mist, he saw a faint figure waiting, calm and still. Something in her presence made him crawl forward, every step heavy but determined. He didn't understand why he had to go, or what would happen next.
The river behind him roared as if it wanted him back, but he kept moving, dragging his small feet across the mud and roots. Tears mixed with the rain on his face, but he forced himself to keep going.
He finally reached the figure, a woman whose eyes seemed to know everything. He sank to the ground, exhausted, shaking, and silent. The first step of his new life had begun, and the sadness of losing everything pressed into him like a shadow that would not leave.
The woman looked down at Cartal, her eyes calm but heavy. She didn't ask anything. She just bent down, wrapped him in a rough cloth, and lifted him gently. Cartal didn't resist. He was too tired, too cold, too empty to speak.
She started walking, carrying him through the trees. The path was long and silent. Cartal rested his head against her shoulder, listening to her steady breathing. For the first time since his mother died, he felt something close to safety, even if he didn't understand it.
After hours, the trees began to thin, and the land slowly changed. The air felt diffHairot, the ground harder under her steps. Cartal opened his eyes slightly, watching everything without saying a word.
"Where… are we going?" Cartal whispered weakly.
"To Bugo," the woman said softly.
Cartal didn't know what Bugo was. He didn't know why he was going there. But he didn't ask again. His eyes closed as exhaustion took over, and he let the woman carry him forward into a place that would change his life forever.
Cartal stayed with the woman in Bugo. Days turned into months, and months into years. She gave him food, a place to sleep, and taught him how to survive. Cartal didn't ask many questions. He worked, learned, and grew. The sadness never left him, but it became quieter.
He learned how to move silently, how to watch people, how to fight when needed. The woman was strict but never cruel. She spoke little, but Cartal understood her more with time. Slowly, Bugo became the only place he knew.
Years passed. Cartal was no longer the scared boy at the river. At fourteen, his eyes were sharper, his body stronger, but something inside him still searched for answers.
One evening, the door opened.
The man stood there.
Cartal froze. The memory hit him instantly the voice, the shadow, the day everything changed. The room felt smaller, heavier. The woman didn't look surprised. She just stood still, as if she had been waiting for this moment.
The man looked at Cartal for a long second. "You've grown," he said quietly.
The man didn't stay long inside. "Come," he said, turning away. Cartal followed without a word. The woman didn't stop them. She just watched as they left.
They walked in silence until they reached a quiet hill. The wind moved softly through the grass. Cartal stood still, waiting.
The man looked at him for a long time. "I am your father," he said.
Cartal's eyes didn't move, but his fists tightened. "Why did you leave?" he asked, his voice low.
The man exhaled slowly. "Because the life I lived… would have destroyed you. I was never just a normal man. I moved in shadows. I did things people don't speak about. If you stayed, you would have been dragged into it."
Cartal looked at him, confused and angry. "So you left me alone?"
"I sent you somewhere safe," the man said. "Bugo was the only place where no one would look for you, where you could grow without being used."
The wind grew stronger. Cartal's thoughts raced, but nothing felt clear. This man, this stranger, was calling himself his father.
"Why come back now?" Cartal asked.
The man stepped closer, his voice quieter. "Because now you're strong enough. Strong enough to hear the truth… and decide what you want to become."
The man stood still for a moment, then looked out across the land. "There is something you need to know," he said. "About this place… about Bugo."
Cartal stayed silent, watching him closely.
"Seventy years ago, a group was formed here," the man continued. "Not soldiers. Not kings. Bandits… but not the kind people think."
Cartal frowned slightly. "Bandits?"
"They lived outside the rules," the man said. "They didn't follow any kingdom. They moved in shadows, took what they needed, and survived when others couldn't. Some called them criminals… others called them freedom."
The wind passed between them. Cartal listened without speaking.
"They were started by a man who had nothing left to lose," the man said quietly. "He built them to fight control… but over time, they changed. Some became worse. Some disappeared. But their roots are still here, hidden in Bugo."
Cartal's eyes sharpened. "And you?"
The man paused, then answered, "I was part of them."
Silence fell again, heavier than before. Cartal looked at him diffHairotly now not just as a stranger, not just as a father, but as someone tied to something dangerous and unknown.
Cartal didn't look away. "If you were part of them… then what were you doing in Nisag?"
The man was quiet for a moment. "I worked there," he said.
"Worked as what?" Cartal asked.
"A commander," the man replied. "To them, I was loyal. A soldier who followed orders."
Cartal's eyes narrowed. "But you said you were part of the bandits."
The man looked at him steadily. "I was placed there… as a spy. I served the bandits from inside Nisag. I watched, listened, and passed information without anyone knowing."
Cartal frowned. "So you lied to everyone."
"Yes," the man said. "That was the only way to survive."
The man stood in silence for a long moment, then spoke, his voice lower than before. "There is one more thing you need to know."
Cartal didn't respond. He just watched him.
The man looked away, as if the words were heavier than anything he had said before. "Your mother… she found out about me. About what I really was."
Cartal's expression didn't change, but his body went still.
"She was going to tell everyone," the man continued. "If she did, everything would have ended. The bandits, my work… all of it."
The wind moved across the hill, but neither of them moved.
"So I made a choice," the man said quietly. "I killed her."
The words landed hard.
Cartal didn't speak. His hands slowly tightened, his breath uneven now. He stared at the man, trying to understand, but nothing felt clear anymore.
The man didn't step closer this time. He just stood there. "That is the truth," he said.
Cartal took a small step back, not out of fear, but because something inside him had changed, something that would never go back.
The man stood in silence for a moment after speaking, then his voice softened. "Don't run," he said quietly to Cartal. "Stay where you are." Cartal didn't move, his body stiff, his mind still trying to understand everything.
The man looked out into the distance. "I've had enough of this life… enough of this work," he said. "There's nothing left for me now." His voice carried no anger, no fear only emptiness.
Cartal watched him, confused, his chest tightening. "What are you doing?" he asked, but the words felt weak.
The man didn't answer. He walked slowly toward the edge of the hill, each step steady, as if he had already decided long ago. The wind moved around him, but he didn't stop.
For a brief second, he paused at the edge. Then he took one more step forward.
His body disappeared from sight.
A heavy sound echoed below.
Cartal stood frozen. He didn't run. He didn't scream. He just stared at the empty edge, the silence around him louder than anything he had ever heard.
Cartal stood there for a long moment, staring at the empty edge, his face blank, his thoughts distant and heavy. The wind moved around him, but he didn't feel it anymore. Then, without saying a word, he turned around.
He walked down the hill slowly, his steps steady, his expression unchanged. There were no tears, no anger, nothing on his face. It was as if something inside him had gone quiet.
The path back felt longer than before, but Cartal didn't stop. He didn't look back even once. The hill, the man, everything that had just happened he left it behind with every step.
When he reached the house, the woman was there, standing as she always did. Cartal looked at her for a second, then walked inside like nothing had happened.
He sat down in his usual place, silent, still, as if the day had been no diffHairot from any other.
But something inside him had changed forever.
After a moment, Cartal spoke, his voice calm and steady. "I want to join the bandits of Bugo."
Mirel(The woman) didn't react immediately. She studied his face, searching for doubt or fear, but found none.
"You know what that means?" she asked quietly.
Cartal didn't move. "I don't need to understand everything," he said. "I just need to become strong."
The room fell silent. Mirel looked at him for a long second, then turned slightly away before speaking again.
"Then your life as a child ends here," she said.
The men took Cartal with them without asking anything more. He walked between them in silence, not looking back. Mirel turned and began walking home, and beside her walked Dren Rugger, her husband, a man Cartal had seen but never truly known. Neither of them spoke as they disappeared down the path.
Cartal was led through narrow trails and hidden turns until they reached a cave. The entrance was dark, almost invisible between the rocks. Inside, shadows moved along the walls from faint torchlight. The air was cold, and the silence felt heavy.
The men stopped and looked at him. "You want to join?" one of them asked.
Cartal nodded once.
They didn't ask his past. They didn't ask where he came from. To them, it didn't matter. Only what stood in front of them mattered.
One man stepped closer, studying his eyes. "If you stay, you follow our rules. You fight, you survive, and you don't question what keeps you alive."
Cartal didn't speak. He just stood there, still and steady.
The man nodded slightly. "Good. Then you stay."
Cartal moved deeper into the cave, leaving everything behind without a word. No one there knew who he was, where he came from, or what he had lost. And Cartal didn't tell them.
From that moment, his past was gone. Only what he would become remained.
Present day
Cartal's eyes opened slowly, the world around him blurred and heavy. Pain throbbed through his head, but he didn't move. He stayed there, lying still, listening to the silence left behind.
The forest was quiet now. Too quiet.
He stared at nothing, his breath slow, his body refusing to rise. For the first time in years, his mind didn't think about the next move, the next fight. It went back.
What if he never joined?
What if he had stayed with Mirel? Stayed in that house, sitting in the same place, living a quiet life he never understood?
What if he never went to that hill? Never followed those men? Never stepped into that cave?
His fingers twitched slightly against the ground.
Would his mother still be gone? Would anything have changed? Or would he just be someone weaker… someone who didn't survive?
The questions stayed, unanswered, heavy.
Cartal closed his eyes again, not to rest but to escape the thoughts that came too late.
Cartal forced himself up, pain running through his body, but he didn't stop. His eyes locked ahead. Nearby, Berte stood restless. Cartal grabbed the reins and pulled himself onto the horse in one sharp motion.
He kicked hard. Berte surged forward, faster and faster, tearing through the forest. The wind hit his face, branches snapping as they passed. Cartal leaned low, pushing the horse to its limit, following the trail without hesitation.
The marks were clear. Broken ground. Crushed leaves. They wHairo't far.
Then he saw them.
Rolio's army, moving ahead, unaware.
Cartal didn't slow down. He drove Berte straight toward them. The distance closed fast. Soldiers began to turn, confusion spreading too late.
He rode straight into them.
Steel flashed. The first soldier fell before he could react. The formation broke as Berte forced through, scattering men. Shouts rose, weapons drawn, but Cartal didn't stop. He struck again from above, clearing his path.
At full speed, Cartal jumped off Berte.
He hit the ground hard, rolled, and came up instantly, blade already in his hand. The moment his feet found balance, he moved forward.
Soldiers rushed him. He cut through them one by one, not rushing blindly, but pushing steadily, every strike precise, every step bringing him closer. The fight stretched, slowing him, testing him, but never stopping him.
Rolio turned.
Their eyes met across the chaos.
Cartal kept moving, cutting down the last man in his path. The noise faded as he reached him.
Rolio stepped forward, ready. They circled once then clashed.
The fight was long. Steel met steel again and again. Rolio was skilled, controlled, holding his ground. Cartal pressed harder, faster, forcing him back step by step. Time stretched with every strike.
Cartal took hits, but didn't stop. He adapted, watching, waiting.
Then an opening.
He moved instantly. One step forward. One final strike.
The blade went through.
Rolio stopped.
For a moment, everything was still. Then his body fell.
Cartal stood there, breathing steady, the fight finally over.
Jane and Ira stood in shock, their eyes fixed on Cartal. The forest had gone quiet, the fight over, but the weight of it still pressed around them.
Hairo was held in Ira's grip, his arms tight against him. But her hold had weakened just slightly. Enough.
Hairo felt it.
In one quick motion, he pulled free just enough to reach the blade Cartal had given him in the forest. His fingers closed around it.
For a second, he just held it.
Then his grip tightened.
He lifted his head, eyes locking onto Cartal.
He cut both Jane and Ira's neck
Other surviving soldiers ran towards the Necergo to the queen to report
On the field there only remained dead bodies and some horses
Hairo sat on beret while Cartal sat on another horse and rode thought the forest this time leashy doesn't mislead them but showed them the way.