The snow stretched endlessly in all directions.

  It was the kind of white that swallowed everything - the kind that made it impossible to tell where the ground ended and the sky began. The wind howled and carried with it a hollow, distant sound like whispers just barely out of reach.

  Chael stood in the middle of it all, his boots sinking into the deep frost. The cold was sharp, and he could almost feel it cut through his clothes and bite against his skin, but he couldn't move. He couldn't even shiver.

  Because in front of him, just barely visible through the whirling snow, was her.

  A woman, her long silver hair flowing like strands of moonlight and the edges of her cloak dusted with fresh frost. She wasn't looking at him. Her back was turned, and her figure was distant, slipping further and further into the white void.

  She was leaving.

  Chael tried to speak. He tried to call out, however, his voice didn't come.

  His throat was dry. His chest was hollow, and his heart ached with something he couldn't name.

  A dark feeling clawed at his gut.

  "Mother...!" He tried to shout, but no sound escaped his throat.

  The snow rose, the wind roared, and the landscape twisted.

  Chael woke up.

  ****

  His breath was slow and controlled, but his body was tense.

  The first thing he noticed was that the roaring white abyss of a fog was gone.

  The second thing he noticed was that he had fallen asleep when he shouldn't have.

  Chael's lips twisted into a scowl. Damn it. He was supposed to be watching and keeping guard in case the owner of this room had returned.

  His fingers twitched against the stone floor as he sat up. Everything was too quiet.

  Slowly, he turned his head, his blindfolded gaze shifting toward the bed.

  Echidna was still asleep.

  She was curled up beneath her cloak, her expression peaceful in a way he hadn't seen before.

  Seeing her so vulnerable, a dark thought crept into his mind as he recalled the way she had tortured him. She had his arms broken, his finger broken, she had shot him, stabbed him, and watched with a smirk as he was getting beaten up to a pulp by her men.

  He remembered the way he laughed like a madman at the sight of the Veyrith tearing apart the Mongrel's Vow. He was laughing out of sheer spite and hatred. It was such a hatred that if he were to feel it right now, he'd slash Echidna to shreds before she could even wake up.

  But that was also when he was in a position of powerlessness.

  Now that he had stepped into the Veiled Realm and was in a position of power as a result, he did not feel nearly the same amount of hatred at all.

  Otherwise, he could've killed her back at the cavern. He would've watched with glee as that dog tore her apart. He would've gladly pushed her off the cliff onto the city below where that white dragon had risen from.

  And he certainly wouldn't have saved her when she was about to fall to her death while climbing the cathedral.

  But would it have been the same had their power balance been equal? If he had never become a harbinger, or Echidna had become one at the same time as him?

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  If that had been the case, would he still not have tried to kill her yet?

  'All cruelty stems from weakness.' Chael recalled a teaching from his past. For some strange reason, he couldn't remember who taught it to him exactly, but these words passed across his mind.

  Chael exhaled, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he pushed the dark thoughts out of his mind. Besides, Echidna was very useful right now since she understood Shan'thura. Not to mention her instinct, which was so sharp it almost made her a walking oracle.

  With all things considered, both his moral compass and logic made it clear that having Echidna around was obviously the smarter thing to do.

  His body ached as he pushed himself up and tested his limbs. His right arm, the one that had been broken, felt different.

  It hadn't healed. But it did feel a lot better.

  His fingers flexed, stiff and sore but no longer useless. The pain in his wrist had dulled into something manageable, and the constant throb in his bones was no longer unbearable.

  So that was a major difference.

  As a Harbinger, healing was faster.

  It wasn't as if being a Harbinger gave him instant regeneration, though he wouldn't be surprised if some of them possessed that ability. His body repaired itself at a speed beyond that of a normal human. It made sense. If Harbingers were meant to wield the power of long-forgotten gods, then they needed bodies capable of withstanding it.

  Chael clenched his fist, testing his grip.

  Then, he turned toward the weapon rack.

  The polished metal gleamed beneath the dim glow of the twin moons filtering through the window. The weapons were still immaculate and untouched by time.

  He reached for a spear.

  It was well crafted. The wooden shaft was smooth yet sturdy, and the silver spearhead was sharp and clean, unblemished by rust or wear. As he lifted it, the weight settled into his hand with perfect balance. It was neither too heavy nor too light.

  Chael tightened his grip and gave it an experimental swing.

  Pain shot through his arm immediately.

  He winced and almost dropped it. His muscles locked up from the strain.

  "Still can't fight properly," he muttered under his breath and lowered the weapon.

  With a sharp exhale, he switched to his left hand instead.

  The difference was immediate. No pain. No struggle. The weapon moved easily in his grasp, gliding through the air as he swung it in a slow arc. The silver spearhead caught the dim light, its reflection clearer than anything else in the room.

  Chael tilted it slightly, watching the way the world shifted through its surface.

  The reflection was sharper and cleaner.

  His lips curled slightly.

  "Looks good," he muttered. He gripped the shaft tightly, adjusting his stance.

  Then, with a quiet finality, he murmured, "You'll be my weapon for a while."

  Chael turned toward the small reinforced window in the room.

  The fog that had swallowed the world outside had retreated and revealed the ruins of Nytheril with clarity. The twin moons basked everything below in it's haunting, silver glow, the same as it had been before he fell asleep.

  Strange.

  Had he slept for a full twenty-four hours, or did the concept of day and night not exist in this place?

  Frowning, he stepped toward the larger wooden door and slowly pushed it open.

  A cool draft rolled in and brushed against his face as he stepped out onto a narrow balcony.

  His breath came out slow, measured, as he took in the sight below.

  From here, they were slightly above the massive statue that stood in front of the cathedral. The cracked marble, the raised fist frozen mid-battle cry. It seemed even more monumental from above, its presence commanding yet eerie in the half-light of the morning sky.

  Beyond it, the vast colonnade stretched outward, the pillars standing tall and unyielding. His gaze drifted toward the frontmost pillar on the right, and there was a dark stain on the stone.

  Blood.

  The floor near it was marked with old smears, either his or Echidna's. He couldn't tell anymore.

  His fingers tightened around the spear as his gaze moved beyond the cathedral grounds.

  To the east, he saw spires that were tall and elegant as well as other structures piercing the sky. They stood at the heart of what had once been the Yue Clan's domain. Even from here, he could feel the remnants of something grand and powerful lingering in the air.

  But it was to the west that his eyes truly lingered.

  Beyond the cliffs, where the fog had once swallowed the land whole, he could see a city sprawled below.

  It was vast, its layout complex and twisting, buildings stacked upon each other in a seemingly chaotic pattern. The structures were built into the land itself, following the natural dips and rises of the terrain, as if the city had grown from the earth rather than being constructed upon it.

  The absence of the fog made it so much clearer now.

  Even further beyond, in the mountains far west, something else caught his eye.

  It was hard to see and barely distinguishable from the jagged peaks, but… There was something there.

  A settlement.

  Not a city. A fortress.

  From this distance, he couldn't make out the details, but its placement was strategic. It was high in the mountains and built into the stone.

  Chael's lips pressed into a thin line.

  So much had been hidden by that fog.

  And now, it was all laid bare.

  A soft sigh came from beside him.

  Echidna had stepped out with her arms crossed. Her sharp gaze scanned the distance. The wind ruffled her black cloak slightly, her silver hair catching the dim light.

  She let out a quiet chuckle. "What a pretty view."