The snow fell with less haste that morning.
It was still winter in Valos, but the air felt different — as if the wind had paused for a moment, just to listen. Jin, arms crossed, gazed at the pale horizon from the balcony of the small lodging they had rented. The snow-covered rooftops blanketed the houses, lined up like silent, motionless tombstones.
He hadn't slept in three days.
Not from lack of exhaustion — but out of habit. Since the twins joined, he'd spent his nights reviewing maps, adjusting itineraries, and refining strategies. Though he'd never admit it, he had taken on a leadership role. An invisible, silent leader.
Eira, seated at the table behind him, was baking bread on a small grill. She hummed an unfamiliar melody, her bare feet swinging in the air. Fliria slept on the couch, and Lino lay on the floor, his sword by his side.
Then came a knock at the door.
Not hurried, nor violent. A single, dry, firm knock. Jin opened it — and saw a man draped in a snow-soaked overcoat, his skin pale, almost bluish, with eyes as empty as Jin's own.
"Are you… that new group?" the stranger said, his voice deep and emotionless.
"Who's asking?" Eira replied before Jin could.
The man raised a bronze medallion, broken in half. It was a distress signal — used only by guild members seeking immediate help without revealing their names.
"There's a mission in the northern Trelha forest," he said. "The request is… incomplete. And it seems cursed. Half the adventurers who went in… didn't come back."
"Then go yourself," Jin muttered, already closing the door.
But before it shut, the man looked up.
"My brother's name… was Yllos. He died there. I want to know what killed him. I'll pay."
Jin froze.
There was something about that name.
Yllos. One of the swordsmen of the Northern Guard. A prodigy who died mysteriously months ago. Jin knew. He read reports even when no one asked him to.
"What's your name?" Jin asked, not meeting his gaze.
The man smiled — for the first time.
"Ziek."
---
The valley leading to the Shadowed Ravine seemed narrower under the weight of silence. None of the five spoke a word. Jin walked ahead, his eyes half-closed against the biting cold seeping from the mountains above. Ziek followed close behind, his steps steady and calculated, one hand resting on the hilt of the crossed swords on his back.
The mission was clear: rescue Ziek's brother, captured by an unknown cult operating in the deep caverns of the ravine.
The darkness thickening along the path carried an ominous weight. Fliria, the most impulsive, walked beside her brother, Lino, hiding her nervousness with dry jokes and confident glances. Eira stayed a few steps behind Jin, restless, as if her usual arrogance had dissolved into tension.
Jin said nothing. He only listened — to the whisper of the trees, the crunch of snow under their boots, and, faintly, Eira's uneven breathing.
As they entered the cave, everything changed. The air grew heavy. It smelled of blood and rusted iron.
Ziek led the descent, guiding the group through tight, slippery tunnels. When they reached the central chamber, they were met with silence… followed by a laugh.
Then they appeared.
Distorted shadows that seemed human, but with empty eyes and limbs bent at impossible angles. They wielded weapons of bone and rusted metal, advancing in silence, like puppets moved by an unholy will.
"Stay back!" Ziek shouted, drawing his swords in a flash. He threw himself at the first enemies with brutal precision. His movements were elegant, efficient.
Jin fought beside him, but without using the shadows. He wielded only his short sword, holding the front line.
Fliria and Lino moved as one — their twin swords danced in sync, carving a path through the creatures. Eira conjured energy shields and explosive attacks, but her eyes were distracted.
"Don't stray too far!" Jin shouted at Fliria, seeing her push forward.
That's when it happened.
Jin was grazed by one of the creatures. Not serious… but it threw off his movements.
Ziek was surrounded by three creatures, the fight dragging on. Dust began to cloud their vision.
Lino seemed to dance with his swords. But exhaustion showed, and he stumbled.
Eira ran through the debris, trying to control her breathing. Ahead, Fliria faced two of those things — forms that kept shifting, as if melting and growing at the same time.
Jin was injured. Lino down. Ziek lost in the shadows.
It was up to her now.
Eira raised her hand. The seal glowed, unstable. She tried to focus — but the creature moved too fast, and Fliria was too close.
She hesitated. Just for a second.
But it was enough.
The energy shot out… off-target. The glow hit the wall behind the creature and exploded, sending fragments and dust into the air.
Fliria turned, surprised.
The creature lunged through the smoke and engulfed her.
A grotesque snap. A wet, dry sound at once. Something was hurled against the rocks.
Silence.
"Fliria…?"
Lino crawled to her, eyes wide, shaking his head before he even saw.
Jin stood, panting. Eira stood frozen, her eyes locked on the glowing seal in her hand.
Her skin trembled.
Her mouth wanted to say something. But nothing could erase that sound. That moment.
Lino looked at the body.
Fliria lay on the ground. Eyes open. Not breathing.
Lino wept… wept with a primal, unrecognizable scream. His sister's blood ran down his face.
The world stopped.
---
The explosion of shadows that swept the ground left deep marks in the ice and dried blood on the stones. Fliria's body lay lifeless among the debris, her empty eyes staring at the gray sky, while the world around still pulsed with echoes of the battle. Lino's throat let out a hollow, uneven sound — as if his soul were trying to escape.
Ziek, who had been fighting three beasts at once, spun his swords with fury. His movements sliced the air with cruel precision, each thrust swift and fierce, targeting joints, eyes, and throats. One monster recoiled with a howl, but Ziek gave no quarter. He swung his left sword in an upward arc, tearing through the creature's chest, and the right came down in a clean strike that severed its head. Blood splattered the snow, already stained red.
Jin advanced with a predator's silence. His black sword gleamed with the energy he held back, slicing the side of a creature leaping at him. He pinned it to the ground with a stab to its back and vaulted over another, kicking its skull against the frozen cave wall. The shadows at his feet trembled — ready to erupt at any moment. But he held them back.
The last monster roared, wounded and staggering. Jin and Ziek surrounded it. A single glance between them was enough.
Ziek struck first, distracting the beast with rapid attacks, and Jin, from behind, leaped onto its back, driving his blade deep into its neck. A wet sound, like flesh tearing from within, echoed through the chamber. The silence after its death was brutal.
The creature's body collapsed with a thud. Jin breathed heavily. His chest burned — not from exhaustion. He turned slowly. Saw Eira kneeling, hands trembling, her gaze lost, muttering incoherent words. Her hair stuck to her tears. Fliria's blood splattered on her face.
Lino was still kneeling beside his sister. He held her body as if he could stitch her wounds with his touch. He screamed her name, pleaded, shook her lifeless form. The sound from his throat was more animal than human.
Jin walked slowly toward him. His sword dragged in the snow. The shadows trembled at his heels.
"Lino…" Jin's voice faltered. He knelt close enough to feel the cold radiating from the girl's body. "I…"
Lino looked up. Something was broken in his eyes. Something irreparable.
"I'm sorry, Lino," Jin said, his voice choked, his eyes glinting with restrained power.
Bouros laughed in Jin's mind.
"*Desecrate her body. Turn her into your loyal servant.*"
His words were brief but venomously sharp.
Jin turned slowly to Fliria's body. "I swear she won't be forgotten," he said, hesitant, his eyes full of tears and uncertainty.
He extended his hand over her chest. The shadows spread like living ink, seeping into her lifeless skin.
And then, Fliria's shadow rose. Slowly, it stood.
Lino, in complete shock, rose with it.
The shadow of Fliria knelt before the group.
A slow gesture.
The figure raised its hand to its face — and traced an imaginary line with its finger over the scar Fliria had always worn with pride. Then it touched the edge of the cloth covering the body.
Lino fell to his knees, silent.
Jin said nothing. His eyes were dry.
It was silent. Slow. Like a distorted reflection. There was no color in its eyes — only a dull glow. But the shape, the gestures, the way it held the shadow sword… it was her.
Lino recoiled with a choked sob.
"What are you doing…?" he whispered, desperate.
"Saving what I can," Jin replied, staring at the shadow. "Let's get out of this place."
Ziek approached, his gaze heavy. Without a word, he took the map, found the exit route, and began leading the group.
Jin stood slowly. Fliria's shadow walked beside him, obedient. Lino hesitated, looking between his dead sister and… that thing mimicking her. Tears streamed down his face, but he said nothing more. He walked. Trembling. Broken.
Eira followed in silence, her eyes fixed on the ground. Guilt suffocated every step.
Further ahead, they found Ziek's brother, weakened, bound by magical chains, but alive. Jin freed him in silence.
No one celebrated.
They walked together through the cave's darkness, now colder than ever.
---
The group emerged from the ruin in silence, their boots sinking into the frozen mud, their breath forming clouds in the gray air. Jin led the way, his face hidden under his hood. Beside him walked a figure cloaked in dark fabric, the hood completely concealing its face — Fliria's shadow, disguised among the living, like a secret that shouldn't breathe.
Behind them, Ziek carried his unconscious brother in his arms. The physical weight was nothing compared to the emotional burden. His eyes were low, heavy with guilt, his steps hard and deliberate.
The group walked in silence. Fliria's body, wrapped in dark cloth, floated in a bubble of shadow conjured by Jin. No one spoke.
Until Lino whispered, without looking at anyone:
"She… trusted you."
Jin didn't respond.
"You said you'd keep her safe," Lino's voice broke, almost a furious whisper.
Eira stopped walking for a moment. She lowered her head, her eyes red.
"I messed up."
"Yes. You did," Jin murmured, his voice cold as the snow on his shoulders.
"*They shouldn't have gotten involved in this,*" he muttered to himself, low enough for the wind to steal the words. "*It was my mission. My mistake.*"
Lino, the only one who had cried openly, now walked in silence. His tears had dried, but the pain seeped from his hollow eyes. Eira stayed in Jin's shadow, head down, fists clenched. Since the mistake — the mistake that took Fliria's life — she had barely slept.
There were no more laughs. No conversations. Only the drag of footsteps and the creak of belts.
They began to hide.
Hoods were raised. Cloaks pulled tight. Eyes, once alert to their surroundings, now avoided the world.
---
When they reached Valos, the cold kingdom with black walls, no one said a word. There was no talk of plans, no explanations. Only silent farewells.
Ziek took his brother to a house in a nearby village, on the edge of the northern hunting grounds. Their mother wept at the sight of her unconscious son, but Ziek calmed her with a look — and promised he would live.
The next day, he appeared before the group again.
His eyes were steadier, though the weight of guilt still hung on his shoulders.
"I want to walk with you. I won't apologize. I just want to make this worth it."
No one answered.
But when Jin turned and began walking, Ziek simply followed. And that was enough.
Thus, he became part of the group.
---
The weeks that followed passed as if time were in a hurry.
The group began completing missions at a staggering pace. Tasks that would take other groups weeks, they finished in days. They arrived at the guild in silence, chose scrolls from the wall without a word, and left before anyone dared to ask.
The rewards piled up. But no one saw them spending. Or celebrating.
The city's eyes began to follow them.
"That strange group is back again…"
"Did you see how they grab missions and vanish?"
"They don't talk to each other… it's like they're not even human."
Eira never raised her hood.
Ziek kept his sword always visible, but his eyes stayed on the ground.
Lino moved like a ghost.
And Fliria's shadow… followed Jin with every step, silent, invisible, but present.
---
At the end of the fifth month, a new scroll appeared on the guild's board.
The ink was still fresh:
> **Special Mission (Extreme Risk)**
> **Location:** Nerven Mountain Range
> **Objective:** Recover an anomalous object — Herald's Fragment (confirmed)
> **Reward:** 500 gold coins + official recognition by the Central Guild
> **Notes:** No group in the region has stepped forward. Extreme danger.
> Acceptance at the group's own risk.
The entire room eyed the scroll with apprehension.
Until Jin took it from the wall.
Not a word was spoken.
Not a glance exchanged.
He simply left the guild. The others followed in a silent line.
And a week later, they returned.
With the scroll stained in blood.
The fragment sealed in an iron box.
And no losses.
No one knew how they did it.
No one saw them leave or return.
But their silence spoke louder than words.
---
By the sixth month, the rumors finally reached the capital.
"They say a mysterious group is hunting the Herald's fragments…"
"They never talk to anyone, finish impossible missions in impossible time…"
"No one knows what they're called… or who their leader is."
"But there's a name circulating among elite hunters."
*Ashen Wolf.*
That name echoed, as if in a vast, empty hall.