The light from the portal vanished with a faint hum, leaving only silence behind. Birds chirped above them, and the wind rustled the leaves, normal sounds that felt utterly wrong.
They had returned.
Cadogan stretched his neck, letting out a breath, while Atlas dropped his bag and grinned. Ned yawned, cracking his back. Dune was the last to step out, blinking at the sunlight.
But then, something shifted.
A bitter stench crept through the air.
Cadogan flinched, then sharply turned his head, nostrils flaring. "Wait."
The others froze as he covered his nose, his eyes narrowing, body stiffening. "That smell… rotten… something's dead, no, not something…"
Without another word, Cadogan dashed forward into the forest, his boots slamming into the dirt. The others followed, expressions turning grim as the wind thickened with decay. They sprinted through the trees, the smell growing unbearable.
Then, the forest ended, and horror began.
Down below, in a wide, open clearing at the base of the slope… lay death.
Tens of thousands of bodies. Piled. Scattered. Twisted.
Not warriors. Not soldiers. Just… people.
Men and women. Children. Elderly. Mothers curled around lifeless infants. Faces frozen mid-scream, eyes open to the sky as flies buzzed lazily above. Maggots writhed in torn stomachs, arms were flung across the grass like discarded dolls, and ants feasted in the hollow of broken skulls.
Some bodies were burned, others stabbed, others torn apart like animals.
"Wh… What the hell is this…" Ned murmured, eyes wide with disbelief.
Atlas covered his mouth, stepping back.
"They weren't even fighters," Dune whispered, heart pounding as he looked around. "Who would do this? Why?"
Cadogan stood at the edge, silent. Still. His shoulders trembled slightly.
"Cadogan?" Dune called out. "Are you okay? What's happening?"
"Say something!" Ned demanded.
Atlas stepped forward cautiously. "Cadogan?"
Then… laughter.
Quiet at first. A low, bitter chuckle. It grew louder, trembling, broken. And then it erupted, hysterical laughter that didn't belong in any sane world. Cadogan clutched his sides, head thrown back, tears mixing with the dirt on his cheeks.
"I tried…" he muttered, voice cracking between laughs. "I tried my best… I sacrificed everything for them. Derchi… Amanda… they died protecting these people… for nothing."
Dune's chest tightened. "Cadogan, what are you saying?"
"I know every single person from Fein," Cadogan growled, turning toward them, his eyes glowing deep blue with surging Neba.
"Their faces, their voices, their Neba. And these…" he gestured to the bodies, his hands trembling, "these are the ones I saved. The ones I sent through the portal."
Dune stumbled back, as if struck. "No… No, it can't be."
Ned shook his head. "But… weren't the portals supposed to lead to Rendely?"
"Who could've done this?" Atlas asked, voice low, horrified. "Why?!"
Cadogan didn't answer. He only laughed again, weaker now, bitter. He looked up at the sky as if searching for someone. "Aramir… I knew you were cold-blooded. But this?" His voice dropped into a whisper laced with venom. "This is unforgivable."
He clenched his fists so tightly that blood began to drip from his fingers. Blue Neba cracked and swirled violently around him, the rage no longer contained.
And then he stopped.
A moment of silence passed.
How ironic… The thought struck him harder than the sight itself. Revenge is meaningless, he had once told them. Empty. A poison that only corrodes.
But now he understood.
He understood how Dune felt. How Ned, how Atlas felt. That flame inside, the one that burned too hot to hold. That scream that never came out.
He turned slowly, eyes softer now, though still burning.
"Let's move, they will be back soon to dissolve bodies," he said, voice quieter, but no less intense. "Burn this sight into your mind. Remember it. This… is what rulers like Aramir do to people they no longer need."
His gaze locked with theirs.
"Use this as your fuel. Become stronger. Defy the gods. Defy the kings who pretend they're above the rest of us."
They all nodded, solemn and silent, fury simmering just beneath the surface.
Dune looked at the endless sea of corpses once more. His jaw tightened. I hope mom made it out… she had to.
Ned wiped his nose, holding back tears.
Atlas closed his fists.
And Mindya… she stood behind them, pale and frozen. She couldn't speak. Her wide eyes shimmered, not with tears, but with fear and something else… the first glimpse of a world more cruel than she ever imagined.
The group turned, leaving behind the grave of the saved.
Mindya and Dune walked silently at the back of the group, their footsteps soft against the dirt path. The weight of what had happened still lingered in the air, thick and suffocating. No one spoke.
Not even Mindya, whose mouth was usually quicker than her thoughts. But now, even she walked with her head slightly lowered, ears twitching only at the rustling of leaves.
Dune's eyes were half-lidded, lost in thought.
I wonder… were their deaths painful?
How could Aramir kill so many people?
What was the reason?
Cadogan, walking a few steps ahead, suddenly came to a halt and turned his head. His voice cut through the silence like a blade.
"I know what all of you are thinking."
The group looked up, eyes drawn to him.
"There were more than thirty thousand people in that crowd," Cadogan continued, his voice steady but cold. "And if you're not familiar with how Rendely is built… let me tell you something."
He stepped off the path slightly, gesturing as he spoke.
"Rendely is divided into three sectors. The outskirts come first, filthy, broken, filled with starvation and disease. No walls. No law. Just survival."
His eyes narrowed.
"The second sector is protected by the First Wall. That's where the majority live, over twenty million people. It's still harsh, but livable. Marketplaces, houses, law. Civilization, barely."
Then he raised a single finger. "And the third… the Second Wall. That's where the elite reside, nobles, high generals, council members. Even the King himself. That place holds a little over three million… but their lives are worth more than millions in the outskirts."
His tone sharpened, biting through the silence like frost.
"So tell me. What would adding thirty thousand more starving, desperate people to that already broken sector do? I'm not saying it's right, but killing them?" Cadogan's voice faltered for the first time. "That's not a solution. That's madness."
He looked back at them, face grim. "He could've banished them. Scattered them. Imprisoned them. But he didn't."
Mindya's brows furrowed. Dune remained still, his gaze low, unreadable.
Cadogan let out a breath. "That only makes me think… that man who attacked us, Blacktooth, he might be working for the King."
There was a pause. No one interrupted.
"We still don't know the reason. Maybe it's political. Maybe it's fear. But one thing's for sure, killing innocent people can't be justified."
The boys nodded, their silence heavier than words. Even Atlas, who usually had a sarcastic remark ready, simply looked down at his hands.
No one said it aloud, but they all agreed.
This was unforgivable.