Lamal stood at the city gates, watching the two figures prepare to leave. His arms were folded across his chest, but the sternness of his posture couldn't hide the pride gleaming in his eyes.
"Are you sure about this?" he asked, his voice heavy with concern.
Rey gave a steady nod. "We have to know the truth."
Lamal stepped forward and rested a hand gently on Arinn's head, ruffling the boy's hair with care. "Then take care of each other. And no matter what you find out… no matter how far you go… remember—you're family. Always."
Rey clasped his uncle's forearm in a warrior's farewell, their eyes meeting in a silent exchange of trust and gratitude.
Then he turned to Arinn. "Ready?"
Arinn grinned, his small fingers tightening around the hilt of the sword Rey had gifted him. The blade was too large for him now, but he wore it with pride. "Always."
With a last glance at the home they were leaving behind, the two brothers stepped onto the dirt path and began their journey—into the unknown, toward the truth, toward the family they had lost.
Wherever their parents were, they would find them.
No matter what it took.
The wind met them with the scent of faraway places—wildflowers, mountain stone, and the faint trace of rain on distant soil. Campbell shrank behind them with every step, its stone walls fading into the green of the hills, until only memory tethered them to the city.
Their footsteps crunched rhythmically along the road, Arinn's shorter legs quickening with effort to match his brother's pace. Though the path ahead was long, the boy's eyes shone with wonder.
"I've never been outside the city," Arinn said, glancing at Rey. "Where do we go first?"
Rey adjusted the weight of the sword across his back, scanning the horizon. "East," he said. "Our parents headed that way when they left you with Uncle Lamal. If we want answers, we start there."
Arinn looked to the rising hills with fierce resolve. "Do you think they'll remember us?"
Rey paused. The question struck something deep in his chest. His hand drifted to the Dreambinder slung beneath his coat.
"I don't know," he said softly. "But we'll find out."
The sun followed them as they walked, casting long shadows over the road. Trees lined their path like silent sentinels, and birds chirped overhead in cheerful contrast to the gravity of their mission. A breeze stirred the grass along the edge of the trail, brushing their skin like a whispered promise.
To Arinn, it all felt like the beginning of a great adventure.
To Rey, it felt like destiny was waiting ahead—watching, weighing, waiting to decide whether it would reunite or destroy.
A gust of wind tugged at Rey's cloak and rustled through his dark hair. He closed his eyes for a moment, breathing in the scent of the open world.
Fate, he thought, may you be kind enough to let him be free.
And so, the brothers walked on—
Two souls, bound by blood and hope, chasing the faintest echoes of a family lost to time.
Their journey had only just begun.