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Chapter 4 - The City That Remembers

The cliffs were slick with salt spray as Sunrei and Kaelis picked their way down the narrow path. Below them, waves clawed at jagged rocks like starving beasts. Above, the Blood Moon hung swollen a wound in the sky that refused to heal.

Kaelis moved first, her boots finding purchase on the wet stone with practiced ease. Sunrei followed, his brand pulsing in time with the crashing waves.

Lithriel.

The name from his shattered memories stuck in his throat like a bone.

You're slowing us down, Kaelis snapped, glancing back. The knife she'd pressed to his throat hours before now rested comfortably in her grip. She hadn't sheathed it since the forest.

Sunrei wiped salt from his eyes. You saw the way he looked at me. That wasn't just recognition. That was fear.

Kaelis's jaw tightened. Then we'd better find him before the Hunters do.

The path ended at a crescent of black sand. And there, half-swallowed by the sea, stood the ruins of a city no map remembered.

Walls of bleached bone rose from the water, their surfaces carved with faces hundreds of them, mouths open in silent screams. The tide pulled at Sunrei's boots as he stepped closer. One face stood out.

His own.

Kaelis sucked in a sharp breath. Well. That's unsettling.

Sunrei reached out, his fingers brushing the stone likeness. The moment he made contact, the brand on his wrist burned.

Memories flooded him:

A marketplace burning.

Children screaming.

His hands, dripping with blood that wasn't his own.

He staggered back, gasping.

Kaelis caught his arm. What did you see?

Sunrei shook his head. The images were already fading, leaving only the taste of smoke on his tongue. "We need to find him.

They waded deeper. The water climbed to their thighs, then their waists. The carved faces watched as they passed, their hollow eyes following.

A splash echoed ahead.

The prisoner the brother stood waist-deep in the ruins, his back to them. He didn't turn as they approached.

You shouldn't have come here, he said softly.

Sunrei's dagger found his hand. You know me.

The boy turned. His brand glowed violet under his soaked tunic. I know what you did.

Behind them, the tide went out.

The water pulled back to reveal the bones of an army, each skeleton marked with a familiar brand.

Kaelis swore.

The prisoner didn't blink. They followed you too. The first marked ones. Your family.

Sunrei's pulse roared in his ears. You're lying.

The boy smiled a bitter, broken thing. Then why do you remember Lithriel?

The name hit like a fist. More memories surged:

A silver-haired girl laughing.

A promise made in the dark.

The feel of a knife sliding between ribs.

Sunrei's knees hit the water.

The prisoner stepped closer. They called you the Eclipse Prince. You didn't just bear the mark you created them."

Kaelis's knife was at the boy's throat before he could blink. Enough riddles. What happened here?

The boy didn't resist. He tried to kill a god. And when he failed, he made sure we'd all forget.

Above them, the Blood Moon darkened.

The tide began to return.

The first skeleton moved.

Then another.

And another.

Bone fingers closed around Sunrei's ankle.

Kaelis yanked him back, her knife flashing. Run!

They fled as the ruins came alive behind them, the dead rising with brands that burned violet in the hollows of their ribs. The prisoner ran with them, his breath coming in ragged gasps.

The tower, he panted. It's the only way out!

Ahead, a spire of black stone jutted from the waves. Sunrei didn't ask how he knew. He just ran.

The skeletons pursued, their bones clicking like insects.

As they reached the tower door, the prisoner turned. His brand flared.

I'm sorry, he said.

Then he shoved Sunrei and Kaelis inside and slammed the door shut behind them.

Darkness swallowed them whole.

Somewhere in the black, something breathed.

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