Rain blurred the edges of the forest road, turning the ruts to mirrors.
Captain Seren Dahl rode through it without slowing, her cloak plastered to her armor, eyes fixed on the faint shimmer of a mana trail that only she could see.
The orb's resonance had vanished the night the Progenitor escaped, but her instincts hadn't dulled. Somewhere ahead, the air itself still remembered him, an echo of life that didn't belong to this world.
"Two days," said her lieutenant, a wiry scout named Vessa. "No tracks after the river crossing. He could've drowned."
Seren dismounted, kneeling beside the bank. Mud yielded beneath her glove, revealing a faint handprint burned into the soil, its edges glowing blue. "No. He's alive."
She straightened. "And frightened."
"Orders are to bring him back," Vessa reminded.
Seren wiped rain from her lashes. "Alive, unharmed, and willing. The last part will be the hardest."
They camped under the eaves of ancient pines. Seren removed her gauntlets and stared at the steam rising from her fingers. The mana here felt heavy, sluggish. It clung to her skin like regret.
When the messenger orb flickered to life beside her, she almost crushed it out of reflex.
The Queen's voice filled the clearing, soft, distant, commanding.
"Captain Dahl. Reports say you are closest to the fugitive. Do not fail me."
"I won't," Seren answered.
"Remember what he represents. Our world cannot endure another century of decay. He is salvation."
Seren hesitated. "With respect, Majesty, he's also a person."
A pause crackled through the orb. "See that he remains one, then. Until the ceremony."
The light faded.
Vessa whistled softly. "You question the Queen now?"
"I question everything," Seren said. "That's how soldiers survive."
By morning, the rain had stopped. Mist rose from the ground in ghostly sheets.
They followed the marsh road south, where the mana trail twisted like smoke toward low, drowned lands. The air tasted of salt and decay.
"Why here?" Vessa muttered. "There's nothing but ghosts."
Seren's jaw tightened. "Exactly. Hiding among ruins is what I would do."
They reached the remnants of a causeway at dusk. Broken statues jutted from the mire, figures of women holding suns, their faces eroded by time. In their shadows, fresh footprints led west: one set light and narrow, another heavier, male.
Seren crouched, touching the print. The water around it quivered. "He's adapting. The mana bends to him."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning he's learning faster than anyone expected."
She stood. "Ready the signal hawks. The Council needs to know."
Vessa hesitated. "And if the marsh eats the message before it reaches them?"
"Then we'll be ghosts together," Seren said.
That night, while the others slept, she walked to the edge of camp and stared into the dark water. Reflected there was her own face, drawn and pale, and for a moment she saw not a captain but a believer whose faith was crumbling.
She remembered the temple the day the orb shattered, the look in the young man's eyes, the terror that mirrored her own. He hadn't been a prophecy. He'd been lost.
She whispered to the reflection, "If I find you, I'll listen before I drag you back."
Something moved in the reeds. Seren froze, hand on her sword.
A woman stepped into view, tall, cloaked, her eyes faintly glowing green.
Seren's heart jolted. "Healer."
Eira inclined her head. "Captain Dahl."
"How long have you been shadowing me?"
"Long enough to see doubt in your stride," Eira said. "Turn back, Captain. The one you seek doesn't belong in chains."
Seren's fingers tightened on her hilt. "You're protecting him."
"I'm protecting balance."
The rain began again, soft but relentless. Between its drops hung a silence full of choice.
"If you stand in my way," Seren said, "I will not hesitate."
Eira met her gaze. "Then perhaps it's time you learned what you're fighting for."
The healer lifted her staff. Light flared, blinding, not violent, just pure. When it faded, she was gone, leaving only ripples in the water and the echo of her voice: "The bridge has already begun to form."
Seren stood alone, breathing hard, the world spinning with questions she'd never dared ask.
Dawn found her soldiers packing camp.
Vessa approached. "Orders, Captain?"
Seren looked west, toward the shimmer of ruins through the mist.
"Same as before," she said. "We move."
But inside, the certainty that had carried her through every campaign was gone.
The trail she followed now wasn't just to capture a fugitive, it was to find an answer her world might not want.