We moved through the empty streets like ghosts, keeping to shadows and avoiding the main roads. Tet led, his movements confident despite his years. Aret followed close behind, hand never far from his blade.
Rables had stayed behind. "To watch," he'd said. "To see who comes looking."
I didn't trust him. Didn't trust any of them. But I had no better options.
The amulet thumped against my chest with each step, a constant reminder of a weight I'd never asked to carry.
We were nearly to the city's edge when I heard it—footsteps. Fast. Multiple.
"Run," Tet hissed.
We sprinted. My bare feet slapped against the cobblestones. Aret cursed behind me. Tet's breathing was ragged ahead. The footsteps grew louder.
Three figures. Dressed in black. Moving with the grace of trained killers.
Shadow assassins.
"In here!" Tet yanked open a door—someone's home, maybe empty—and we tumbled inside.
The space was small, dark, smelling of old smoke and fear. A single room with a back door that Tet was already checking.
"Barred from outside," he said, and I heard the panic beneath his calm. "We're trapped."
Aret drew his blade and took position by the front door. "How many?"
"Three that I saw."
"Could be more. They hunt in packs."
The footsteps stopped outside. For a moment, nothing—just our breathing, harsh and loud.
Then the door exploded inward.
The first assassin came low and fast. Aret met him with a clash of steel that made my ears ring. They moved together like dancers, brutal and efficient.
The second went for Tet, but Tet was faster than I'd ever seen him. His knife found the man's throat before he'd even stepped fully inside. Blood sprayed the wall.
The third assassin looked at me. Just me.
The amulet burned against my chest, hot enough to scorch.
I had no weapon. No time. I grabbed the amulet and held it up like a shield.
Light exploded from it—pure, golden, burning.
The assassin screamed, a sound that wasn't human. His blade melted. His skin blistered and blackened. The light poured through him until there was nothing left but ash.
Silence.
I stared at my hand, at the amulet still glowing faintly, then dropped it and vomited.
Tet's hand touched my shoulder. "Rhohar."
I shook him off. I'd killed someone. Used the amulet—used magic I didn't understand—and burned a man to ash.
I could still smell him. Still hear him scream.
"Breathe," Aret said quietly. "The first one's always the worst."
"There shouldn't be a first one," I gasped. "I'm not a killer."
"You are now," Aret said simply. "And if you want to survive the night, you'll have to be one again."
My hands shook. My stomach twisted.
"We need to move," Tet said. "Before more come."
I tried to stand, and my legs nearly gave out. The world spun. Aret caught my arm.
"Walk," he said. "You can fall apart later."
I walked.
Out the back door, into an alley that stank of rot and desperation. My feet moved on their own. The amulet hung warm against my skin. Still hungry.
We made it three streets before I heard her voice.
"Rhohar!"
I turned.
My grandmother.
Running toward us with a speed that shouldn't have been possible. Her face was gray. Veins of black crawled across her skin like cracks in porcelain.
Shadow curse.
"Grandmother—"
She stumbled, and I caught her. She weighed nothing.
"Stupid boy," she gasped, still angry even now. "I told you to stay home."
"Someone came for me," I said quickly. "At the stones. They knew about the amulet. They—"
"I know." Her hand clutched my shirt. "I led them away. Made them think you'd gone west. Bought you time."
"Why would you—"
"Because I promised her." Her eyes found mine, clear despite the pain. "Your mother. I promised I'd keep you alive. Even if I couldn't love you. Even if looking at you broke me."
Her honesty cut like a knife.
"The tree," she whispered. "Go to the Weeping Tree. There's something hidden there. In the hollow where you keep your sword. She left it for you. I couldn't let you have it before. But now..."
The curse was spreading faster, crawling up her neck, draining her life.
"Grandmother, we need to get you help—"
"There's nothing." She smiled, terrible and knowing. "Shadow curses don't break. They just kill."
"Then don't fight it—"
"I'm not." Her hand loosened. "I'm ready. Been ready since the day she died and left me with you. Left me with the guilt and the reminder of everything I failed to save."
Tears burned my eyes.
"I tried," she whispered. "To make you strong. Hard. Ready. But I don't know if it was enough."
"Grandmother—"
"Be more than she was." Her voice faded but the fire didn't. "Your mother was chosen and she ran. Maybe she was right. But someone has to stand."
Her hand fell away.
"Be the sun that doesn't set."
And then she was gone.
I held her body as something inside me shattered. Not clean. Not loud. Just a quiet breaking, like ice under too much weight.
Tet was speaking. Aret was pulling at me. I couldn't hear them.
I'd killed a man. And my grandmother had died. And somewhere in my chest, where grief should be, there was only emptiness.
"Rhohar." Tet's voice broke through. "We have to go. I'm sorry. But we have to go."
I looked up at him and saw myself in his eyes—lost, broken, alone.
"The tree," I said hollowly. "She said something's hidden in the tree."
"We'll go," Tet said gently. "Then we'll get you somewhere safe."
Safe. What a joke.
I stood on shaking legs and realized something was wrong.
I couldn't remember what my grandmother's stew tasted like.
The amulet pulsed once against my chest, satisfied.
"No," I whispered. "No, I need to remember."
But the memory was gone. Burned away to feed the magic.