Morning arrived quietly over the Third Order.
Golden sunlight bathed the capital.
Merchants opened their shops.
Children raced through the streets.
Blacksmiths resumed their endless rhythm of hammer against steel.
Life...
Continued.
Yet somewhere beyond the horizon...
Something had already begun.
High atop the Royal Palace...
Inside a circular chamber lined with maps, scrolls, and surveillance reports...
The leaders of the Third Order had gathered once more.
Queen Nyxara Veilbourne sat upon her throne.
Standing beside her were Eryx Nocturne...
Vadok Velmora...
Lord Garrick Umbraxis...
And Lady Seraphine Duskryn.
Unlike the others...
Seraphine rarely attended council meetings.
The Head of House Duskryn preferred the shadows.
She was a woman with ash-grey hair tied neatly behind her head.
Her amber eyes missed nothing.
While the Nocturnes were the Sword...
The Velmoras the Mind...
The Umbraxis the Shield...
House Duskryn had long been known as...
The Eyes.
Every scout...
Every ranger...
Every spy...
Every border watcher...
Eventually answered to House Duskryn.
Their duty was simple.
See everything.
Miss nothing.
Seraphine stepped forward.
"My Queen."
"We have received disturbing reports."
Nyxara's expression remained calm.
"Proceed."
Seraphine unrolled a large map across the council table.
Small crimson markings dotted the northern frontier.
"These are villages located beyond our borders."
She pointed toward the nearest mark.
"Three weeks ago..."
"Our scouts lost contact with this settlement."
Another mark.
"Five days later..."
"This village vanished."
Another.
"And another."
Silence filled the chamber.
Vadok frowned.
"Vanished?"
Seraphine nodded.
"No battle."
"No survivors."
"No bodies."
"No blood."
She looked around the room.
"Entire settlements..."
"...simply disappear."
Lord Garrick folded his arms.
"Bandits?"
Seraphine shook her head.
"We considered that."
"Impossible."
"They leave valuables behind."
"Food remains on the tables."
"Animals wander freely."
"It appears as though the villagers..."
She paused.
"...ceased to exist."
Even Eryx's expression hardened.
Nyxara leaned forward.
"Has anyone investigated?"
Seraphine nodded once.
"We dispatched six reconnaissance teams."
She closed her eyes briefly.
"Only three returned."
The room became noticeably colder.
"What happened to the others?"
Seraphine answered quietly.
"They disappeared."
Far away...
A lone Duskryn scout sprinted through dense woodland.
His breathing was ragged.
Branches tore at his cloak.
His face was pale with terror.
Behind him...
Something moved.
Not running.
Not walking.
Simply...
Following.
He dared not look back.
Every instinct screamed at him to keep moving.
Then...
The forest suddenly became silent.
No birds.
No insects.
Not even the wind.
He slowed.
"...Where did it go?"
Nothing answered.
He turned cautiously.
Trees.
Mist.
Shadows.
Nothing else.
He exhaled in relief.
Then noticed something strange.
His footprints...
Stopped.
The trail behind him simply ended halfway across the forest floor.
"...What..."
A whisper drifted through the mist.
"So..."
"...warm..."
His pupils shrank.
He spun around.
Nothing.
The whisper came again.
Closer.
"Hungry..."
The scout reached for the horn at his waist.
Before he could sound the alarm
Everything around him...
Went dark.
Back inside the council chamber...
A messenger burst through the doors.
"My Queen!"
He dropped to one knee.
Seraphine immediately recognized the uniform.
"Duskryn."
The messenger struggled to catch his breath.
"Scout Team Seven..."
"...has failed to return."
The chamber fell silent.
Seraphine slowly closed her eyes.
"...Again."
Nyxara rose from her throne.
"Increase border patrols."
"Double every Duskryn reconnaissance unit."
"No one investigates alone."
Seraphine nodded.
"It shall be done."
Eryx remained unusually quiet.
Finally...
He spoke.
"This doesn't resemble monsters."
"No beast leaves meals untouched."
"No predator ignores livestock."
Vadok added,
"And no invading army leaves behind valuables."
The room fell silent once more.
Nyxara looked toward the enormous map.
For the first time in many years...
She felt uncertain.
Something...
Was approaching.
Something older than kingdoms.
Older than the Orders themselves.
Elsewhere...
Riven stood within House Nocturne's training grounds.
Sweat dripped from his brow.
His fists struck a heavy wooden post again and again.
THUD!
THUD!
THUD!
Ever since the duel with Zoldick...
Something had changed.
His movements had become sharper.
Cleaner.
More deliberate.
Eryx watched from nearby.
"You've improved."
Riven lowered his fists.
"...It doesn't feel like enough."
Eryx smiled knowingly.
"It never will."
Riven frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Eryx folded his arms.
"The day a warrior believes he's strong enough..."
"...is the day he stops growing."
Riven nodded slowly.
Before he could reply
A black-feathered hawk landed beside Eryx.
House Duskryn.
The bird carried a sealed message tied to its leg.
Eryx removed it.
His expression gradually darkened as he read.
Riven noticed immediately.
"What happened?"
Eryx looked toward the northern mountains.
"Duskryn has lost another scouting party."
Silence.
Riven remembered his dream.
The endless ash.
His father's warning.
The seal...
Was weakening.
He clenched his fist without realizing it.
"...Do you think they're connected?"
Eryx looked at him.
"I don't know."
"But I intend to find out."
Far beyond the Third Order...
Deep beneath the roots of a forgotten mountain...
Something ancient slowly opened a single crimson eye.
Chains thicker than castle towers stretched into endless darkness.
Each one covered in glowing lunar runes.
One rune...
Flickered.
Then dimmed.
A low voice echoed through the abyss.
"So..."
"...the seal weakens..."
A slow...
Almost delighted...
Laugh reverberated through the darkness.
"At last..."
The crimson eye closed once more.
But the laughter...
Continued to echo through the prison.
As though something that had waited for thousands of years...
Had finally sensed hope.