"What in the hell is this?!" Ranald shouted, his face twisted in shock.
Seriously. What the hell is this? Why are we back at the start?
The healer girl beside me looked defeated. "All of our hard work... wasted," she muttered under her breath.
"Hey, Koala, stop whining like a baby and start healing us," I snapped at her.
Surprisingly, she didn't argue and started tending to the knights, who looked like they were one breath away from collapsing from exhaustion. Healer man joined her, his face equally drained.
Edric and the Commander were already back at it — arguing again.
I ignored them. Something else bothered me. We'd walked in a straight line, yet somehow, the mist had looped us back. Was it an illusion? Or did it... teleport us? Either way, the mist was the key.
I moved to the horses. They hadn't budged an inch from where we first started.
Wait. How come the mist didn't affect them?
A rustling sound made me tense up. I turned to find Selene next to me inspecting the horses. Seems she had the same thought.
"What do you think?" I asked.
Her cold, steady voice cut through the haze. "It seems one mist is guiding us to another." She ran her fingers along the horse's mane thoughtfully.
That's right. We keep on running without realising a simple thing. The mist is supposed to be vacuum so how come horses and the trees around us are just fine? Simple. they didn't moved and stood still.
But one thing bothered me, how did horse stood still in this same place. It's like they are obeying something.
"I don't understand you," Selene said suddenly, her voice colder than before. "How did you change this much... Does any of this make sense to you? She said and looking into my eyes she continued, "Do you know why I joined this expedition?"
She paused, her icy gaze pinning me in place.
"...To watch me?" I guessed, unsure. It was the only explanation that fit. I know her ability to share senses with her ghost puppet, but she needed to be in close proximity for that to work.
She nodded slightly. "And do you know the conclusion I came to?"
Her next words hit me like a punch to the gut.
"You're not Nathan."
My stomach twisted.
I stood silent. If I told her the truth — that I wasn't Nathan, that I came from another world — she'd probably rip my soul out for answers.
She studied me, her hand still moving slowly along the horse's neck. "But that's all. Except your personality nothing had changed. At first, I thought you were trying to trap us here — back when you told me about the Deathsong Amulet."
Her fingers stopped. "But you're still powerless. If you were planning something, you'd need strength to pull it off. So I dropped that suspicion. But tell me... what's your purpose?"
Her voice felt heavier than before, like she wasn't just asking for my reasons — she was demanding them.
My purpose? Was it to survive the game's hero? Build alliances? Gather loyal subordinates?
No.
I took a deep breath. "My purpose is to break my fate. To live without anything controlling me."
Selene's eyes widened for just a second. Then her expression returned to that unreadable, robotic calm.
"Changing fate, huh…" she murmured.
She turned to leave but stopped midway. "You understand how to break the trap now, right?"
I nodded. "We can only give it a try."
Selene gave a small nod and headed toward the still-arguing Commander and Edric.
I wanted to understand her — truly understand what she thought of me. But no matter how long I stared at her, that frozen, unreadable face didn't give away a thing.
---
The mist closed in again, swirling around us like before. This time, we stayed put near the horses. we didn't move an inch. The mage was on standby, ready to create a barrier if things went south.
The mist pressed against us, thick and suffocating — but it didn't steal the air from our lungs this time. As expected, it only reacted to movement.
Thirty minutes passed. The mist continued to slide past us, and soon, it thinned and faded entirely.
Commander was the first one that made a slight movement and confirmed. "It worked! Everyone hurry and get on the horses." She shouted.
We mounted up. This time, the horses moved without hesitation.
"Let's go!" Evan shouted, practically beaming.
He was the one who pieced it together after hearing our theory — the mist wasn't a static trap. It was two opposing currents. The moment they passed through each other, the pull broke, and gravity reset to normal.
We rode cautiously, following the mist that just passed through us. Eventually, two currents collided ahead of us, canceling each other out. The mist burst apart like smoke in the wind.
"Now! Full speed!" the Commander barked.
We surged forward, racing through the gap before the mist could reform.
Darkness swallowed the sunlight. Distant cries of birds and animals echoed around us.
"We're almost there!"
"Just a little more!"
The knights cheered behind me. Even I felt a grin tug at my lips.
Insects began to buzz and hum, signaling we were finally past the trap. The Commander signaled a halt at a clearing. The knights, exhausted but alive, started setting up camp — preparing food, posting guards.
I slurped down some warm soup and collapsed into my tent. Healer man sat next to me, staring with an odd look.
"What? Do I have something on my face?" I asked.
He chuckled. "No... it's just that you're nothing like the rumors, young master."
"Yeah yeah" i grumbled, what up with this cliched line, get a new one— im already bored.
A yawn hit me, and my eyes closed on their own.
---
Morning came fast. Our journey resumed. I spent time talking with the Commander about formations and traps he studied. He opened up more after the snake incident — and yesterday's trap sealed his trust.
His name, I learned, was Ryker. He also told me he'd opposed bringing Selene along, but the Duchess insisted. Seems he and Edric had a rivalry long before they became knights.
We passed more traps, including a landmine zone. Ranald cracked his knuckles and slammed his hand into the ground. The earth shook — every mine exploded in a chain reaction.
He grinned like a proud idiot.
After two more grueling days of travel, we finally reached our destination.
An abandoned, crumbling ruin deep in the heart of the forest.
It reeked of death and old magic. The air felt... wrong.
We'd made it.
But the real challenge was just beginning.