After hours of gazing into nothing and sitting in the rubble of the mining colony, Flesha laid down Reji's head and his eyes were full of sorrow instead of complete emptiness. Noticing that his friend snapped out of the terror, Hewin offered him a waterskin: "Let's bury his remains in the forest. Then we should leave this place for good."

"But where can we go, Hew? I was brought here inside the slavers' boat. Damn, I know nobody in Faer Zavelin," Flesha wondered.

Hewin took a deep breath and responded after a long moment: "We can go to my parents, it's a day walk from here."

Hope enlightened Flesha's tired face: "Well, that is a start! I wouldn't mind a hot stew and a chair. Oh, I haven't sat in a chair in ages."

Hewin shook his head and looked down: "I think your wish will be satisfied. But it was them who sold me to a slaver. Just so you know."

Flesha's eyes widened: "What, why?"

"Don't know. Maybe they will tell us," Hewin smiled faintly and sadly.

Together, they slowly went further to the forest, putting the mine and all the dead behind their backs.

***

The house of Hewin's family was visible from a distance. It looked more like a wooden tower than a house. It was at least four stories tall, each painted a different color with a pointy red roof at the top.

"Why is there a tower at the bottom of the valley, doesn't make sense, you cannot see anything from there," Flesha noted, surprised.

Hewin chuckled: "I know, right? That is our, I mean my parents' house. It is a Lynxarian thing, we prefer to move vertically. It is just...more natural, I guess."

Flesha stopped and grabbed Hewin by the shoulder: "Do you want to wait, prepare for this perhaps?"

But Hewin shrugged: "Nah, let's just dive into it. It will be terrible either way."

Hewin wanted to knock on the door but then he heard the sound of wood being chopped behind the house. He went around and saw a big man with brown fur streaked with grey lines. He had a sharp jaw and long ears with tufts of black hair on the tips. The man was collecting chopped wood from the ground when he saw Hewin. He froze in motion.

"Hewin?" he asked carefully with a raspy voice.

"Hello, dad," Hewin replied with pretended calmness. Flesha just bowed slowly and made a step back.

Hewin's dad watched his son intensely, then he asked: "Why have you come? Are you on the run? Should we expect slavers knocking on our doors?"

"Glad to see you too, dad," Hewin gritted his teeth and felt his claws extend. But then Hewin's mother approached from the house and hugged Hewin with a crushing force. "Oh, my son, my Hew," she said while sobbing, tears pouring down through her golden fur.

Later in the evening, Flesha got his stew. He seemed content and was carefully polite. Well, most of the time, he was just quietly chewing and looking at the table. Hewin's father ate in the corner in his rocking chair, silent with a thoughtful gaze. Hewin's mother held her son's paws and asked about life in the mining colony. She was spontaneously bursting into tears every minute or so. Hewin's mind was, however, shattered into pieces. One of those pieces was just happy that he can eat with his mother and feel the warmth of her heart. Another part of his mind was raging in anger pointed at his father, who seemed heartless. And the last and most powerful shard in his head was relentlessly repeating the question Why have you sold me into slavery? Feeling the inevitability, Hewin asked it. He was not talking to his mother or father specifically, he merely put the individual words in the air around him.

The room fell into silence. Long-lasting deep silence. Eventually, Hewin's mother caught her breath and spoke: "Oh, Hew. Your father..."

"We will discuss it tomorrow. I think there was enough excitement for one day," Hewin's father said. Hewin felt his nerves burst and slammed his fist down, splitting the wooden table in half. He shouted at his father: "Excitement? You sold your only kid, monster!"

"Kaldir!" Hewin's mother yelped when she saw Hewin's father clench his fists. "Good night, Halira," he replied after a moment. Then he just climbed down the hatch.

Hewin felt his blood thumping in the ears. He only slightly relaxed when Flesha pointed his finger towards the destroyed table. Then Hewin noticed it. Some splinters were hovering in the air as if somebody hanged them on a thread from the ceiling. "What the hell," he started but Flesha began to cough violently and spat black liquid on the floor.

Halira immediately took a mug with water and gave it to Flesha.

"I don't feel so well. It's probably dust from the mine," Flesha rasped.

Hewin ushered him to bed. Then he told good night to his mother as well and began to sweep the mess on the floor. Hewin realized that nothing is hovering in the air anymore. What was it anyway? he wondered. But the sound of an ax swinging outside disturbed him from thinking about it more thoroughly.

Hewin found Kaldir chopping the wood again. He was swinging the ax furiously with anger written across his face. He was swinging with more and more force until the shaft broke. Then he kneeled and cried, gigantic paws covering his face.

"I am so sorry, my son. I failed you and your mother terribly," Kaldir spoke.

Hewin came closer and asked his father: "Tell me. Please tell me what happened. I can't remember anything from that day."

Kaldir sniffled and looked up: "Oh son, it is very simple, the thing that led to this. One day, slavers ambushed this house. When I returned from the forest, they were dragging you out, your mother screaming from the top floor. They intended to take you and I don't want to think what they were planning for Halira. They probably saw my intention to kill them in my eyes and started to negotiate. They told me that we can fight it out and that some of them would probably die but that the death of my family is certain. Their leader, however, offered me a symbolic amount of money for you with the promise that they only need a young Lynxarian for mining in the depths and assured me that they would leave this house at once. Well, and you can probably guess the end. When I first saw you today, I was so afraid that slavers will catch you, kill us all, and that the sacrifice I made would be undone and pointless. That is why I reacted so poorly. You deserve better than this my son. I hope...I hope one day," but Kaldir stopped when he saw the blank look on Hewin's face. Hewin felt lost and furious but incapable to direct this emotion at his father.

In my father's shoes, what I would have done at that moment? Hewin thought.

"Dad, I....I need to take a walk, alone. I will go to the anvil boulder to think for a while," he said eventually and Kaldir nodded slowly.

"By the way, do you know whether Enyar has returned?" Hewin asked.

Kaldir looked dumbfounded: "Who is Enyar?"

"Vamika's and Falyar's son, we were friends before the mine and there as well, I hope he is alright," Hewin replied.

Kaldir was even more surprised: "Do you mean their girl, Shenian? They never had a boy but I remember you were playing outside with Shenian."

This was too much for Hewin. Everyone in the world seemed to forget about Enyar, except him. Of course, he was aware of the slight possibility that he is insane. But it was possible to test it at the anvil boulder. Overwhelmed by the events of the evening, Hewin headed to the forest. The stray boulder shaped like an anvil was just a couple of minutes away. He and Enyar were playing hide and seek there all the time. They also scribbled on the stone various messages for each other. When Hewin saw the boulder, he touched it and felt calmness warm his body. Here, he felt at home. This stone carried only positive memories.

For the first time in ages, Hewin felt that he can forgive his parents. He knew that it can take some time to wash away all the grudges and sediments of vengeful thoughts. But he felt the spark of hope. My father is not the monster I thought him to be, he realized, maybe some other Lynxarian would fight, or tried to find his kid afterwards, but there is no evil in my dad's decision...weakness maybe, but not evil.

Hewin closed his eyes and walked around the stone, his hand on the smooth surface. Then he felt it, an engraving. He opened his eyes and saw the words in the stone:

Utke ndærmůr. Werr ndærmůr. Palwø ndærmůr.

Strange, Hewin thought as it seemed the only message on the whole stone. It was in Lynxarian language. It meant "Chase the darkness. Kill the darkness. Resist the darkness." Hewin inspected it, then he spoke the words. It was strange to use the language after such a long time. Even his parents did not use it. Enyar, however, was very eloquent in Lynxarian and he was always cross with Hewin when he switched to human language.

After Hewin said the words, the message disappeared. It was sucked inside the stone, then the surface started to disintegrate and slowly collapsed inwards until there was only blackness. Hewin's first impulse was to run, but a smooth hilt emerged from the dark pool on the stone. The words he said out loud were now engraved on the hilt. Hewin felt that Enyar must be somehow connected to this, he believed that there is truth in the hilt. And so, he took it and pulled until he held a black smooth sword seemingly crafted from a single piece of stone. It felt light, which was surprising considering the material. And it felt strange...and so familiar.

Hewin walked, then ran. He needed to check up on Flesha, and show him the sword. But when he saw the house he realized something was off. One of the colors on the house was marred by something that didn't belong there. Hewin stepped silently as he drew close. No, he almost cried out. The wall was smeared with blood. Half of Kaldir's body lay in the grass as if tossed there, the lower half sitting at the bench in front of the house. Hewin threw up on the ground, suddenly feeling sick. This is not possible, this is another nightmare, he kept thinking.

Then a figure stumbled out of the door. It was Flesha. He was covered in blood and he held a big ax for cutting trees. He dragged the great ax behind him, his eyes were pitch black. He noticed Hewin, who was on his knees and cleaning vomit from his chin. "Wa nenùtlæ kænhuhe," Flesha said and smiled with a terrible grimace. Hewin translated it almost unconsciously in his head that it means I greet you old prince.

"What have you done, Flesha?" Hewin asked and felt his grip on the hilt tighten.