ARCADES

The desert wind howled across the sand, lifting dust into the dawn-lit sky. Twenty-six bandits stood in a loose ring, blades drawn, muscles tense. At the center, two figures stood calm—Kalamari and Tozi—back to back.

Their fire had gone cold, but their eyes burned with heat.

Kalamari tilted his head, smiling at the silence.

"Last chance to run," he said.

Some of the bandits, out of fear, stepped back. But their leader barked out a command.

"Don't let these fools get into your head! Reap them apart!"

No one moved.

And then, the first fool charged.

Steel met air.

Before the bandit could blink, Nylok tore from Kalamari's shadow like a black blur—faster than thought, more violent than reason. He danced between them, cackling with joy, slicing open throats, crushing ribs with his claws. Blood sprayed across the sand as the first five dropped like sacks of meat.

"Too slow!" Nylok sang, dragging his claws through another man's spine. "Come on, scream for me!"

Screams rose. Steel rang. But the desert was too wide, too empty, to hold the horror that followed.

Tozi's eyes glowed dark violet as Void emerged from his chest like a living ripple of shadow. It floated—formless and shifting—until it found its rhythm. Then it struck.

Void surged forward like a whip of living darkness, snapping through bodies, wrapping around throats, dragging men screaming into the sand. Tozi followed behind it, fists glowing, dodging blades with liquid grace. He threw one punch—one—and shattered a man's face like glass.

Another tried to stab him from behind.

Void caught the blade and sent it flying. Tozi spun and kicked the man into a nearby rock.

"Try again," Tozi muttered, already moving to the next.

Kalamari walked slowly now, completely unbothered.

He didn't even summon a weapon.

A bandit rushed at him with a spear—Kalamari caught it mid-air, crushed it with one hand, and punched the man so hard his body spun twice before landing in a crumpled heap.

Another screamed and charged him.

Kalamari moved like a ghost—appearing behind him, whispering in his ear:

"Wrong choice."

He snapped the man's neck with a twist and moved on.

All around them, chaos reigned.

The bandits screamed, bled, begged. Nylok laughed harder with every kill, enjoying the carnage like a child in a playground of bones.

"Don't run!" he howled. "We're just getting started!"

A few did run.

They didn't get far.

Void stretched across the sand like a curtain of death, dragging them down into blackness, their cries silenced beneath the crushing pressure of nothingness.

Some of the women among the remaining bandits saw what was coming. They could not win.

They looked at one another, shaking their heads in disbelief and fear.

"Lolia... what do we do? These men are not just men—they'll kill us all," one of the female bandits whispered, her voice trembling as she clutched her bloodied blade.

She turned to Lolia, the head of their group. Blood had already splattered across their armor, the metallic scent thick in the air. Lolia stared at the carnage with wide eyes.

"I don't think even our leader, Hexmoth, can defeat them," she said quietly. "We should surrender… and offer them our bodies in exchange for our survival."

They had nothing else to give.

Reluctantly, the six women agreed.

Within minutes—less than five—the battlefield fell silent once more.

Bodies lay scattered like broken dolls, blood soaking into the hot desert sand. The air stank of iron and death.

Only one man remained.

Hexmoth.

No... no, he thought, frozen atop his horse. How didn't I see it? These two men... they're A-ranks. What have I done?

I have to run.

But he couldn't move.

The fear wasn't creeping anymore. It had already consumed him.

Kalamari approached slowly, blood dripping from his fists. Nylok walked beside him, grinning, twitching, still hungry. On the other side stood Tozi, Void swirling behind him like a living shadow.

Hexmoth's lips quivered.

"I—I didn't know," he stammered. "I didn't know who you were."

Kalamari stopped a few feet away and looked up at him.

"No," he said. "You knew. But you believed your numbers would save you… like always. Didn't you?"

He took another step forward, voice like cold iron.

"And now it's too late."

The bandit leader's hand twitched toward his blade.

Kalamari didn't even look.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

But Hexmoth had already made up his mind. He had nothing left to lose.

He pulled for his weapon.

Nylok was faster.

In the blink of an eye, he was on the horse's back.

In the next, Hexmoth's arm was gone—torn clean from the socket in a spray of hot blood.

The bandit screamed and tumbled to the sand.

Kalamari knelt beside him, his shadow falling over the broken man.

"I spared your life once," he said quietly. "You laughed at that mercy."

Hexmoth looked up, tears filling his eyes. "Please... I was just following orders…"

Kalamari's gaze darkened. His eyes faintly glowed.

"So was Yakima."

He stood, turned his back, and gave a single nod.

Nylok's grin split wider.

He started with the second arm.

Then the legs.

Crawling onto Hexmoth's chest, Nylok leaned in, laughing wildly.

"You lose."

Then he tore into his chest with his claws, ripping again and again until the ribcage cracked open, intestines spilled, and blood flooded the sand beneath him.

And then it was over.

---

The wind blew again.

Silence returned to the desert.

Tozi exhaled slowly. Void drifted back into his body like smoke. Nylok vanished into Kalamari's shadow, still chuckling softly.

Then, from behind the rocks, the women emerged—six of them, dust-covered and trembling. They walked toward Kalamari and Tozi, then dropped to their knees, pleading, begging for their lives.

"We'll do anything," one cried. "Anything to stay alive…"

"If it pleases you," another added, "you may take our bodies—we'll give you pleasure, loyalty… whatever you desire."

"Please, warriors," said Lolia, the eldest among them. "We are nothing but slaves to Hexmoth. We pledge to serve you instead. All we ask is to live."

Tozi glanced at Kalamari, bitter discomfort in his eyes. And yet... something stirred in him. One of the women winked at him, her smile more promise than plea.

Kalamari heard her thoughts clearly—She wants Tozi… badly.

He closed his eyes and sighed.

He didn't want to kill them either. But he still didn't trust them—not yet.

So he read their minds, their true intentions.

And he saw they were sincere.

Their fear was real. Their desperation, honest.

His body ached from battle, the fire inside him not yet cooled. Perhaps… this was what they all needed.

Kalamari looked down at the women.

"Do you have families?" he asked. "People to go to, if I let you go now?"

The women shook their heads. Hexmoth had already taken all of that away from them.

"But we could start a new life," Lolia said. "We are known across the kingdoms. We have allies—warriors we can meet. We can find shelter."

Kalamari nodded slowly.

"Then you're given the privilege to leave. But not yet."

He turned toward the horizon.

"You'll lead us to the Thruans Kingdom. Once we get there, you'll depart and begin your new lives."

He paused, then added—without a hint of humor:

"And about the pleasures you offered… is there any nearby village we can rest in before moving on?"

The women looked at one another. Then one smiled and spoke.

"Yes, handsome warrior. Not far from here—there's a village where we used to camp while traveling. It's safe."

Kalamari kept his expression firm, unreadable.

"Very well," he said. "Looks like we have ourselves a deal."

He turned to grab his gear.

Before he could move, one of the women opened her mouth to speak—but he spoke first, smiling faintly.

"My name is Kalamari," he said. "And this is my brother, Tozi."

He looked directly at the woman who had wanted to speak.

"And yes… you were going to ask who I am, weren't you, Bethy?"

Her eyes widened. She hadn't said a word.

"Don't worry," he continued. "You'll all find out soon enough. I may call for you someday."

Bethy stared, speechless. The others shared the same shock. Even Tozi raised a brow in surprise.

They gathered what they needed—food, weapons, and the coin the bandits had tried to steal.

The women mounted their horses and rode behind them, no longer enemies but something else. Something uncertain.

They moved toward the village—Old Sand Town.

Behind them, only the dead remained.

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Find out what happens in Chapter 10… and meet the new souls fate brings into their path.

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