Smoke filled the arena as Tucker coughed up a mouthful of blood. He looked around him while dragging his bloody palms across the floor. The training room had been torn apart, with weapons scattered on the ground. Bricks fell from the walls, and magic lanterns shattered as glass rained from the ceiling.

  “Alex! Ray!” Tucker called out in a hoarse voice.

  Yet no one responded.

  With every ounce of strength, Tucker pushed himself up as the shards of stone dug into his palms. He ignored the shearing pain from the cuts on his body as a sense of dread filled his mind. Flashbacks of the men who died by his side surfaced one after another. Their warm bodies sprawled across the cold ground with blood slowly pooling beneath.

  He stumbled forward and ran towards the center of the arena while fanning the dark grey smoke. Sweat clung to his face, and Gale was nowhere in sight.

  Tucker channeled his wind essence around his body. Carefully controlling the energy, he released a light wave outward. Just strong enough to push the smoke to the outer walls but not enough to send the shattered weapons flying.

  A rush of air followed as Gale swooped down from above, landing hard on Tucker’s shoulder while chirping frantically. He snapped his gaze in the direction Gale had come from and saw Ray buried beneath the broken stone.

  Mana gathered under the soles of his boots, propelling him towards his fallen comrade. In the blink of an eye, Tucker was beside Ray. He grabbed onto the stone slab that had fallen onto him. An emerald aura enveloped Tucker’s body as he pushed it aside.

  “Ray, are you good?!” Tucker shouted.

  “Never better,” Ray said, groaning in pain. “It’s just another day, as they say.”

  Tucker let out a sigh of relief before focusing on the center of the arena. The flames still had yet to die out, and when he had released his wind essence—it never reached the center.

  “How’s Salamander?” Ray asked.

  “I don’t know,” Tucker replied without averting his gaze. “He hasn’t moved a muscle since the aftershock.”

  “Do… do you think he died while standing?”

  “The old man would never die from something like that.”

  But as Tucker said that, a sense of unease crawled along his spine. It was the first time they had ever experimented with spirit bands, and no one would have expected such a dangerous outcome to occur.

  .

  .

  .

  Alex blinked not once but twice at the scene before him. He looked around the forest and examined the dark green leaves swaying in the warm breeze. His hand reached out, catching the green stem with one eyebrow lifting ever so slightly higher than the other.

  It was like he had been transported to another world. All his senses made him want to believe that his surroundings were real, but part of him knew that wasn’t true.

  “I doubt I’m dead, so where exactly am I?” he asked. “Sally, where are you?”

  Alex scanned his body. The dark green shirt and beige pants were exactly the same as the ones he wore in the training area. So it wasn’t a simple illusion or his mind playing tricks on him. Yet the longer he stayed in the clearing, the more nostalgic it felt.

  “Sally?” Alex called out once more, walking through the fields of grass.

  Everything around him felt like a dream he had lived before. One that he wished to recall, yet could no longer grasp. The broken bark along the trees, and the distant chorus of birds singing, tugged at something deep within his chest. He knew that if he followed the dirt path, past the bend and through the crossing, then he would find it.

  A small wooden hut perched a few meters away from the cliff’s edge.

  Why, you may ask? Because it was the very same place he had once called home. The place he had trained with his mentor decades ago, when the world felt simpler.

  “How could I have forgotten?” he mumbled with a faint bittersweet smile tugging at his lips.

  This was where it all began—the shelter of the Everlasting Watchman. His mentor. His guardian. The woman who had taken him under her wing when he had nothing. The one other woman in his life who brought light to his dim world and led him down a path he could be proud of.

  The home of Sabrina Everett, the greatest watchman of the Order and the one who gave her life so he could live.

  But why was he seeing this? Why now after so many years?

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  “My, don’t you know it’s bad manners to keep a lady waiting? Haven’t I taught you at least that much before we parted?”

  Alex stood completely still at the sound of the tender voice that entered his ears. He didn’t want to believe it. Believe that after so long he could still recall her voice in a memory that should have faded long ago. Slowly, Alex turned around. His gaze trembled not with fear but with remorse at the pale woman wearing the watchman’s uniform before him.

  Her bright blue eyes shone like the deep clear ocean, and her golden hair carried the warmth of sunlight. But it wasn’t her beauty that stunned him—it was the fact that she hadn’t changed at all. Her kind smile was exactly the same as on the day he lost her.

  Back when he was still a young watchman. Back when he had no other choice but to obey her final orders to run. To survive and leave his comrades behind. Not because he was weak but because he had to carry on a legacy that should have never been his.

  Her gaze softened as their eyes met. “Oh, Alex…” she said gently. “It’s been far too long since we last spoke.”

  His breath was caught between his chest and throat, unable to accept what was happening before him. He curled his hands slowly into fists at his sides, knuckles turning white as a sharp inhale slipped past his lips. Tears gathered despite his resolve, but none fell.

  Even if it was a memory, he couldn’t control his emotions. When the previous war ended, they failed to recover most of their comrades’ bodies and, with no other choice, he had to accept that his mentor had long perished. His hand slowly reached for his leather hat, grabbing onto the wide brim as he held it over his heart.

  “I… I… thought you were dead,” Alex said.

  Sabrina showed a faint smile before nodding. “I’m afraid that’s most likely the case.”

  “No—no.” Alex shook his head. “You’re right here in front of me.”

  “I wish that were the case, but you know better than anyone that I’m nothing more than a fragment of aura.”

  “But if your aura is here, that means I can find you! I can rescue you with the help of the—”

  “With the help of what?” she asked with a sharp glare. “That demon? I may be an echo left behind by my former self, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t seen what you’ve done.”

  Sabrina’s tone softened as she stepped closer, gently brushing the side of his face with her hand. “You’ve already been through enough. And I’ve seen the effort you put into restoring the Order.”

  “It wasn’t enough,” he whispered.

  “It was,” she said firmly. “The burden of what followed should have never fallen on you. You were just a recruit—thrown into a war no one was prepared for.”

  Sabrina’s eyes shimmered with sorrow. “If it weren’t for the feud within our ranks, then maybe the situation would have been different. But there’s no sense in clinging to what can’t be changed.” She paused, forcing a smile. “You’ve already known that, didn’t you? Even though your heart hasn’t accepted it.”

  Alex nodded slowly. “You’re here to pass something on.”

  “That’s correct, but it seems like this is only to confirm your rookie’s suspicion.” Sabrina turned towards the ocean beyond the cliff, the wind carrying her words. “To form spirit bands, you need to resonate your essence in particular rhythms. You’ve already uncovered wind and fire, but for water contractors, the essence must be surrendered to the current. Drawn and shaped like the tide. And for earth contractors, it must be compacted around the heart like an unyielding shield. The only problem is that it needs to be in a suitable environment.”

  “Why now?” he asked quietly. “Why show up now when I needed you all those times before?”

  “I’m not sure; I should have been able to speak with you years ago, but it seems like something—no, someone was interfering with my ability.”

  “Was it the gods?” Alex asked in a stern voice.

  Sabrina grinned. “Do you really think those stubborn jerks would move over something so trivial?”

  “I suppose not.”

  She chuckled with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “But that’s not all. It’s time for Sally to grow.”

  Alex stared at his mentor with a gaze filled with longing and regret, forcing himself to discard the feelings that clung to his chest. He took a deep breath, pushing aside the memories that fought to resurface.

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “Sally can evolve.”

  At her words, Alex’s body froze. He stood there in silence as her voice washed over him. After all this time, it was possible for Sally to evolve? Part of him couldn’t believe it. The Order had tried everything they could to advance low-tier spirits to the higher tiers, but it wasn’t possible. It was never possible.

  “How?” He gazed at his mentor’s warm smile that soothed his aching heart.

  “You need to head to Elarindor and seek the World Tree.”

  Alex shook his head. “They’ll never let us in. Not after what happened to the previous Administrators.”

  “Try.” Her voice whispered, watching as the trees slowly faded. “I don’t have much time left, but if you reach the World Tree, then we’ll see each other again. If we don’t, Sally should be able to do what’s needed.”

  “How long would it take?”

  “A few months at least, a year at best.”

  “That’s too long; you know what’s at stake now.”

  Sabrina’s smile faded as the corners of her lips fell ever so slightly. “If you don’t go… your chances of making it through this war will be—”

  “I know.”

  For the first time in his life, Alex cut off his mentor. Not with anger but with a gentle voice that had accepted the reality of the situation. Sabrina already knew what Alex was like. She had seen bits of his life playing like records, only showing the moments that mattered most and the guilt that ate away at his heart.

  If she could rewind time and do it all over again. She would have never passed on the legacy of the watchmen to the recruits that were left behind. There were so many things she would have done differently, but what was done couldn’t be changed.

  Sabrina walked closer, looking up at Alex. “It’s hard to imagine I used to be taller than you.”

  Alex held back his trembling hands. “If I had stayed, would it have made a difference?”

  She tilted her head with a smile before closing her eyes. “No, it would have just been an unnecessary sacrifice.” Sabrina leaned closer, wrapping her arms around him. “Besides, there’s no need to feel bad about what’s happened. As your teacher, nothing brings me more joy than watching you grow and become the fine watchman you are now.”

  The world was fading around him.

  “You know, I’m so proud to have been your mentor,” she said.

  Alex felt the warmth transfer through her arms as he accepted the embrace. He couldn’t believe that an echo of his mentor still existed within him. In the long sixty years it took to restore the Order to its current point, he was afraid. Afraid that he hadn’t done enough. That he had made far too many mistakes trying to bring a hollow keep back to life.

  But now he knew that wasn’t the case.

  Even if the Order wasn’t at its full strength from years ago.

  The leaves withered in the wind, and the blades of grass curled before fading into the soil. Alex slowly raised his arms, accepting the last traces of warmth as he wrapped them around his mentor. “Thanks… for everything.”