The road ahead lay open and uncertain, stretching toward promises. Kartik adjusted the strap of his pack, his pulse steady but alert, while beside him Eisha, Dort, and Aemma—Sword resting against on a rock like a silent vow—stood poised at the edge of departure. This was the moment journeys were born: quiet, trembling, and irreversible.
Then a voice cut through the stillness.
"Kartik."
The sound came from behind them—clear, deliberate, and unsettlingly familiar. Kartik froze. The others halted at once, instinctively turning with him, eyes narrowing as they searched the empty stretch they had just crossed.
A man stood there where none had been moments before.
Edric.
He wore a composed smile, neither warm nor cold, but carefully measured. His presence felt oddly complete, like a missing piece clicking into place—unwanted, yet undeniable. His eyes moved over them one by one, lingering just long enough to make each of them uneasy.
Dort leaned closer to Kartik, his voice barely more than breath against his ear.
"Is this guy following us?"
Kartik didn't answer. He was too busy searching his memory, tracing the faint echo of the previous night—the parts that refused to settle into sense.
Edric stepped forward, hands open, his tone disarmingly polite. "Looks like we're headed the same way," he said. "If you don't mind, I'd like to join you. I have some work in a nearby city, and this road…" He glanced back over his shoulder. "It's not one I'd prefer to walk alone."
Dort's eyes hardened. Kartik shifted his weight, uneasy. Both of them turned toward Eisha, silently urging caution. A glance. A subtle shake of the head. A pause heavy with unspoken warnings.
But Eisha, unaware of the last night incident, saw only a lone traveler asking for company. He nodded easily, a smile touching his lips. "No harm in traveling together," he said. "You're welcome to join us."
Dort exhaled sharply through his nose. Kartik felt a knot tighten in his chest. Both of them looked down in despair
And so, with Edric now among them, their journey toward the Place of Dreams began.
The path led them straight into the deep forest—a vast, breathing entity of towering trees and woven shadows. As soon as they crossed its threshold, the air changed. Light thinned, sounds softened, and the forest seemed to lean inward, listening.
Kartik walked close to Dort. "Isn't there another way?" he asked quietly. "A safer path?"
Dort shook his head. "We don't know the exact location. But this is the shortest route. Maybe the only one."
Their voices carried more curiosity than comfort, and Edric noticed. He drifted closer, slipping into the conversation as smoothly as smoke into cracks.
"What are you two talking about?" he asked, his tone light, eyes sharp.
Dort didn't miss a step. "Hunting, species " he replied casually. "The species found deeper in these woods."
Edric smiled again—that same unreadable curve of the lips—and nodded, satisfied or pretending to be.
Edric's voice drifted calmly through the forest gloom. "Once," he said, "I faced one of them myself."
Kartik and Dort slowed their steps.
"It didn't try to hurt me," Edric continued, eyes fixed ahead. "It was only protecting something. Territory, maybe. Or a secret better left untouched."
Before either of them could respond, a sharp cry burst from the branches above.
All of them froze.
Hands went to hilts, breaths caught in throats, and eyes searched the thick lattice of leaves. The forest seemed to hold its breath with them—until a blur of fur leapt from one branch to another.
A squirrel.
For a heartbeat, there was silence. Then Kartik and Dort exchanged a look—wide-eyed, stunned—and burst out laughing. Edric joined them, the tension dissolving like mist under sunlight.
As they walked on, laughter lingering, the conversation deepened. Dort ask him "why did he choose to get in th police". Edric spoke of his life, of paths chosen more by expectation than desire. He explained how he joined the police—not because it was his dream, but because it was his father's.
"He believed order was the highest form of duty," Edric said quietly. "And I believed him."
Listening to him now, Kartik felt something inside shift. This man—so carefully observed, so quietly judged—did not feel like the shadow he had imagined. Not entirely, at least.
Ahead of them, Eisha glanced back, noticing the three figures behind him, heads close together, laughter still breaking through. "What are you three even talking about?" he called. "And why are you laughing like you've forgotten we're on a journey?"
Aemma smiled faintly. "Three?" she said. "There are four. Don't you see Sword? He's gossiping just as much as the rest."
With conversation flowing and suspicion easing, the day slipped quietly into evening. Shadows stretched long between the trees, and fatigue began to weigh on their steps. They all get tired of walking. It was Dort who noticed it first.
"There," he said, pointing ahead.
Through the trees, a waterfall revealed itself—steam rising gently into the cooling air. Warm water spilled over dark stone, surrounded by thick green growth, the whole place glowing with a quiet, almost sacred beauty.
The sight washed their weariness away.
They decided at once to rest there for the night and continue their journey at dawn.
As they drew closer, the view grew even more breathtaking. Smooth rocks lay scattered through the falling water, and without hesitation they began arranging them into a small platform at the center.
Eisha and Aemma moved to opposite sides of the falls, laughter echoing as the warm spray embraced them. On the other side, Kartik, Dort, and Edric followed suit.
Overcome with excitement, Dort stripped off his clothes and leapt forward—only to misjudge the depth. His head struck a submerged rock with a dull thud.
"Ow!" he cried, standing up with a wounded, indignant expression. "Kartik! Come in! Don't just stand there!"
Kartik laughed, shaking his head as he stepped into the water, the warmth wrapping around him instantly. He leaned back against a rock, arms spread wide, letting the waterfall pour over him. The tension of the road drained from his body, replaced by a deep, rare satisfaction.
Soon Edric joined them.
Without warning, Dort splashed water straight into Kartik's face. Kartik retaliated at once, and within moments they were laughing, throwing water at each other like children unburdened by destiny.
Some of the spray caught Edric, who paused for half a second—then smiled, truly smiled—and joined in.
Under the falling warm water, beneath the watching trees, their laughter rose into the night, unaware that this fragile peace was only a pause before the path ahead would demand its price.