They found him just before dusk, crumpled near the outer slope where the mist kissed the edge of the fire wall. His body was twisted like it had been thrown—hard. One arm dangled at the wrong angle. His cloak was scorched at the hem. Half his ribs were wrapped in dried pitch and bark fibers, bleeding slowly where the seal had failed.
Sira spotted him first.
Riku arrived minutes later, crouching by the figure as Tharn kept watch. The stranger didn't flinch. His chest rose and fell shallowly. His breathing was dry—sandpaper rasped against stone. He looked human at first, just… wrong. Taller. Leaner. Pale skin covered in fine black lines that shimmered faintly in the dim light.
But it was the eyes that caught Riku.
Obsidian. Not metaphorically. Actually obsidian—flat and glassy, reflecting the flames of the wall behind them. He wasn't blind. Just reflective. When he blinked, the light rippled across his gaze like oil over water.
He spoke without opening his eyes.
"Don't bind me," he whispered.
No one moved.
Riku leaned closer.
"I'm not here to take," the man croaked. "Just… to leave something behind."
He reached for the pouch at his side, fingers twitching. Riku stopped his hand gently, then took the pouch himself. Inside were three things: a glass tooth, a silver token carved with jagged runes, and a folded strip of cloth soaked in red dye.
Kael joined them, glancing over Riku's shoulder.
"Any writing?"
"No," Riku murmured. "Just marks. Almost tribal. But not ours."
The wanderer sucked in a breath. Then spoke again, softer.
"He binds them. With their names."
"Who?" Riku asked.
"Monarch. To the east. Not sovereign by right. He uses words. Marks. Chains carved into bone."
He coughed, spit blood onto the stone, and smiled.
"They serve him because they can't stop. Names mean something here. Be careful what you give."
He fell quiet.
Still alive. But fading.
Riku stared at him for a long time. Then he stood and gestured for the others to pull back.
"Don't heal him," he said.
Sira frowned. "You're letting him die?"
"No," Riku replied. "I'm letting him go."
They left the man just outside the dome, half-propped against a stone pillar.
By morning, he was gone.
No blood. No body. Just a faint scrawl in the ash, traced by a single finger.
"Don't name what you want to keep."