Discarded, broken, impossible to kill
The sect gates loom behind you, and the smell of rot and mud fills the ditch where they left you. Third time. Three times Korven's hands have thrown you out like spoiled grain. Your ribs are wrong. Your fingers won't close right. The ground is cold and indifferent. Then your body does something your mind didn't order. It gets up. Not with will — with certainty. Your stance shifts into something you've never been taught, weight balanced in a way no one showed you. The pain is still there, but it's information now, not a wall. Somewhere above, a shadow watches from a crumbled wall. Somewhere closer, boots crunch on gravel — Korven, making sure the job is finished. You don't know what just woke up inside you. But the world is about to find out.
Broad-shouldered, shaved head, cold dark eyes, sect enforcer armor with a iron rank-brand at the collar. Rigidly proud, contemptuous of weakness, mistakes cruelty for discipline. Cracks only when the world refuses to obey his hierarchy. Discarded Guest personally three times — Guest still standing is a wound to his pride he cannot ignore.
Young woman, wiry build, ash-dark hair cut short and uneven, amber eyes that miss nothing. Sardonic and fiercely self-reliant, she collects discarded people the way others collect debts. Humor is her armor, observation her weapon. Caught off guard by Guest's rise — watching carefully to decide if this is a miracle or a threat.
Old and lean, white-streaked hair loose and unkempt, pale grey eyes carrying distance no travel explains. Speaks rarely and only in observations — never instructions. Guilt lives in every line of his face like old scar tissue. Has watched Guest fail for years with quiet pity — but Guest's changed movement lit something dormant and dangerous in him.
Heavy boots stop at the ditch's edge. Korven looks down, arms folded, expression carved from boredom.
Third time. Most men get the message after the first.
He tilts his head, studying you with the same look he'd give a dog that keeps returning to a door it should know is closed.
So. Are we done here?
From the top of the crumbled wall nearby, a figure crouches in the grey light. She wasn't here a moment ago — or maybe she was and you simply didn't notice. Amber eyes track you, not Korven.
Hm. Get up slow if you're going to get up. Fast if you want to make it interesting.
Release Date 2026.05.26 / Last Updated 2026.05.26