The return.

Chapter 45: The Rhaadkat

“This is… weird.”

Noor muttered, slowing her pace as she pointed ahead. Nixia walked at Entinos’ side, the two of them deep in quiet conversation as they led us toward the camp. “I’ve never seen him smile like that. Ever. And I don’t like it.”

She wasn’t wrong. Entinos wore a rare, unguarded smile as he listened to Nixia, his shoulders looser than I had ever seen them. For a brief moment, he didn’t look like a hardened warrior or a haunted exile, just someone who had found a pocket of peace. Solitude, maybe. Or something close to it. Maybe Nixia was a positive or nostalgic influence of him…

“I don’t know,” I said, watching them disappear between the trees. “I don’t see anything wrong with it, Noor.”

“I didn’t say it was wrong,” she replied quickly, lifting her hands in mock surrender. “I like seeing horns smile for once.”

Ikaro pushed a low-hanging branch aside, his movements sharper than necessary. “Then what’s the problem?” he asked. “You’re talking like there’s something off about it.”

Noor slowed to a stop. Her posture stiffened, shoulders drawing back as if bracing for impact. “There is,” she said quietly. “I don’t know this woman. And if I’m being honest…” She hesitated, eyes flicking back toward Entinos. “We don’t really know him either.”

Ikaro exhaled through his nose, jaw tightening. “Come on. You got to be shitting me.”

“No, read between the lines,” Noor pressed, her voice firmer now. “I trust him enough, but that’s not the same as knowing who he really is. Where he comes from. Why he left.”

“Noor, you don’t know that much about us either.” Iris replied with shrug.

“That’s not true,” She began “While I haven’t known you all for a long time, I still can speak to you and will learn a thing or two of who you are. That’s just not the case with him, it’s not that he’s not talking to us, is that he’s not telling us who he is.”

“Maybe he just doesn’t think it’s important.” Ikaro replied, irritation cracking in at the sorceress remarks.

“There’s a clear difference between keeping information because you don’t think it matters and keeping it for other reasons.” Noor replied, standing her ground.
Ikaro stopped walking. He ran a hand through his hair, clearly fighting the urge to snap. “After everything he’s done for us,” he said, slower now, measured, “you’re still questioning him?”

“I’m questioning what we don’t know,” she shot back. “That’s not the same thing.”

Silence stretched between them for half a second, taut, brittle.

“Fuck off,” Ikaro finally snapped.

“That’s enough,” I said sharply, stepping between them before it could spiral further. “Both of you.” I turned to Noor. “With me. Now.”
I caught Iris’ eye and tilted my head toward her brother. She sighed but nodded, already moving to intercept Ikaro as Noor reluctantly fell into step beside me.
We walked a few paces in silence.

“Something’s on your mind,” I said at last, softening my tone. With Noor, pushing never worked, meeting her halfway did. “Isn’t it?”
She glanced at me sideways, lips twitching. “What gave it away?”

I didn’t answer. Just looked at her.

She sighed. “I don’t have a problem with Entinos,” she admitted. “It’s just…”

“You hate not having the full picture,” I finished calmly. “And you don’t trust what you can’t read.”

She scoffed. “And here I thought I was subtle.”

“I guess I got lucky with you,” I added lightly.

She flipped me off, then smiled despite herself. “Stop boasting, asshole.” Her expression sobered again. “But yes. I can’t understand him. Not fully. Who he really is.”
She slowed her steps, thinking. “Have you ever wondered why he left the Rhaadkat? The way Nixia talks to him, there’s no resentment. No shame. It’s like—”

“He’s ashamed of himself,” I said quietly.

She nodded. “Exactly.” Her voice dropped. “I don’t want to say this, Kayn. I like him. I trust him. But we’re walking forward without seeing the ground beneath us. Again.”

“We all have things we hide,” I said gently. “Secrets we think protect the people around us.”

I held her gaze a moment longer than necessary. She knew I wasn’t just talking about Entinos.

“I’ve never lied to you,” she said, a little too quickly. “If you want the truth, you could just ask.”

“I know,” I replied. “But you are keeping things from us.” I didn’t accuse, I stated it. “You never told us why the Gold Company was hunting you. Or why you were in that cage. And when you did explain… you left things out.”

She looked away then. Just for a second.

“Maybe it’s like you said, handsome,” she murmured. “Maybe I’m keeping it secret to protect you.”

Her fingers twitched faintly at her side, just enough for me to notice the air around them shimmer, her mana tightening like a held breath.
“From what, Noor?” I asked quietly.

She swallowed. When she spoke again, her voice was lower, steadier, but something cold lived beneath it.
“Someone worse than ****.”

Nixia led us deeper into the forest, away from any path that could be called natural. The trees grew thicker here, their roots twisting over one another like veins beneath the soil. The air changed as we walked; heavier, quieter, as if the forest itself was holding its breath.

Then we stepped into the clearing.

Ancient stones rose from the earth in a wide circle, their surfaces scarred by time and weather beyond counting. At the centre stood a single pillar, taller than the rest, its surface carved from top to bottom in layered runes that pressed in on the eye if you stared too long. They weren’t decorative. They watched. One symbol in particular caught the moonlight, an elongated skull crowned with branching antlers. The faint glow it gave off wasn’t bright, but it was persistent, like a pulse buried under stone.

The moment I stepped closer, I felt it. A quiet pressure against my chest. Not hostile, but undeniable.

Entinos let out a soft, knowing chuckle. “Of course, you all came here.”

Nixia smirked without looking at him. “When you’re lost,” she said calmly, “there’s only one place you ever truly return to...”

“...Home.” Entinos finished, a rare smile tugging at his mouth.

I turned slowly, taking it all in. “What is this place?” I asked. “It feels… ancient.”

“Took the words right out of my mouth,” Iris said, arms on her hips, though her eyes never stopped moving.

Ikaro crouched near the pillar, studying the carvings with narrowed focus. “Weird,” he muttered. “I’ve seen something like this back in Egosea. Not exactly the same, but close.” His gaze lingered on the skull rune. “Especially this one.”

“Need help?” Iris asked, stepping closer.

He straightened slightly. “Any idea what it means?”

She examined the markings, fingers hovering just shy of the stone. “Honestly? This is more Noor’s field.” She paused. “Though… I recognize a few patterns. Artemis mentioned similar sigils once.”

As the siblings and Kayn studied the area, Aerys and Noor stood alone overlooking them work. “You’re not going to say anything?” Aerys asked casually, glancing toward Noor.

Noor arched a brow. “Excuse me?”

“You know,” Aerys continued, coughing theatrically before mimicking Noor’s tone, “‘This place reeks of mana’ or some mystical nonsense like that.”
Ikaro burst out laughing before Iris elbowed him hard enough to knock the breath from his lungs.

“Fuck you, bitch,” Noor shot back, not even bothering to look at her.

Aerys only chuckled, pleased. “You wish. I’m fairly certain I could unravel that Persian mind of yours across the cosmos. Besides, you wouldn’t last a second with me.”

That finally got Noor’s attention. She turned fully now, eyebrow raised, a slow smirk forming. “Are you sure about that? I think I’m more than capable of sending you overboard.”

“I dare you,” Aerys replied smoothly, stepping closer. “I’m not Kayn. I’m not easy to please.”

“Oh, trust me,” Noor said, matching her distance, voice silkier now. “Neither is he. I’m just that good.”

The air between them shifted; not quite hostile, not quite playful either.

Ikaro stared at them, utterly lost. “What the fuck?” He glanced at Iris. “Sis, I’m not—”

“Yes, brother,” Iris sighed, still focused on the runes. “I can’t believe it either.”

“I’m genuinely scared for Kayn,” Ikaro muttered. “You’re all going to leave him dry.”

“Yup,” Iris replied, smirking as she shot him a wink. “Sounds awfully fun for us.”

Entinos sat down on one of the fallen stones, inhaling slowly, as if grounding himself. “This place,” he said at last, looking at me, “is where we first arrived in this world.”

“I thought that was Egosea,” I said. Confused yet curious at this new shared lore of the satyr’s origins.

“For some of us, it was,” he replied. “But for the Firstborn… this was it. Gaia shaped us here, alongside the centaurs. Egosea came later, a home grown from this soil.”
“We can feel it,” Nixia added softly, her gaze lifted to the moonlight filtering through the stones. “The land remembers us. That’s why we came here after what Vod did.” Her jaw tightened. “It’s the only place that still feels safe.”

The moment lingered…Then the air shifted.

“And you humans,” a deep voice cut through the clearing, “are very far from home.”

I turned as a group of satyrs emerged from the tree line, their movements silent, practiced. Warriors. Horns dark, eyes sharp.

“To which I ask,” the voice continued coldly, “why are these Gipkuhs here?”