The Arrival of a Group of Survivors
Perspective: Henrique
It was nearly noon when Henrique heard the first sounds: hurried footsteps, the creaking of a makeshift cart, ragged breathing.
He stood atop the supermarket, watching with suspicion.
— "We've got visitors," he muttered.
Beside him, invisible to all, Kiala floated, her golden eyes narrowed as she observed the newcomers.
— "Nine people. Three adults, four youths, two elders. One of them… carries the scent of imperial blood," she said, frowning. "Someone who once served the Crimson Empress."
Henrique clenched his fists.
— "So she's starting to play from the inside."
At the shelter entrance
Silas descended to the gates, using his practiced pacifier voice:
— "We're a shelter, not a garrison. If you come in peace, you may enter. But if you bring trouble…"
— "We bring gratitude, not trouble," answered a strong Black woman in her thirties, with shaved hair and sharp eyes. "I'm Nádia. We came from Cacuaco, but were attacked by rain beasts. We lost half our group. Only we remain."
Silas examined the rest. An elderly woman in a white scarf, a teenage boy with a leather strap on his injured arm, and a child riding the shoulders of a tall, thin blond man — who said nothing at all.
— "That last one…" Silas whispered, sensing something off.
— "His name is Samuel," Nádia said, as if reading his mind. "He hasn't spoken in days. Just listens."
— "But… he's useful."
From above, Kiala looked down gravely:
— "Samuel bears crimson seal markings in his bones. He was trained in the empress's tower."
Henrique descended the stairs.
— "Let them in. But I want to see the eyes of each one."
Inside the supermarket, later
The new group received food, blankets, and water. Nádia thanked them several times, but Samuel never opened his mouth. He only stared… at Miro.
He watched the boy with a mix of curiosity and suppressed terror.
Henrique noticed.
He approached the blond man and asked:
— "Do you know what he is?"
Samuel looked at Henrique for a moment… and nodded.
Silently, he wrote with a dust-covered finger on the floor:
"Anchor."
Henrique paled.
— "You're from the tower, aren't you?"
Samuel only closed his eyes.
Henrique stepped back. Kiala, now closer, whispered:
— "If he recognizes Miro… and the empress finds out… she'll come herself."
Perspective: Sónia
Sónia was feeding Miro, who still slept with his eyes shut. His body didn't feel feverish, but the air around him was dense — as if something invisible protected him.
— "Wake up, little brother… please…"
Then she felt his hand squeeze hers.
— "Dad…" Miro murmured, his voice soft and childlike.
— "Miro?!" Sónia shouted.
Henrique rushed over, pushing people aside.
Miro opened his eyes.
They glowed like black stars — no pupils. Just two dark, serene orbs.
He looked directly at his father.
Then at Samuel.
And whispered:
— "The seal on her won't hold her."
— "She remembers. And she hates me."
Then… his eyes closed again.
Henrique froze.
— "What… is he talking about?" Sónia whispered.
But Henrique understood.
Miro wasn't speaking about the current empress.
He was speaking of the soul behind her.
Of who Lívia was — and what she did — before reincarnating.
Perspective: Samuel
In the still of the night, Samuel sat alone beside the storage room door, a dirty notebook in his hands.
He wrote frantically — arcane symbols.
Lines. Shapes. Words in extinct tongues.
— "You remember him… don't you?" whispered a voice from the darkness.
It was Kiala. Invisible — but for an instant… Samuel saw her.
Only for a second.
And fell backward in shock, as if seeing a god.
— "You see more than you should," said Kiala. "And that might get you killed."
But Samuel smiled.
And wrote in charcoal on the wall:
"The Godslayer has a woman's form.
He is not alone."
Perspective: Henrique
At dawn, Henrique climbed to the top of the building and watched the city.
Several crystals were falling in the distance, opening portals to dungeons that swallowed entire buildings.
Kiala floated beside him like a forgotten angel.
— "They're gathering. Survivors, hunters, creatures. And you still have no army."
Henrique clenched his fists.
— "I don't want an army."
— "Then you'll die without one."
— "I want… a strong family. I want my children to live. I want… to stop killing just to protect what's left."
Kiala looked to the sky.
— "Then you'll have to go deeper, Henrique. You'll have to embrace the chaos everyone accuses you of carrying."
— "And if I can't bear it?"
— "Then the chaos will bear it for you."
She touched his chest — where the golden crystal pulsed intensely.
— "But until then… battle awaits."
On the horizon… red smoke began to rise.
The Crimson Legion is on its way.