Seliane was the first to break the silence.

  "Leave Spain…?" she repeated. "That’s it? That’s your grand plan?"

  Noah shrugged, unconcerned, as if they were discussing a change of lodging rather than fleeing from a queen who wanted them executed.

  "It’s the most sensible option," he replied calmly. "Lumen tracking spells don’t work well over long distances. Especially not across borders."

  Momoru remained thoughtful for a few seconds.

  "Why would you do this?" he finally asked. "What do you gain from helping us?"

  "Can’t I help a poor girl in distress without wanting anything in return?" Noah sighed. "How suspicious. Is it because I’m a demon? Lumens and their wonderful indoctrination…"

  Momoru didn’t look convinced, but the situation was desperate. They couldn’t afford to discard options lightly.

  "So what’s the plan?" the kitsune asked.

  Noah smiled, satisfied.

  "Land exits will be watched. Roads, stations, any conventional transport." He began pacing between the shelves as if explaining something trivial. "I have a contact at the port. A small boat that leaves at dawn. No official lists. No inspections."

  Lyciah tightened her fingers around her blue ribbon. She didn’t know why, but an uneasy feeling spread through her chest.

  Seliane looked down at the floor. She relaxed her shoulders and moved her hands away from the hilt of her sword.

  "It might be our best option…" she admitted. "We wouldn’t be able to secure a boat on our own."

  "Well?" Noah crossed his arms, waiting for their answer with a crooked smile.

  The group exchanged glances. Against all odds, Lyciah was the most hesitant. Still, she took Seliane’s hand and nodded slowly.

  "I hate to say this," Seliane murmured, pouting, "but we’ll follow your plan. We’ll stay hidden here today."

  Noah’s smile widened.

  "We’ll head to the port at dawn."

  ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  While the group believed they had gained a few hours of advantage, in Elyndra the queen remained seated upon her throne.

  Sorian knelt before her, bowing his head.

  "My queen."

  Heliora did not respond. Sorian took a deep breath.

  "Allow me to search for her."

  "No," she said, without harshness, without emotion. "General Eryon will handle it."

  Sorian pressed his lips together but did not lift his head.

  "With all due respect… Eryon doesn’t know her. I do. I can bring her back without causing further unrest."

  "That is precisely why you will not go."

  Sorian looked up, surprised.

  "You are one of my most loyal generals," Heliora continued. "You have never questioned an order. Never failed. But the Dawnbringer is not a mission for you. It is a bond."

  Sorian swallowed.

  "If you were to find her, you would hesitate. And betrayal, even when born of love, is still betrayal."

  He knew well what that meant in Elyndra. He lowered his head in obedience and withdrew without another word.

  ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  The port was nearly empty. The first rays of sunlight crept over the horizon, faintly illuminating the vast sea. At a secluded end stood the small boat Noah had mentioned. Silent. Discreet.

  "That’s it," Noah whispered. "Let’s hurry. The lumens won’t take long to arrive. They likely already know we’re here."

  Lyciah stepped forward and stared at the boat. The pressure in her chest intensified. Momoru noticed.

  "Are you alright?" he asked gently. "You’ve seemed uneasy for a while now."

  "I’m just nervous," she forced a smile. "It’s not every day you flee from an almost omniscient queen."

  That was true. But it wasn’t the whole truth.

  Then she felt it. Not footsteps. A presence. Heavy. Unmistakable.

  "Dawnbringer."

  That voice. Lyciah spun around. There he was, leaning against a railing. Just like the other times, as if he had always been there. Blond hair. Tall. Expressionless. The same stillness.

  "You…" she whispered.

  Seliane instinctively stepped in front of her.

  "Who are you? How long have you been standing there?"

  The man did not take his eyes off Lyciah.

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  "Do not board that ship," he said. "Leaving this country is a mistake."

  Noah frowned, evaluating him for the first time.

  "And who the hell are you?" he asked with a tense smile, feigning calm. "You show up without a sound, smell like undeath, and start giving orders. What are you? A vampire?"

  He did not answer. Didn’t even look at him.

  "Leaving Spain is a mistake," he repeated. "Beyond it, something far worse than Heliora awaits you."

  "What…?"

  "Don’t listen," Noah interrupted, more serious now. "He says nothing specific. He’s just trying to scare you. He could be stalling until the lumens arrive."

  Lyciah hesitated. Seliane narrowed her eyes.

  "Wait… that statue face…" she murmured. "Is that… the crane man?"

  Lyciah turned red instantly. Momoru chuckled under his breath.

  "Sel! Don’t call him that!" Lyciah whispered frantically. "I told you he’s not a crane, or a crane man, or—! He’s just a weird, serious, strong man and—!"

  She stopped short, mortified. The man observed her.

  "…"

  Lyciah covered her face.

  "I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude. She gives nicknames to everyone and I try to stop her but—"

  "Focus," Noah cut in, with forced gentleness. "Time is running out."

  Lyciah took a deep breath.

  "There’s something I don’t understand," she said slowly. "You said the exits would be monitored. That the queen would be using many resources."

  "Exactly. That’s why the boat is our best option."

  "But I only presented myself as a fugitive lumen."

  Momoru frowned. He was beginning to understand what had been troubling Lyciah all along.

  "That wouldn’t justify such a deployment…"

  Lyciah looked at Noah.

  "You speak as if the queen were desperate to find me. A mere fugitive lumen wouldn’t provoke such measures."

  The silence grew heavy.

  "You’re overthinking it…" Noah replied.

  "I think you know more."

  Noah stepped closer to her.

  "If you stay here, you’ll die."

  "If I leave… maybe I will too."

  Lyciah looked at the blond man.

  "I don’t know who you are," she admitted. "Or why you’re warning me. But I don’t feel like you’re lying."

  "The choice is yours," he replied.

  Lyciah looked at Seliane and Momoru. The fear was still there, but she couldn’t ignore that intuition.

  "Let’s go back to the library." She decided. "We’ll think of another plan."

  Noah’s smile vanished.

  "This is absurd," he said harshly. "You’re going to trust a stranger over me?"

  Noah clenched his jaw. His gaze moved from Lyciah to Seliane, then to Momoru… and finally to the blond figure standing a few steps behind them.

  Then he lowered his eyes and said nothing for several seconds. He didn’t look angry or disappointed. If anything, it seemed like he was sorting through his thoughts. Calculating. And when he looked back at Lyciah, the tension in his expression was gone, replaced by a calm, composed serenity.

  "You’re right," Noah finally said. "I knew who you were from the start. The Dawnbringer."

  Seliane tensed.

  "And you thought hiding that was a good idea?"

  "I didn’t want to scare you," he replied. "If I had said it from the beginning, you wouldn’t have trusted me. After all, Heliora isn’t the only one seeking the Dawnbringer. Many demons want her as well… dead. And now that you are in the human realm, they won’t miss the chance."

  He looked at Lyciah, his voice softening.

  "I only wanted to help you. I’ve spent a long time hiding myself." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "As a young demon, lumens are a threat to me."

  Lyciah hesitated and took a step toward him, but the blond man intervened.

  "Don’t continue."

  He stepped forward, placing himself between Lyciah and Noah. She looked at him. He was intimidating, but for some reason, she felt no fear.

  "I’ve seen this too many times," he said. "Those who claim they want to help always end up deciding for others. Always ‘to protect’, always ‘for their own good’."

  He looked at Noah for the first time. Noah felt the tension, but did not retreat.

  "A demon with over four centuries of life does not flee from lumens," he added calmly. "He avoids them if he wishes. Or eliminates them."

  Noah's eyes widened. His gaze snapped to Caelan, disbelief tightening his expression. The scent was the same — not human, not living, but stagnant, like a corpse that refused to rest. A vampire. That was the only explanation... And yet, no vampire should have been able to tell his age. His certainty wavered.

  "So don’t lie about that. You’re no minor demon." the blond man continued. "You say you understand what it means to flee. But you don’t smell of fear. You smell of urgency."

  Noah fell silent. His expression hardened as the mask of calm and courtesy began to crack, giving way to a cold, tightly contained tension. The fa?ade shattered.

  "Who do you think you are?" Noah snapped. "A hero arriving just in time?"

  He paced nervously, muttering.

  "I suppose there’s no need to pretend anymore," he said coldly. "You will come with me, whether you want to or not."

  Lyciah stepped back, frightened. Noah smiled.

  "I will kill all of you except the Dawnbringer," he declared. "When the interruptions stop breathing, we’ll continue on to Greece."

  ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

  At that very moment, in Greece, someone was celebrating a victory that did not yet exist.

  "Choose."

  The man with ginger hair showed his clenched fists to the man lying on the floor, his clothes stained with dried blood. He was smiling. There was no trace of haste in him.

  "If you guess which hand holds the coin, I’ll let you live," he said kindly. "If you fail…" he paused deliberately, just long enough for fear to settle, "I think you already know what will happen."

  The man swallowed, trembling.

  "R-right…"

  He opened both hands. They were empty.

  "Oops," he laughed softly. "There was no coin."

  The man’s heart seemed to stop.

  "P-please…" he sobbed, scrambling backward.

  He followed him with unhurried steps, never losing his smile.

  "I don’t understand why you all get so scared when this part comes," he commented. "It’s the best part! The end of the act. A glorious ending, without heroes. Your ending, to be precise."

  A voice interrupted him.

  "Again?"

  He turned around. Nikandros was leaning against the doorframe, watching with resignation.

  "That’s the sixth this week," he added. "Relax, Ekchron."

  "I’m celebrating," Ekchron replied cheerfully. "In a few days, the Dawnbringer will be mine. I’ve waited a millennium for this moment."

  Nikandros sighed and looked at the man, who had managed to stand and was now running for the exit.

  "It’s like…" Ekchron frowned, thinking theatrically. "What did humans call that strange ritual?" He snapped his fingers. "Ah! Christmas. It’s like a gift."

  "Christmas is still months away."

  Ekchron was no longer listening.

  In the blink of an eye, he appeared in front of the man, blocking his path. The man collapsed in terror.

  "How rude," Ekchron said with feigned annoyance. "Don’t you know it’s impolite to ignore someone when they’re speaking to you?"

  "W-why…?" the man stammered.

  Ekchron tilted his head, as if the question were absurd.

  "You always ask the same thing," he murmured. "You look for meaning. A reason. But there is none. You’re not special. You’re nothing. There’s no difference between you and the previous one… nor between you and the next. You’re just meat."

  He knelt to meet his gaze.

  "And I am the Seventh. The Time."

  The man broke down in tears.

  "Shhh…" Ekchron stroked his cheek. "Don’t be afraid. I promise it doesn’t hurt as much as you imagine."