The voices came from all directions. The figures did not attack, but they blocked the path ahead, swaying like reeds in an unseen current.
Elias’s breath caught. These weren’t like the warriors from before. These were something else. Something unfinished.
Alina’s dagger flashed in her hand. “What are they?”
Joran raised his sword. “I don’t care. If they move, I’m cutting them down.”
Elias stepped forward. “Wait.”
The figures shifted at his voice, their hollow eyes turning toward him.
The harp vibrated against his back, its strings humming without being touched.
Elias took a deep breath. Then he asked, “Who are you?”
For a moment, there was only silence.
Then, in a voice like wind through dry leaves, they spoke. ”We are the forgotten.”
The shadows pulsed, shifting closer.
Elias felt the weight of their presence, the sheer emptiness of what they were. They had no bodies, no form, only memories bound in the ash.