Raka ran with all his strength, following Elandor and the masked woman through a narrow corridor filled with smoke. Behind them, the sound of Rovan's troops drew closer, mingling with soldiers' shouts and the clanging of colliding swords. The palace, which had still looked magnificent just hours ago, had now become almost unrecognizable. Curtains burned, shards of glass littered the floor, and blood had begun to stain the stones between the corridor walls. Raka didn't even have time to wonder how all this could have happened so quickly. All he knew was that people who wanted him dead were chasing him, while the only person who might be able to explain the situation was running ahead of him. Strangely, King Ashwin's old body, which had felt heavy until now, began moving according to instincts Raka didn't recognize. His feet chose the direction before his mind had time to decide. Every so often, a turn felt familiar even though he'd never been there before. It was as if this body still remembered the palace, even though the soul controlling it was no longer its original owner's.
"Turn left!" Elandor shouted.
Raka followed.
They entered a wider corridor. But after only a few steps, the masked woman suddenly raised a hand.
"Stop."
Raka stopped at once.
So did Elandor.
Three royal guards stood in front of them.
Their swords were still sheathed.
They stood straight, as if waiting for the king's arrival.
"Your Majesty," one of them said with a bow. "We've been ordered to escort you to the safe room."
Raka eyed them suspiciously.
"Who gave the order?"
"The Elder Council."
Elandor immediately stepped forward.
"There is no such order."
The three guards exchanged glances.
One of them answered, "Adviser Elandor, we're only carrying out orders."
The masked woman watched them from behind her silver mask. "Don't come any closer."
One of the guards turned toward her.
"Who are you?"
"That doesn't matter."
"Put down your weapon."
The woman didn't move.
Raka noticed something strange. The three guards wore the royal insignia, but their sword belts had small black ribbons attached near the bottom. Raka didn't know what they meant, but the moment he saw them, a foreign memory surfaced out of nowhere.
A young man—Ashwin—stood in a training room.
A captain in front of him was explaining the signs used by the royal forces.
A black ribbon meant an inner guard.
Raka flinched.
"Elandor."
"What?"
"They're not ordinary guards."
Elandor stared at the three men.
Raka pointed at their belts.
"The black ribbons."
Elandor's expression changed.
"Fall back."
The three guards immediately drew their swords.
The first attack came so quickly.
The masked woman moved first, deflecting the sword aimed at Raka. Elandor pulled Raka aside, then slashed at one of the guards. The clash of metal rang through the narrow corridor. Raka backed away, trying not to get in their way.
One of the guards attacked again.
The masked woman ducked, spun, and slashed the back of his knee. The guard fell.
Elandor fought the second guard.
The third guard ran past them instead.
Toward a massive door at the end of the corridor.
"He'll open the inner gate!" Elandor shouted.
Raka turned.
The inner gate?
Before he could ask, the guard had reached the door.
He inserted a key into the mechanism.
Click.
The door opened.
The sound from the other side made Raka freeze.
Dozens of footsteps.
Troops.
The guard turned and smiled.
"Too late."
The door swung fully open.
Troops bearing the black eagle insignia burst inside.
"Rovan!"
Elandor cursed.
Raka backed away.
Dozens of soldiers filled the corridor.
They moved like an army that had known the palace layout from the very beginning. There was no confusion. No hesitation. They knew where to go.
They weren't attacking at random.
They were heading straight for the throne room.
"How do they know the way?" Raka asked.
Elandor looked at the guard who had opened the gate.
"Because someone from inside gave them the palace plans."
Raka stared at the man.
"What's his name?"
"Captain Doren."
The name sounded unfamiliar.
But Elandor recognized it.
"Captain Doren," he whispered bitterly. "I never expected this."
Doren smiled.
"Loyalty is an easy word to say while the kingdom is still standing."
Elandor raised his sword.
"You've betrayed the kingdom."
"No."
Doren looked at Raka.
"I've betrayed a king who no longer exists."
Raka felt something stab through his chest.
"King Ashwin is still alive."
Doren laughed.
"No."
He pointed at Raka.
"The man standing there isn't Ashwin."
The corridor suddenly fell silent.
Raka felt as if the blood had stopped flowing through his veins.
Doren knew.
Not merely suspected.
He knew.
"How do you know?" Raka asked.
Doren looked at him coldly.
"The Tower Keepers told me everything."
Elandor attacked at once.
But Rovan's troops moved faster.
The masked woman cut down two soldiers who tried to approach Raka, while Elandor struggled to open a path toward another corridor.
"Run!" he shouted.
They ran.
Raka followed, breathing hard.
Behind them, Doren's voice rang out.
"After them!"
The troops gave chase.
Raka ran through corridors he didn't recognize. And yet, strangely, some parts felt like things he'd seen before. A staircase on the right. A statue of a king at the end of the corridor. A large window overlooking the garden.
This body remembered everything.
Raka suddenly realized he might be able to use those memories.
"Elandor!"
"What?"
"I know another way."
Elandor glanced back.
"You do?"
"I don't know how, but this body remembers it."
The masked woman understood at once.
"Lead us."
Raka turned right.
They entered a narrower corridor.
Then they descended a spiral staircase.
Behind them, the sound of the troops grew more distant.
Raka began to quicken his pace.
But the deeper they went, the stranger the memories that surfaced became.
A young Ashwin stood in the same place.
He was speaking with a man.
If I ever change... don't trust me.
Raka stopped abruptly.
"What happened?" Lira asked—but Raka only then realized that Lira wasn't with them after all.
He shook his head.
"Nothing."
They continued on.
But the words from the memory continued to haunt him.
If I ever change... don't trust me.
Had Ashwin known something like this would happen?
Had he ever known about the Witnesses?
Or had the body Raka was using been prepared for someone like him?
At last, they reached a long corridor ending in a stone door.
Elandor opened it.
"Quickly."
They went inside.
But before Elandor could close the door, an arrow shot out from behind them.
The masked woman shoved Raka aside.
The arrow lodged in the wall.
They managed to shut the door.
For a few moments, the only sound was their breathing.
Raka leaned against the wall.
"Elandor."
"Yes?"
"Doren knows."
"I know."
"The Tower Keepers know."
Elandor fell silent.
"Why?"
"Because you're a Witness."
"Why are they afraid of me?"
Elandor looked at him.
"Because you're no ordinary Witness."
Raka waited.
At last, Elandor said,
"You're the Witness they've been searching for all these years."
Raka fell silent.
"Why me?"
"I don't know yet."
"You have to know something."
Elandor shook his head.
"I know part of it."
"Which part?"
Elandor was about to answer when an explosion sounded from the other side of the door.
BOOM!
The walls trembled.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
The masked woman immediately looked toward the corridor ahead.
"We have to go."
"Where?" Raka asked.
"The underground passage."
They started running again.
But after only a few yards, a second explosion shook the place.
The wall ahead of them cracked.
Raka looked at Elandor.
"No."
A third explosion erupted.
Huge chunks of stone collapsed from the ceiling.
"Run!" Elandor shouted.
Raka tried to run.
But something slammed into the floor behind him.
He fell.
Dust filled his vision.
"Elandor!"
There was no answer.
"Lira!"
Nothing.
"Where are you?"
Raka tried to get up.
But fallen rocks had split the corridor in two.
He was alone.
The sounds of battle echoed faintly from beyond the stones.
Raka wiped the dust from his face.
He stared down the dark corridor ahead.
Ashwin's body felt heavier and heavier.
And for the first time since arriving in this world, he had no one to ask.
No Elandor.
No masked woman.
No Lira.
Only himself.
Then footsteps sounded from the end of the corridor.
One.
Two.
Three.
The steps were heavy.
Measured.
Drawing closer.
Raka slowly backed away.
A dark figure emerged from behind the bend.
Raka recognized his face.
Captain Doren.
The man stopped a few yards away.
Then he smiled.
"Your Majesty."
Raka didn't answer.
Doren drew his sword.
"Or should I call you... Passenger?"
Raka felt his entire body freeze.
He had finally gotten the answer to one question.
But that answer had opened the door to a far greater terror.
Doren knew who he was.
And someone behind the Tower Keepers had made sure Doren knew everything.