2438 Shattered Pride (Part 2)

'A lost city accumulates so much power that without a proper spell, the aftermath is worse than a natural disaster. Those like me, instead, can do no such thing.

'If broken beyond repair we explode as well, but the consequences of the fallout of our power cores are nothing compared to a lost city.' Windfell would think over and over as time passed.

Living legacies considered the lost cities as their perfect and invincible big brothers. Something they strived to achieve and that also offered them safe haven in times of need.

Even though cursed objects rarely shared the same creator, they called each other brother and sister exactly because they were aware that as immutable objects trapped in an ever-changing world, their only chance of survival lay in working together.

Or so they had thought until the Dark Star had fallen, quickly followed by Kogaluga and the Golden Griffon. Four years were akin to four seconds to cursed items. To them, it was as if Lith had slain their champions one after the other.

He had survived every encounter, never triggering the explosion that was supposed to ensure the mutual destruction of a lost city and its enemy with the same ease of a butcher outliving livestock.

Lith had given the people of Garlen hope and driven fear into the cores of the living legacies. Fear that Night had exploited to lure her "brethren" to her side and use them as a borrowed knife.

"That's idiotic!" Dawn blurted out. "The reason us Horseman are capable of learning and improving is Mother's Creation Magic. Even if you capture one of us, there's nothing you can do aside from angering her."

"Don't you dare lie to me!" Windfell's host pointed the scimitar at Dawn again, the Davross blade coursing with great power. "We saw you fighting Thrud in the battle for Belius. We know that you can now create a body of your own and not rely on your host anymore.

"It was the first thing we asked Night when she contacted us and she confirmed our suspicions. You Horsemen possess the ability to change your hosts and yourselves!"

Actually, Night had been a prisoner for most of the War of the Griffons and before that, she had been on the run from Baba Yaga. She suspected to possess those abilities due to the changes that her bond with Orpal had caused him, but the effects were negligible on him and non-existent on her.

Yet once the opportunity had presented itself and the cursed items had demanded an explanation for Dawn's feats, Night had gladly told them everything they wanted to hear to rope them to her cause and leash them to her will.

"Let me guess." The Bright Day licked her lips, trying to anticipate her sister's next move. "Night promised you that if you kill Verhen, she will teach you the secrets of the Horsemen. Am I right?"

"Yes." Windfell nodded. "But only an idiot would take her words at face value. That's why I'm here. To confirm her claims and the rumors about a traitor among our ranks."

"Are you talking about me?" Dawn raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"No. Or rather, not yet." He replied with a cold gaze. "I'm talking about the little sister you are traveling with. The one who calls herself Solus Verhen."

"That's ridiculous, she-"

"She's one of us!" Windfell cut Dawn short, his voice seething with anger for her now confirmed betrayal. "In his final moments, Hystar warned us about Verhen being bonded to a traitorous living legacy and I made sure of it with my eyes.

"Sure, somehow they have a different energy signature, but I saw Solus' energy dwindle over time and recover only after going back to her master. On top of that, Night confirmed to us that back at the Heavenly Tavern restaurant, they had the same energy signature!"

Until hearing from her fellow living legacies, Night had dismissed the phenomenon as one of Lith's many oddities. Only after hearing Hystar's last words did everything make sense.

Why the paranoid Lith had welcomed a "stranger" in his house, the secret behind his strength, and the too many gaps in Dawn's story whenever Night asked her about her defeat by Lith's hands.

"Hystar claimed that Solus is the fourth Horseman and Night confirmed it. The fact that you are trying to defend her is the final proof I needed. Solus Verhen is a traitor to our species and the first step we need to take in order to become like you Horsemen." Windfell said.

"Heed my warning, Dawn, because there won't be a second." The cursed scimitar stepped back through a Spirit Steps to be close to the Bright Day and yet dozens of kilometers away. "Surrender the traitor to us or join her fate, we don't care which.

"I'd rather not make an enemy of Baba Yaga, but two test subjects are better than one."

The Spirit Steps closed, leaving Dawn staring at the remnants of the dimensional corridor in cold fury.

'Let me guess. You can't use Domination nor are you a dimensional mage.' The Horseman asked.

'I have no idea what Domination is and the only dimensional mage I know is Friya.' Nyka inwardly shook her head. 'Do you know how rare they are? There is none in Lightkeep and even the Firstborns I met didn't qualify.

'That said, why are we still here? We must go back to the hotel and warn the others!'

'Way ahead of you yet I don't think it will be necessary.' While they were talking through their mind link, Dawn had already taken her communication amulet and warned Solus and Tista of the impending threat.

She was discussing the issue with all of her companions at once while also expressing Nyka's worries.

"As I just said to my host, there's no need to rush to the Warp Gate. Quite the contrary, I believe it might be a trap." Dawn said.

"A trap? How?" Tista asked.

"Think about it. If the cursed objects meant to ambush us in Nestamaath, they would have done it without giving us a friendly warning." The Horseman replied. "Windfell came to me to confirm his suspicions and lay the foundations for his attack.

"He couldn't trust the words of a dying lost city. Hystar might have just been trying to drag the other living legacies into his mess to avenge his death. Also, Windfell couldn't trust Night either.

"She's unreliable and her losing streak undermines the little credibility she has left.

"The living legacies must have sent Windfell to follow and study us so that my reaction to his words would give them the answers they were looking for. Their goal was to scare me and put me on the defensive.

"They succeeded, but in doing so they have also given me clues about their plan. Windfell somehow knew that you went back to Lith, hence someone must have told him the destination of the Warp Gates we took.

"He and his accomplices must have someone inside the dimensional network who can look at the logs and maybe even change our destination. If we run to the nearest Gate and escape from Nestamaath, we'd be the architects of our own undoing."