The silence after the fall of one Lament felt strange.
No sound.
No wind.
As if the world itself stopped for a moment to process something that shouldn't have happened.
Elias still stood in his place.
His hands slowly lowered.
The book in his hands closed.
He didn't feel victory.
Only… awareness.
That they had just violated something.
Rowan was the first to speak.
"…so they can die."
He looked at the remaining three Laments in the square.
"But I guess they also just learned that."
And indeed—
the three Laments did not immediately attack.
They stood still.
Their heads without eyes slowly turned toward where the previous creature had been destroyed.
As if they were… remembering.
Mara raised her hammer again.
But she did not advance.
"Why are they stopping?"
Luca answered softly.
"They're listening."
Rowan turned.
"Listening to what?"
Luca didn't answer immediately.
But his face changed.
"The one who is gone."
That sentence felt cold.
Colder than snow.
Elias looked at the Laments.
He began to see something different now.
Their movements changed.
No longer stiff.
No longer like shadows imitating humans.
Now…
they began to move like something that understood.
One of them stepped forward.
But not toward Mara.
Not toward the carpenter.
But toward Elias.
Rowan immediately moved.
He stood in front of Elias.
"No."
"This time you won't touch anyone."
The Lament stopped.
Its head tilted.
As if observing Rowan.
Then—
it moved.
But not to attack.
It vanished.
Not fled.
But truly disappeared from sight.
Rowan froze.
"…did you see that?"
Mara gripped her hammer tighter.
"It changed."
Elias immediately understood.
They learned from their companion's death.
They knew—
their bodies didn't matter.
What mattered was the core.
And now—
they wouldn't let humans approach it again.
Suddenly—
Rowan was thrown backward.
As if something hit him from the side.
He fell hard into the snow.
"—gh!"
Mara turned quickly.
"Rowan!"
But there was nothing there.
Only fog moving slowly.
Luca whispered.
"He's not there anymore…"
"…he's everywhere."
That sentence was not a metaphor.
Elias could feel it.
The Lament's presence spread in the air.
No longer bound to one form.
The second one moved.
But this time—
it didn't approach.
It raised its arm.
Fog around the square suddenly thickened.
And something emerged from within.
Not a Lament.
But human shadows.
People.
With empty faces.
With hollow eyes.
Rowan rose slowly.
"I hate this."
Elias looked at those shadows.
He recognized some faces.
Residents of Greyhaven.
Those who were lost.
Those who surrendered.
Mara whispered softly.
"They're using them now…"
The third Lament stood still.
But the aura around it changed.
Heavier.
Deeper.
As if something older was beginning to awaken within it.
Elias finally understood.
They were not merely monsters.
They were a process.
Despair that evolved.
Learned.
Adapted.
And now—
they began to use the world itself as a weapon.
Rowan stood beside Elias.
His sword was still in his hand.
But for the first time—
he didn't look certain.
"Alright."
"Now we're really in trouble."
Mara looked at the fire in the forge.
The fire still burned.
But smaller.
Weaker.
She spoke softly.
"We can't fight them like before."
Elias nodded.
"They won't let us repeat it."
Luca pulled Elias's arm.
"We have to go."
Rowan looked at him.
"Go where?"
Luca looked far toward the city.
"To a brighter place."
Elias fell silent.
A brighter place.
If Greyhaven still had hope—
then there must be a center.
A source.
And perhaps—
that place held something greater than mere individual power.
He spoke softly.
"We retreat."
Rowan immediately agreed.
"Yes. This time without debate."
Mara looked at the three Laments once more.
Then she lowered her hammer.
The fire in the metal died completely.
"Alright."
"But this isn't over."
Elias answered calmly.
"No."
"This is just beginning."
They began to retreat slowly from the square.
The human shadows called by the Lament did not pursue.
But they stood.
Watching.
Like witnesses.
And in the middle of the fog—
the three Laments did not move.
But now—
they no longer looked like creatures hunting.
They looked like something planning.