The first thing I notice is the smell of fresh straw. Raw, fresh straw that holds a nostalgic place in my memory. Such an arbitrary detail, I think. Then I remember:

This is wrong.

My eyes fly open to the sight of a barn's interiors. Hazy moonlight (or is it daylight?) creeps through the cracks in the overhead roof, illuminating a row of empty stalls and wooden posts. Unused water barrels are shoved into a corner along with rusty farming tools. There are some crates, and a few rolls of hay, too. That explains the fresh smell. A faint thought nags me at the back of my mind. Where have I seen this before? 

I then notice several figures sitting on piles of lumber on either side of me. I jerk slightly as I notice the familiar silhouettes. 

Breathe in. Out. In. Out. Do not let it escape, I urge myself.

The anger and hatred have long faded away. In their place is sorrow, the only emotion I allow myself to feel whenever my mind flashes back to that fateful day. But have those demons truly disappeared? I need to figure this out. Not now. There is a time and place for that, and this is not one of them.

Surprisingly, they did not restrain me after I must have lost consciousness. I stand, careful not to make any sudden movements. Eyeing the figures, I quickly assess any weapons they have on them. I also spot a single exit in the far left corner. 

"...Where are they?" I ask with a trembling voice. The Hunters remain motionless. I scan the gloom for a pawprint or a tuft of fur. 

"Here."

He steps in from the shadows, holding two crates. From inside, Harun and Hura sit quietly. He gently lowers them onto the ground. "How disappointing. I love my share of animals too, but to think I'm worth less than two desert mutts?" 

I step forward. The first thing I notice is his hair. The contrast of his black streaks to my silver hair illustrates the decade that lies between us. Not only that, but he is taller. Leaner. A red phantom cloak swirls about him, in place of the tattered rag he used to wear as a child. Emblazoned it is the insignia of a skeletal snake. His black-clad clothing gives the impression of a panther as he walks back and forth. And his face...I take in the sharp angles, the crooked smile, and the eyes that have never lost their spark. 

"Sohel," I croak. The word feels foreign on my tongue, a taste that I have known all my life yet is unfamiliar. It is him, I think. Only...it is not. The coldness and the skeletal snake bear no semblance of the brother I once knew. "You...you have changed."

"Mm." He looks at me up and down. You haven't. "Why are you here?"

He sounds genuinely curious—confirming my fears. I take a deep breath, unable to take my eyes off that accursed crimson cloak. "I know-"

He puts up a hand. "That what, you regret all you did and more? That you running away forty years ago was the reason I became a Hunter, despite claiming to care for me? I know that too. I also know that unlike you, we-" he gestures to himself and the other Hunters, "-do not choose to run away. We stand our ground and take action, instead of ignoring the solution in front of us."

I cannot believe my ears. "Taking action? The Hunters were, and still are misguided. Stealing the Eye was not the proper solution to a drought," I say. "Look where it led the Kingdoms of Abandryaph." 

"Abandryaph was dying," he hisses. "Plants withering, people starving, and the scouts sent to seek advice from that snake never returned. But what did you and Mother and Father do while our crops were withering outside our windows? Nothing." 

"I could not have let you join them!" I say, well aware of the Hunters in the barn, as well as the Hunter standing before me. "They were what tore Abandryaph apart from the inside! To this day, they cause people to choose sides and fight. People who never asked for this." My mind flashes back to the Maquan tribe and the Cobalt Pirates.

"It was better than letting the gods decide. Why wait for the end if you can take your fate into your own hands?"

"Destroying an entire continent's kingdoms was not changing fate! The Eye's powers cannot simply grant a wish. This misunderstanding costed more lives than it was worth."

Sohel throws his hands up. "You think the Hunters wanted this?"

"What did you know?" I shoot back. "You were seven, too young to understand." 

Indeed, what did any of us know? The most I could recall is Father saying the guardians of the Eye and the Hunters have had been at odds for decades. 

"I was young, but not too young to abandon," he says, nodding his head. I blink hard. "First our parents ran away to have less stomachs to fill. Then you. You were the one who cared, yet you left." 

His voice grows rough. "After all these years, you want me to forgive you? Like how you came to foolishly forgive Mother and Father? They left us! Why bother to think about them?"

The unspoken words ring in the air. The only other day I returned here to visit our parents was the day that...that I left my pupils...

The words tumble out of me. "You were a part of the attack?" Unfathomable. I heard he had joined the Hunters after the Fall of Abandryaph, but there is no way my brother was involved. Not my brother.

"You left your pupils," he says in abhor. "You left those kids to be slaughtered while you came here and apologized to them." 

"They were our parents!" I say. "I felt guilty for trying to forget them, and..." I did not know that whatever wrong I tried to right brought more ruin. "Now everyone except you is gone." My vision blurs, and I take a moment to blink away my tears.

My tears only kindle his flame. "How dare you! How dare you come back and show your face. You left me. You left your pupils. And now you are asking for-" he stops abruptly. Sohel strides closer, the old floorboards groaning under his weight. "How...How did you know I was here?" 

The change in subject catches me off-guard. "I...I guessed. I only knew that in recent years, the Hunters have spread further out. And I knew you have joined them." I did not mention that on that fateful day, I also searched for my brother. "So...I came to the eastern district to see if you were here."

Suddenly, the setting makes sense. The hay, the farming tools, the barn itself—no wonder it struck a chord of familiarity. 

"This was where we lived!" I gasp.

He smiles half-heartily despite the circumstances. "I come back here to clean it up now and then. It made to be a suitable hideout after our numbers shrunk."

In face of the past, he still yearns for his home. Unlike myself, whom have tried to leave my past as far away as possible.

We lapse into silence. I have planned to come here to make peace with him, but with the vast chasm that stands between us, I am not sure if I can. Not to mention that I have the Eye, another thing that continues to keep us apart. Should I reveal it now? I am outnumbered, but I have come prepared. Despite my sixty years of age, my skills and weapons—for some reason they did not disarm me—will hopefully be enough to take them down if necessary. I stare at the skeletal snake insignia. But certainly, my brother will be furious. Especially considering my hypocritical arguments. And what about Harun and Hura? I cannot risk bringing danger to them.

Sohel takes a shaky breath and regains his composure. "Join us," he says huskily. "Join us, and you will never be lost again."

I look up in a daze. "Join...the Hunters?" I shake my head. "I cannot."

"Nonsense," says a feminine voice. One of the other Hunters have spoken. "Anyone is welcome here. We're all looking for the same thing."

"And what is that?" I ask cautiously.

"Satisfaction," another answers. "A sense of fulfillment. Work with us, and we will guide you to your purpose in life."

Everything screams wrong. I bite my lip and eye them, ready to react in a moment's notice.

"The gods have long withheld the power of knowledge from mankind," my brother says, walking back and forth with his swirling crimson cloak. "Instead, they drop it into the care of a monster of lies. A creature that shows no mercy to whomever stumbles upon her Nest. Her home is proof of the innocent lives she has taken." He looks around. The room is quiet in rapt attention. "We, however, do not stand by while this is happening." 

I wince at every pointed remark concerning Saffiyah as my wound tingles. Abandryaph had always encouraged humility and peace with The Keeper. 

"With the Eye, we will be able to anything," he declares. There is a strain to his words that make them incredibly hard to listen to. "With knowledge, we will be able to make our own choices. With wisdom, we can help better the lives of the others. With power, we will have our own freedom, our own abilities, to do anything without relying on the so-called gods or immortals that have never answered our prayers. We will make the sacrifices of our partners worth it, and then, finally, the world will see that we Hunters are the real heroes."

"I want to help mankind. That is the purpose of my creation."

"So join us, brother," Sohel says. I do not realize he is standing in front of me until I look up. He stretches out his hand. "If a home is what you are looking for, here we are. We can make a new beginning for ourselves." He searches my face. 

"Please?" he murmurs.

I lock eyes with my brother. We both lost so much. To be complete again...

"I...I must refuse."

I reach for him, but he backs away. The air becomes cold once more. "Why?"

"I...I cannot. I understand where you are coming from, but I cannot agree with your ways. Stealing the Eye will not change anything. The stone is not your solution. Rather, you would have to talk with Saffiyah herself."

"How would you know?" a Hunter growls. "Have you seen her?"

I blink at the oddness of his tone—it sounds like he has never been to the Ivory Nest, despite Sohel making it seem as though they did. Yet another thing that does not add up. Nevertheless, I take a deep breath and square my shoulders, aware of the risk I am taking. "Indeed, I met her. And I also stole her Eye."

Silence. Even the remnants of wind outside have ceased to make a sound. 

"The Eye has given me the courage to come here," I say. "Saffiyah warned me that the Eye would not give me everything I want. She was right. I still do not know what my purpose is, now that my pupils are gone. I do not know how I can correct my mistakes. I do not even know how to keep my pupils' memory alive. But I can start by making peace with my brother." A violet light casts the barn in its warm luminescence. I reach in the folds of my robes for the Eye. "Let me talk to The Keeper. Your goal can be achieved without violence." I pull out the Eye, and-

I stare at the plain rock in my hand. Where is it? I search for the source of the violet glow.

"Fool," my brother snarls. He holds the pulsing Eye in his hands. How did I not plan this ahead? Of course they were going to search me after they knocked me unconscious. But why do I still have my weapons?

"You came to feed us lies?" he hisses. 

"Brother, no-"

"This," Sohel says, holding up the Eye for the others to see, "is proof that he is delusional. Look at how he condemns our cause while he has done the same things." He grips the Eye in his fist. 

"Sohel, please-" I step forward.

My brother juts his chin at me.

The Hunters pounce.