Chapter 2 The Lion and the Chain

The palace drums beat through the night - a slow, deep rhythm that echoed across Ereko. They signaled war, or death, or both. But down in the undercity, where the sky was a myth and shadows wore blades, those drums meant something else: distraction.

Barumo moved with purpose. He hadn't touched a sword in years, but his steps still remembered. Beneath his tattered cloak was a curved blade - old, scarred, but sharp. Like him.

Zaru followed, his feet bare, eyes wide. They walked through a tunnel hidden behind the ruins of a collapsed shrine - once a place of prayer, now a den for cutthroats and rats.

"Where are we going?" Zaru whispered.

"To the Chain District," Barumo replied.

Zaru flinched. The Chain was where children were sold, where nobles came to forget their sins, where the screams of the caged became lullabies for the wicked. Even in Ereko, the Chain was feared.

"Why there?"

Barumo didn't answer. He stopped before a rusted iron gate. Two guards stepped from the shadows - both scarred, both armed. One had no nose. The other wore a lion's tooth on a string.

"Barumo," said No-Nose, grinning. "Thought you were dead."

"Not yet."

"You bring a gift?" Lion-Tooth asked, eyeing Zaru.

"He's mine."

"You sure? The masters pay well for boys like him."

Barumo's eyes went cold. "Try to touch him."

Lion-Tooth stepped back.

The gate creaked open.

Inside, the air was thick with smoke, sweat, and secrets. Chains rattled. Coins clinked. Blood marked the stone floors.

They passed cages. Children. Men. Women. All bound. All broken.

Zaru gripped Barumo's hand. "Why are we here?"

Barumo knelt. His voice was low. "To show you what you must never become."

Then he pointed. A boy inside one of the cages looked up - same age as Zaru, same skin, same eyes.

"That," Barumo said, "is your brother."