SWNOVELXO Chapter 40: The Man at the Gate
It started with birdsong.
Then silence.
Then a sound that did not belong—uneven footsteps, heavy breathing, and the dragging scrape of something metallic against stone.
Lynna heard it first and moved toward the gate with a practiced hand on her sword.
Auron followed, his expression tense. Zephyr lifted his head from beneath the plum tree and growled low.
Rei was already there.
The man at the gate was not masked. Not armored. Just tired.
Cloak torn. Face weathered. Blood dried around the edges of a jagged wound on his side. But it wasn't the injury that gave pause.
It was the look in his eyes.
Recognition.
Regret.
And something else.
Hope.
The man saw Rei.
And dropped to his knees.
Lynna took a step forward, sword half-drawn. "Do you know him?"
Rei didn't answer.
The man spoke, voice ragged. "It's really you."
Rei's expression didn't change.
"I wasn't sure if the stories were true," the man continued. "They said a silent force guards a hidden place. That the storms bow, and the spirits yield. I didn't believe it."
Still, Rei said nothing.
"But then I saw the plum tree," the man said, and a crack formed in his voice. "You planted it. Back then. Before everything burned."
Lynna blinked, looking at Rei. "You… planted that tree?"
Rei didn't nod.
Didn't confirm.
But his silence was heavier than any answer.
Ellyn arrived quietly behind them. Ferren peeked around a pillar, scribbling notes and whispering theories about "past-life debts" and "clandestine cult legacies."
The man remained on his knees.
"I didn't come to beg," he said. "Or to pull you back. I came because I don't know where else to go. They're all gone. The temple fell. The guardians turned. The others... they said it was your fault."
Rei finally spoke.
"They were right."
Lynna stiffened.
The man looked up. "You admit it?"
"I let it happen," Rei said softly. "I left. And because I left, it collapsed."
"But you didn't cause it."
"No," Rei said. "But I didn't stop it either."
The man dropped his gaze. "I don't know what I expected. Mercy? Forgiveness? A place to sleep?"
"You have all three," Rei said. "But not because you deserve them."
The man didn't argue.
He just bowed his head and whispered, "Thank you."
Zephyr padded forward and circled him once before lying down between them, as if drawing a line neither side could cross yet.
—
Later, the man slept beneath a canopy near the river. Auron stitched his side. Ellyn left balm and tea nearby. Kreg, despite not being asked, brought warm bread and said nothing.
Lynna stood beside Rei, watching from afar.
"You going to tell us who he is?"
"No."
"Ever?"
"Maybe."
She frowned. "He called you a temple guardian."
"I was."
"Is that what you were hiding from?"
"One of many things."
Silence stretched.
Then she muttered, "I don't like him."
"I know."
"He looks like he expects you to fix everything."
"He does."
"Will you?"
"No."
That surprised her.
Rei's gaze remained on the canopy, unreadable.
"I'll give him shelter," he said. "But I won't rebuild the ruins he came from. Some places are meant to stay buried."
Lynna nodded slowly.
"I'll keep an eye on him," she said.
"I know," Rei replied.
—
That night, the man woke and wandered toward the fire.
Rei sat alone beneath the stars, Fluff curled at his side.
The man hesitated, then sat across from him.
"I told them you vanished," he said. "That the world lost you. But it didn't."
"No," Rei agreed.
"They say you betrayed us."
"They're right."
The man flinched.
"But I didn't betray them for power. Or revenge. Or out of pride."
"Then why?"
Rei looked at the flames.
"Because I wanted to sleep without blood on my hands."
The man didn't respond.
Didn't nod.
But his eyes glistened.
"I think I understand now," he whispered. "Why you walked away."
Rei didn't answer.
He just fed the fire one more branch and let the silence settle again, soft as snow.