Volume 2 – Inheritance of Fire
Chapter 8 – The Fifth Table
Part 2 - The remaining Companions
Ezra – Hand of the Thousand Eyes
Ezra didn't speak for a long time.
He unfolded a parchment of gray silk, pressed it flat, and placed a single knife on top of it.
Then he finally answered.
"I am Kael Morvant. The Hand of the Thousand Eyes."
Naomi inhaled softly. She had heard the name.
Ezra continued, his voice low.
"I command a network of hidden listening posts, informant cells, and illusion operatives that span the known continent. Most don't know they work for me. Most never will. I can collapse an entire regime through rumor and forged prophecy. I've done it twice."
He looked to me.
"I remember every detail. The tunnels. The code phrases. The poison ratios. The scent of the parchment ink."
"And the man before you?" I asked.
Ezra smiled without warmth.
"He was a liar who believed truth was just a better-told lie."
"And his plans?"
"To wipe the ruling bloodlines off the continent and rebuild a meritocracy of shadows. One where nothing existed except what he permitted."
Naomi didn't speak, but her eyes glowed faintly.
Ezra nodded to her.
"Yes. Even the gods."
"And powers?" I asked.
He opened his palm.
From nothing — pure shadow.
It twisted into a blade, then collapsed like breath in winter.
"I don't need fire or light," he said. "I move where neither exist."
Naomi – Oracle of the Hollowlight
Naomi rose without sound. Her veil fell behind her, and her hair shimmered in the firelight.
"I walk with the Order of Hollowlight — a traveling sect of spiritual refugees, prophetic healers, and ash-walkers."
She placed a small crystal orb on the table. Inside it, soft light pulsed to the rhythm of her heartbeat.
"I speak with a voice not my own. I don't command armies or own land. But I've stopped wars with a whisper. My words are considered sacred in four kingdoms which in work are mine. Three of them hostile to each other."
She raised her hands.
"I wield no weapon."
But the room grew warmer.
"Magic answers me. I don't summon it. I host it. The spirits of this realm speak in dreams. In memories. Sometimes in fire."
"And the woman before you?" I asked.
Naomi closed her eyes.
"She was a servant of peace. But she had a secret."
A pause.
"She believed the gods were dead. And she was trying to replace them."
They all looked to me.
The last to speak.
I placed the staff on the table and let its glow illuminate the final path.
"My name is Caelan Arion. High Magus of Hollowreach. Gatekeeper of the Far North. I believe Ezra and Darius have already shared with you two what i have been doing while waiting for everyones arrival."
I looked at each of them.
"And the only one in this realm who can move between worlds. I can also project my spirit into those who dont have the power to stop me, or into those that allow me, such as you did. I dont believe i can control them, but only see, hear, and feel what they are experiencing. I can also offer thoughts to them."
And Ezra said, "Or speak into their mind with your voice as you did when you called me."
"Yes.", I responded.