EPISODE 4 — THE MARK 

Before dawn, Élyas leaves the outpost. Off-path, deeper into the forest. A single line carved into a tree — the lowest rank of a faction he does not yet have a name for. He approaches anyway. The trap closes. A man comes at him screaming a sound no human throat should be able to make. Élyas does not flinch. When the body falls, he is calm in a way that suggests this is not the first. On the man’s chest, a list of seven names. Four are crossed out. His is circled. The last one open. He turns toward the source — and walks into it.