The faint hum of energy lingered in Kael's ears, growing sharper with each passing moment. It was the sound of death approaching—a constant reminder that whoever sought him was tireless. He pushed himself off the cold ground where he had collapsed, biting back the pain radiating from his ribs. Every breath was like dragging shards of glass through his chest, but staying still wasn't an option.
The ruins around him, jagged and worn, offered some semblance of shelter, but they also felt suffocating. The walls bore faintly glowing inscriptions, lines of script and symbols he couldn't decipher but that sparked an uneasy recognition in his mind. He traced a hand over one of the marks, feeling a subtle pulse beneath his fingers, almost like a heartbeat.
A whisper brushed against his consciousness, faint yet insistent.
"Leave. They are coming."
Kael froze, his hand dropping to his side. The whisper felt like it came from within, resonating deep in his chest. It wasn't the first time he'd heard it, and while part of him wanted to ignore the voice, instinct told him to obey.
A sound broke the stillness—a steady crunch of boots on loose stone. His heart leapt into his throat.
He darted into the shadows, crouching behind a section of collapsed wall as the footsteps grew louder. Slowly, he peeked around the edge.
A figure emerged from the swirling mist that seemed to perpetually hang over the wasteland. The pursuer was clad in a long, dark coat, its material shimmering faintly as though woven from strands of starlight. A mask obscured their face, sleek and featureless save for a glowing red slit where their eyes should have been. In their hand, they held a strange device—a crescent-shaped blade crackling with crimson energy.
Kael's muscles tensed. The assassin moved with precise, calculated motions, their head tilting slightly as though scanning the ruins. He pressed himself tighter against the wall, willing his breathing to slow.
The whisper returned, louder this time.
"To the left. Now."
Kael moved on instinct, sliding along the base of the wall just as the assassin turned in his direction. He squeezed into a narrow crevice between two slabs of stone, holding his breath as the figure approached.
The silence was agonizing. Kael could hear the faint hum of the assassin's blade, the sound sharp and electric, like a swarm of angry insects.
For a brief moment, he thought he might go unnoticed. Then the assassin paused, the red slit of their mask flickering. They turned abruptly, raising their blade.
Kael didn't wait for confirmation. He bolted from the crevice, adrenaline drowning out the pain in his ribs. A burst of crimson energy sliced through the air, narrowly missing him and striking a nearby pillar. The impact sent a shower of sparks and debris flying, but he didn't look back.
The ruins blurred around him as Kael sprinted through the maze of broken structures, his mind racing. The assassin's precision wasn't natural—they weren't just guessing his location. Somehow, they were tracking him.
He needed to lose them, but the terrain offered few options. The ruins opened into a vast expanse of cracked ground, dotted with jagged spires that cast long, ominous shadows. Beyond that, the terrain sloped downward into a narrow canyon, its depths swallowed by darkness.
"The canyon. Go now."
The whisper wasn't a suggestion—it was a command. Kael veered toward the canyon without hesitation, his feet sliding on loose gravel as he descended the slope. His boots barely found purchase on the steep incline, and more than once he stumbled, catching himself on the sharp edges of rocks.
The assassin followed, their movements unnervingly smooth. They didn't falter or hesitate, their blade cutting effortlessly through the air as they closed the distance.
Kael's mind raced. He couldn't keep running indefinitely—his body was already reaching its limit. He needed a plan, but every idea crumbled under the weight of exhaustion and fear.
As he reached the canyon floor, his foot caught on an unseen crack, and he fell hard, the impact jarring his already bruised ribs. He rolled onto his back, gasping for air as the assassin loomed above him, their blade raised for the killing strike.
Time seemed to slow. Kael's vision blurred, but in the haze, he saw it—a fleeting image of the next moment. The assassin's blade arcing downward. A burst of light erupting from the ground. The red slit in their mask flickering.
The vision lasted less than a second, but it was enough.
Kael reached out blindly, his hand landing on a shard of stone etched with faint, glowing symbols. As the assassin's blade descended, he felt a sudden surge of energy course through him, unbidden and uncontrollable.
The shard in his hand flared with light, and the ground beneath him trembled. A wave of Resonance energy exploded outward, striking the assassin mid-swing and sending them flying backward.
Kael scrambled to his feet, his chest heaving. The shard in his hand pulsed faintly before dimming, its power spent.
The assassin recovered quickly, rising to their feet with eerie calm. The red slit in their mask flickered erratically, but they didn't retreat. Instead, they raised their free hand, and Kael felt the air around him grow heavy.
A crimson barrier materialized, cutting off his escape.
Kael's breath hitched as the assassin advanced. He was out of options. The energy he had unleashed had saved him once, but he had no idea how to control it.
"Trust the shard."
The whisper was barely audible over the pounding of his heart, but he clung to it like a lifeline. Gritting his teeth, he tightened his grip on the shard and willed it to respond.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then, faintly, the symbols on its surface began to glow once more.
Kael raised the shard, and the light intensified, piercing through the crimson barrier. The assassin hesitated, their mask tilting slightly as though in confusion.
Taking advantage of the moment, Kael turned and bolted. The barrier wavered, then shattered as he passed through it, the shard's light cutting a path through the oppressive energy.
He didn't stop running until the canyon walls began to narrow, and the assassin's presence faded behind him. Finally, he collapsed against the base of a jagged rock, the shard still clutched tightly in his hand.
His mind swirled with questions. What was this shard? How had it activated? And what in the Nexus was hunting him?
But there was no time for answers. The faint hum of energy lingered in the distance, a reminder that his pursuer was still out there.