Lira kept watch long after Kael finally slept.
The ruined temple was cold, lit only by moonlight slipping through cracks in the stones. Outside, the forest breathed with quiet hostility — the kind of silence that made her skin crawl.
Kael lay beside her, still pale, shadows coiling faintly beneath his skin like restless smoke. Occasionally his fingers twitched, as if fighting nightmares even in sleep.
Lira hugged her knees, whispering softly:
"You're safe. I promise… I'll protect you this time."
But her voice broke at the end.
Because she knew —
She wasn't strong enough to protect him from everything.
Especially not the growing danger approaching through the trees.
---
The first sign came as a tremor in the air.
A faint metallic whistle.
Then another.
Lira's breath caught.
**Arrows.**
She ducked instinctively — an arrow sliced through the air where her head had been a second earlier, embedding itself into the stone behind her.
Not a bandit's arrow.
Too clean.
Too sharp.
Someone professional.
Kael stirred slightly.
Lira crawled to him. "Kael—wake up. We have to go."
He didn't open his eyes.
His breathing was too slow, too shallow.
His body still recovering.
He wasn't ready for another fight.
Another arrow flew.
Then a deep voice echoed from the forest:
**"We have it surrounded! The Shadow Experiment is inside!"**
Lira's heart dropped.
Hunters.
Noctharion hunters.
Elite trackers trained specifically to bring back escaped experiments.
Kael's kind.
Her blood froze.
They weren't here for her.
They were here for him.
Boots crunched over leaves as the hunters closed in — armored figures wearing blackened steel, their faces masked, symbols of Noctharion carved like scars across their armor.
One stepped into the temple doorway, torch in hand.
"There," he growled. "Found the beast."
Lira scrambled in front of Kael, arms spread wide. "He's not a beast!"
The hunter sneered beneath his mask.
"And what are you? Food he didn't finish?"
Lira trembled — but didn't move aside.
"He's not going anywhere with you."
The hunter laughed, a low cruel sound. "Girl… step away before I break every bone in your—"
A shadow moved behind Lira.
Slow.
Lethal.
Rising like a dark tide.
Kael's eyes opened.
Red.
Glowing.
Angry.
He didn't stand — he **rose**, shadows lifting him like a silent storm. His wounds glistened darkly, but his power surged, fueled by something deeper than magic.
Rage.
The hunter stumbled backward. "Impossible—he was unconscious—"
Kael's voice cut through the room, cold as death.
"You shouldn't have touched her."
The shadows behind him burst outward, slamming into the hunter and hurling him across the ruins like a ragdoll.
Lira gasped.
Kael took one step forward — and nearly collapsed.
Lira caught him. "Kael—stop! You're not healed!"
He didn't look at her.
His eyes were locked on the hunters gathering outside.
"They want you," Lira whispered. "They want to take you back."
Kael's jaw tightened, shadows writhing violently around him.
"Over my dead body."
Another arrow flew.
Kael flicked his fingers. A shadow tendril intercepted it mid-air.
But he swayed.
Lira grabbed his arm again, feeling the tremble beneath his muscles.
"You can't fight all of them like this."
He didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
His body said everything —
He was barely standing.
The hunters outside prepared for another volley.
Kael growled quietly. "Stay behind me."
"No," Lira said, stepping in front of him this time.
Her voice trembled — but her resolve didn't.
Kael blinked.
"Lira—"
"You protected me," she said softly. "Now let me protect you."
Her pendant glowed faint silver.
The first arrow shot toward her.
Kael's heart lurched—
—but Lira raised a hand.
The pendant burst with light.
A barrier of shimmering silver expanded around them, the arrow stopping inches from her face and dropping harmlessly to the ground.
Kael stared — stunned.
That wasn't fear-activated magic.
This was something else.
Something awakening.
The hunters froze outside, lowering their bows in shock.
"What—what kind of magic is that?!"
Lira didn't know.
But she took Kael's hand and whispered:
"Run."
Kael hesitated.
He never ran from anything.
Ever.
But when Lira tugged him — warm hand gripping his cold one —
He ran.
Shadows erupted, swallowing them both as they disappeared into the forest.
Behind them, the hunters shouted:
"Find them! Now!"
But they were gone.
Escaping together into a night full of danger…
…and fate.