Chapter 23: Riders in the Fog
The fog thinned.
Not completely — just enough that shapes began to grow out of the white, silhouettes forming one by one like ghosts stepping out of a dream.
Horses first.
Then riders.
The first thing Aiden noticed was the steel-green of their cloaks, darkened by mist and mud. The second was the sound — the steady, controlled snorts of trained mounts, the soft clink of armor, the hollow thump of hooves muffled by wet earth.
The Academy Riders had arrived.
Myra sucked in a sharp breath. Nellie edged closer to him, fingers curling into the fabric of his sleeve. The lightning pup pressed itself against Aiden's legs, trembling with exhaustion and instinct, sparks flickering faintly between its fur.
Garrik stepped forward, spine straight despite the blood on his arm.
"Academy Riders!" he called, voice hoarse but strong. "We request escort! Hollow breach behind us — structural collapse — casualties unknown."
The lead rider halted his horse in front of them. His helm was brushed steel, engraved with deep green sigils that caught the soft light. When he dismounted, he moved with effortless confidence — the kind that said he'd survived worse than collapsing stone and hungry beasts.
"I am Captain Rhosyn Vale," he said. His voice was firm but not unkind. "We received tremor-sign in the marsh. What happened inside the Hollow?"
Garrik grimaced. "A monster forced its way in. Something… else fought it. The Hollow came down."
Rhosyn studied him, then looked past him at the survivors — muddy, shaking, bleeding, clutching children and packs and each other.
"My riders will stabilize your wounded," he said. "Form lines. No pushing. No shouting."
His gaze shifted to Aiden.
Not to Aiden's face.
To the pup.
The change in the officer was small — a tightening around the eyes, a subtle inhale, an instinctive readjustment of his stance.
"What," he said quietly, "is that doing here?"
Myra bristled instantly. "It saved us."
Aiden stepped in front of the pup on instinct. "It's with me."
The pup peeked around his leg, ears flat, sparks burrowing into the ground like timid lightning roots.
Rhosyn's eyes narrowed. He crouched slowly, careful not to startle either beast or master. The mist swirled strangely around him as he moved — bending away, as if it didn't want him any closer.
"A lightning cub shouldn't be this far south," he murmured. "They avoid the marsh paths. They avoid caravans. They avoid…" His voice faded. "Everyone."
Nellie swallowed hard. "It was being chased… by the big monster."
Rhosyn's head snapped up.
"The Aberration chased it?"
His voice carried a sharp, alarmed edge.
Aiden nodded. "It was terrified. It protected us. I didn't force a bond."
"Bond?" Rhosyn repeated softly.
A faint spark crackled at Aiden's heel.
The pup stepped out — just a tiny bit — enough to plant itself in front of Aiden with a trembly little growl. Its fur lifted in a soft halo of blue-white.
Defending.
Rhosyn's expression tightened. "I see."
Behind them, riders moved among the wounded, handing out water, checking injuries, calming horses. But every so often, one rider's gaze drifted to Aiden's group — the boy, the pup, and the strange tension pooling there.
Finally Rhosyn stood and brushed wet leaves from his gauntlet. "You three. Step aside with me."
Myra stepped forward. "We didn't—"
He lifted a hand gently. "You're not in trouble."
His voice said reassurance.
His eyes said caution.
Aiden followed him to the fog-thinned edge of the clearing, Myra at his shoulder and Nellie just behind.
"What is your name, boy?" Rhosyn asked softly.
"Aiden Raikos."
"You bonded with it?"
Aiden hesitated. "…It chose me."
Rhosyn studied him the way a hunter studies unfamiliar tracks — careful, methodical.
"A lightning beast this young should barely be able to spark," he murmured. "Yet I felt three resonance pulses from kilometers away."
Aiden's pulse stumbled. He hadn't tried to cause them. He'd barely stayed alive.
Rhosyn's gaze softened. "Easy. Judging by what's left of your caravan, you survived through sheer madness and luck."
"Mostly luck," Nellie whispered.
Myra elbowed her.
Rhosyn crouched again — this time toward the pup.
It flinched and immediately stepped back, pressing itself tightly to Aiden's ankle.
Rhosyn froze… then slowly rose.
"…It's guarding you."
Aiden gave a small nod.
Rhosyn exhaled sharply, like he'd been struck. "I don't know what happened in that Hollow, but lightning beasts do not bond lightly. And an Aberration chasing one?" He shook his head. "Something old is waking in the marshes."
He stepped back. "You will come with us to the Academy. Quietly. Carefully. No one panics. No one touches the beast."
Myra lifted her chin. "We're staying with him."
Nellie nodded nervously. "Of course we are."
"Good," Rhosyn said. "You'll need each other."
Fog thickened around their ankles.
Far behind them, deep inside the collapsed Hollow, something rumbled — faint, distant, furious.
The pup's fur lifted.
Rhosyn's eyes darkened.
"We move now," he ordered. "The marsh is wrong today."
He turned to signal to his riders — but before the mist swallowed his boots, he looked back at Aiden, fear and respect threading through his expression.
"Aiden Raikos…" he said quietly.
"…whatever marked that beast has noticed you too."
The ground trembled.
The world did not end — but everything changed.
---
Rhosyn turned sharply, signaling his riders with two brisk gestures. Horses advanced through the fog, hooves whisper-soft over the wet ground. One rider swept past Aiden with a satchel of silver-thread bandages; another circled the carts, checking structural damage.
Aiden blinked hard, trying to steady himself. His pulse trembled in his wrists. The storm inside him no longer clawed at his ribs, but its echo hummed through his nerves like distant thunder.
"Myra… Nellie…" he managed — voice cracking.
Nellie barreled into him and threw her arms around his chest. "Don't you ever—ever—ever faint like that again!" she squeaked. "You scared me so bad I almost forgot how to breathe!"
Myra crossed her arms, trying for tough but failing when her voice wavered. "Yeah. What she said. If you die, I'll kill you."
Her attempt at humor hit him harder than falling stone.
Aiden squeezed both their shoulders. "I'm here. Really."
The pup nuzzled his calf, echoing the reassurance.
Several caravanners watched them from a cautious distance. Mothers clutched children closer. A few murmured uneasily.
One woman whispered, "Don't stare at it, sweetheart. Storm-beasts don't like being watched."
Aiden shifted, shielding the pup with his leg.
Rhosyn noticed the ripple of whispers. He snapped his fingers sharply.
"Eyes forward!" he ordered. "This caravan is under Academy protection. No panic. No rumors. You saw a beast defend its chosen. Nothing more."
Chosen.
The word thudded strangely in Aiden's chest.
Myra nudged him. "Chosen, huh?"
He shook his head. "I didn't do anything."
"No," she murmured, "but something did."
Before he could reply, a rider approached Rhosyn — a young woman with a soot-streaked braid.
"Captain," she said, "north ridge tremors still active. Something's moving beneath the collapse."
Rhosyn's jaw clenched. "Aberration?"
"Not sure. But… maybe."
Myra whispered to Aiden, "Why does it feel like we escaped one nightmare just to walk into another?"
Nellie clutched her satchel. "We're safe now… right?"
Aiden wanted to promise yes.
But the fog pulsed behind them.
Riders' hands hovered near blades.
Rhosyn kept glancing toward the sealed Hollow.
Safe was not the word.
The captain straightened. "You three. With me. The caravan will follow."
He gestured toward a narrow break in the fog — a winding path marked by faint spectral lanterns strung between ancient trees.
The Academy path.
Aiden swallowed. "So soon?"
"We do not linger in cursed ground," Rhosyn said. "And after today, the Academy needs to see you immediately."
"That sounds ominous," Myra muttered.
"Can we at least wash our hands?" Nellie asked weakly.
"Later," Rhosyn said. "Move."
He took a step — then halted.
The pup had planted its paws firmly on Aiden's boot… and refused to move.
Every hair on its body stood on end.
Lightning crawled along its spine.
Everyone froze.
The pup wasn't afraid.
It was warning.
Aiden slowly turned.
The fog at the Hollow's mouth…
Shifted.
Not naturally.
Not randomly.
It drew inward — like breath being pulled into an unseen chest.
"What is that?" Nellie whispered.
"Fog doesn't move like that," Myra said, voice low.
Rhosyn's hand slipped toward his blade. "We leave. Now."
A soft, broken whine escaped the pup. Lightning rippled across its back.
Aiden knelt. "Hey… it's okay. We're going."
The pup pressed its head into his palm, trembling — then growled toward the Hollow again, sparks flickering dangerously.
Rhosyn followed its gaze.
His eyes widened slightly.
"Aiden Raikos… stay close to me."
Aiden stood slowly. "What's wrong?"
Rhosyn didn't answer.
The fog pulsed again — a slow, heavy heartbeat.
Deep inside the collapsed Hollow, something shifted.
A dull drag.
Stone grinding.
Roots tearing.
Something waking.
Riders shifted, horses stamping nervously.
Myra gripped Aiden's wrist. "Please tell me that's just settling rock."
Nellie whispered, "Please tell me it's not alive."
Aiden didn't speak.
Rhosyn tore his gaze from the Hollow.
"Everyone," he said quietly — firmly — "we leave. Now."
The pup darted in front of Aiden again, pressing its shoulder to his shin, protective and brave.
Rhosyn watched, understanding flickering in his eyes.
"A beast like that," he murmured, "doesn't guard lightly."
He looked at Aiden.
"And whatever it's guarding you from… isn't finished yet."
The fog trembled behind them.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Alright, real talk for a second.
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