The sun set early that day—as if it were afraid of what walked the streets.
Jaden sat alone on the steps outside the Guild Annex, knees pulled up to his chest, trying to calm the thundering in his heart. The ember in his chest pulsed every few seconds, faint but persistent, like a forgotten heartbeat trying to call itself forward.
Lisa paced in front of him, fingers pressed to her temple. "Jaden… why did you agree to training with him?"
He didn't answer right away.
Because he didn't know.
Kane scared him.
Kane comforted him.
Both feelings were equally true.
"He said he can help me survive," Jaden murmured.
"Jaden." Lisa crouched in front of him, forcing him to meet her eyes. "There's something wrong with him. I feel it. He looks at you like he already knows you."
A cold sweat rolled down Jaden's neck.
Because she was right.
Kane looked at him the same way the First Shadow did.
Like he was familiar.
Jaden rubbed his arms, trying to shake off the lingering sense of… of being watched. Something he'd felt ever since the Harrowing. A presence following him. A whisper behind every corner.
"Lisa," he whispered, "do you… ever feel like someone is staring at you from behind?"
She blinked. "What?"
"Like eyes you can't see. Like something knows you but you don't know it."
Lisa's expression tightened.
She knew exactly what he meant.
Before she could answer—
A ripple tore through the air.
Jaden's breath froze.
The street lights flickered.
The shadows around them elongated, stretching like living ink.
Lisa grabbed Jaden's hand. "Get inside—now."
They sprinted into the Annex hallway. The lights buzzed violently, then died, plunging everything into darkness.
Lisa pressed close to him, her voice barely a whisper. "Jaden… something followed you out of the Harrowing."
His pulse hammered. "Th-that's impossible. Nothing can leave that place."
"Nothing should," she corrected.
The temperature dropped.
Their breaths turned to fog.
A shape materialized at the end of the hallway.
Thin.
Tall.
Wrong.
Lisa squeezed Jaden's hand, voice trembling, "No. No, that's—"
A Shadow stepped forward.
But this wasn't the First Shadow.
This wasn't a dungeon hallucination.
This wasn't a nightmare.
This one was real.
Its body flickered like broken film reels, its outline glitching, unraveling, reforming. And its face—
Its face was him.
Jaden.
But older.
But cracked.
But burning from the inside.
The Shadow's eyes opened, glowing like black stars.
And it spoke with his voice.
"You shouldn't be here."
Lisa shoved Jaden behind her. "Stay back!"
The Shadow tilted its head—same as him, same movement, same timing.
"Why do you run?" it whispered. "You made me."
Jaden's heart slammed so hard he thought his ribs might crack. "I-I didn't! I don't know you!"
The Shadow stepped closer, each footstep echoing too loudly. Too real. Too heavy.
"You forgot," it said gently.
"But I didn't."
Lisa let out a sharp breath. "Jaden, don't listen. Don't answer it."
Jaden's head throbbed.
The ember pulsed—harder now.
Heat spread down his spine.
He winced, clutching his chest. "Lisa… something's—wrong—"
The Shadow's eyes widened in recognition.
"Ah," it whispered with reverence, "it's waking."
And suddenly—
Jaden's vision split.
Reality peeled sideways like torn paper.
He saw a world burning.
A sky collapsing.
A sea of flame swallowing stars.
A screaming infant.
A heartbeat made of fire.
And wings.
Wings made of pure light—shattering.
He stumbled, nearly collapsing.
Lisa caught him. "Jaden—Jaden, look at me!"
But the Shadow was already inches away.
Kane's voice drifted from behind them, casual and unhurried:
"Fascinating."
Lisa spun. "You—!"
Kane ignored her entirely.
His eyes locked onto the Shadow.
"You're not supposed to exist yet," he whispered, voice tinged with awe.
The Shadow flickered violently, breaking apart and reforming, clearly distressed by Kane's presence.
"You meddle too early," it hissed.
Kane smiled softly. "Not early enough."
The Shadow lunged—
Not at Kane.
At Jaden.
Lisa screamed. "JADEN—!"
Jaden raised his hands instinctively—
And the ember detonated.
A burst of red flame exploded from his chest—not fire, not heat, but something purer. A shockwave of memory. A pulse of forgotten divinity.
The Shadow was thrown backwards, crashing into the wall so hard the concrete cracked.
Jaden collapsed.
Lisa caught him.
His skin glowed faintly—lines of red heat tracing up his arms before fading.
Kane stared, eyes wide.
"Echo Scar One," he breathed. "It awakened."
Lisa held Jaden closer. "Don't touch him!"
Kane didn't listen.
He stepped forward slowly, reverently, kneeling beside Jaden as if in front of something sacred—and dangerous.
"Do you know what you just did?" Kane whispered.
Jaden shook his head weakly. "No… I can't… breathe…"
Kane's gloved hand hovered an inch over Jaden's chest.
"You," he whispered, "burned a hole through reality. With a flame that should not exist."
Lisa's voice cracked. "Get away from him!"
Kane rose.
"Very well."
The Shadow hissed from where it lay shattered against the wall.
Its voice glitching.
"You cannot escape yourself."
And then it dissolved—
not into darkness,
but into static, fading like a corrupted memory.
Jaden slumped unconscious.
Lisa pressed her forehead to his. "Jaden… please stay with me. Please."
Kane watched them quietly.
Studying.
Calculating.
Satisfied.