The first thing that Hal remembered was dying. Not the warmth leaving his body nor the blur of faces screaming above him what stayed carved in his mind was the voice a voice he had never heard before . When he died the world froze , sound , movements even his final breath suspended. The voice "it" carried no emotions, no hatred , no hunger . Only inevitable. A whisper that crawled into his skull and clung like frost
"You will return to me."
Hal got awake to the sound of metal tearing through stone . He pushed himself up from the rubble he'd chosen as shelter foe the night . His breath misted out in pale clouds , fading into the morning darkness beyond the broken archways of the old cathedral ruins . This year was 2579 of the era of the seventh throne , in a reclaimed zone of the old Eldergrove Haven where half broken mega cities lay buried under vines and fog . Dawn had not yet lit the horizon and the air was cold enough to feel like glass on the skin since it was early winter , the month the locals called Greyreach, when even the wind sounded tired
And he heard it again that sound unmistakable once you'd survive it once . A void agents but not a strong one . Hal rolled onto his feet , boots crunching on frost and shattered stones the only thing that could save him now was Aperion but he wasn't yet an initiate or mage to use it although it was present everywhere around
"Pathetic" even a spark just enough to light a cigarette barely enough to burn a void spawn he couldn't produce.From the corner of the cathedral, a figure moved a thin elongated creature shifting like smoke caught in slow motion. It's joint bent the wrong way and it's pale limbs dripped with black ichor that sizzled upon touching the ground. A mask of bone clung on his head , empty eyed and the void symbol drawned across his skull. The creature tilted it's head as if listening for him .
Hal swallowed he hated the silence before combat. A cold sweat slipped down his spine , he picked a long metal rod ready to defend himself against the creature . "Focuse" he whispered to himself. He couldn't even remember who he used to be in his first life . The curse stole that luxury. What he remembered to vividly was Grisha and his voice promising him "Next time I'll find you first" Hal clenched his jaw , that line haunted every cycle and right now he needed the strength that memory gave him.
The void agents shuddered, and then lunged . Hal braced but couldn't do anything suddenly a radiant silver blue
Bright lance sliced through the darkness. The void agent shrieked, split in half before Hal's eyes . Hal blinked in shock then he grouned
"you again ? "
The man who appeared between the ruins could've stepped out of a knight tale. A pale armor with smooth curved plates and a big navy cloak that hangs behind him.A reinforced and sculpted chest plate, meeting hung shoulder guards with layered segments, intricate gauntlets cover an arm while sharped bindings secure the other . His waist is protected by overlapping armures skirts shaped like angular scales , long navy fabric panels fall from the belt , splitting at the front for movement. His sword is ornate with geometric engravings and cross guard shaped like a mask. He lifted his visor cold green eyes studied Hal
Sir Atheus Varron
Magic Knight, hunter of anomalies and unfortunately one of the only people who believed Hal was more than strange vagrant with memory gaps
"Your welcome"Atheus said voice low and irritated "Again"
Hal brushed the dust from his coat "I had it under control"
"At what point: Before or after it sensed you? "
"it was strategic stumble"
Atheus stared flatly "your hopeless". Before Hal could reply the bisected void agent twitched Atheus stepped forward, and with one word "ignite"thereby burning the creature to ash.
"Third time this week" Atheus muttered "Something is wrong with this area since you appeared"
Hal stiffened "I know , it looks like the great existences had acknowledge my return"
But something is wrong because void agents didn't normally appeare near places tied to his past lives . And yet this was the third time this cycle they had tracked him close to the start of his rebirth
Coincidence? No . Hal didn't believe in those . Not anymore.
Atheus turned to him
"You look worse than usual"
Hal shrugged "Bad dreams"
Atheus raised an eyebrow "The same memory again ?"
Hal nodded
"You saw him . You're friend ?"
"Yes"
My friend the one he'd been searching for across lifetimes
The one who should have been reborn with him . The one who wasn't
Hal took a breath "His name was Grisha . Atleast in that life "
"And in the ones before?"
Hal's jaw tightened"I don't remember"
Hal gave a faint smile " Maybe when even I know the rest"
Atheus opened his mouth to say something more but the wind shifted sharply, carrying with it a faint vibration . A cold ripple that crawled under Hal's skin. The sky overhead pulsed once . Like a heartbeat
Hal frozen . "No not again"
Atheus hand went to his sword "Did you feel that ! "
Hal sure did
A whisper brushing his ear
"You will return to me"
His vision tightened, for a split second Hal saw the cathedral as it once was whole filled with blinding lights a d a shadow standing before him . A shadow wearing a crown . Hal stumbled back , clutching his head
Atheus grabbed his arm "Hal stay with me "
But layered atop that beauty came a presence , subtle, cold and ancient. It pressed against both men Senses like the echo of a void agent yet something was wrong . It lacked the hunger the distortion and the tearing emptiness. Thai presence watched rather than devouring, observing them with a consciousness they could not name . A shiver crawled across the back of both men's neck . Then suddenly Hal's vision snapped the cathedral returned to ruin , dust swirling through fractured beams of light of the pre-dawn and the strange présence withdrew like a breath.
"What was that " both me exclaimed with a surprising calm
"All I know is that it wasn't a void agent but rather something that come close to it " Hal glanced at Atheus upon saying that
Atheus voice dropped "it's your curse it's accelerating"
Hal laughed bitterly "Tell me something I don't know "
"You should have been death by now " Atheus said quietly
Hal hated how right he was
Every cycle began with some scraps of memory faces , smells , unfinished conversations but never with the curse itself chasing after him this early. Never with the void whispering so early or void agents hunting so close
Something had changed. The curse was tightening, and he knows why
Atheus stepped back adjusting his sword "what's your plan now"
Hal exhaled slowly "Same as always"
He looked toward the horizon. Toward the broken structures and overgrown districts. Towards the city where he tracked the faintest trace of an old signature
"Find him " Hal whispered "Find Grisha"
Atheus studied expression unreadable "Even if your memories are unreliable ?"
Hal shrugged "They are all I have"
The knight sighed "Then I'm coming with you"
Hal blinked " What ? Wait no your job is to protect the frontier "
" At the moment ? My job is to make sure you don't die before answering the questions you keep dodging"
Hal frowned" I dodged nothing "
Atheus smirked"Right. And I'm a saint"
Hal tried protest again but the truth was , Atheus's blade had saved his life more than once already . And whether Hal trusted him or not ..... He needed protection until his powers returned . Because each life it took time , week or even months for his aperionic affinity to resurface .
Maybe it's because the curse had been worsening
Maybe it's because the void was slowly eroding him
Maybe..... He didn't have too many cycles left
Atheus began walking towards the cathedral entrance "Coming ?".
Hal hesitated
The ruins were quiet now dawn light gathering on the shattered pews and half collapsed pillars
He hated this moment, the time when he had to choose to move forward again, knowing he might fail again , knowing he might lose Grisha's track once more , knowing he might die again . And yet , he stepped forward because he remembered Grisha's last word in every cycle together
"Hal don't let go I'll find you again"
Hal whispered the line now letting it steady him
Atheus glanced back "What was that ? "
"Nothing" Hal said quickly as his chest tightened
As they walked out of the cathedral, the air picked up scattered ashes of the void agent behind them . Hal pulled his coat tighter, sensing the weight of the unseen eyes still watching him , always watching
Atheus spoke suddenly"You know? I've met a lot of strange men but you " He shocked his head "You're the only one who talks like everyday is borrowed "
Hal didn't answered because Atheus was right. Everyday was borrowed, every breath, every lives were borrowed. That was the reality of the curse . The world looked normal but he didn't belong in normal . He belonged to the curse , the hunt and to the endless loops . And until he find Grisha he couldn't rest
Atheus slowed" You're thinking too much "
"You're observant too much" Hal replied
"But ist my job "
Hal rolled his eyes "Must be exhausting"
Atheus expression softened just slightly
"Hal whatever you're running from , you don't have to face it alone "Hal looked at him , then looked away
He couldn't explain it : Not yet , Not until he understands what the curse is truly is. Not until he founded the missing half of the puzzle. Grisha. And certainly not until he learned why void agents were hunting him earlier and earlier.
The whisper returned this time
"You' will return for me"
Faint tremor ran through Hal's fingertips unnoticed at first like misfiring nerves. The thin arcs of pale blue light snapped across his palm . Sparks weak and unstable barely enough to lit a candle wick
Hal exhaled "So it's coming back. Kind of "
Atheus glanced over , noticing the small flashes "Your aperion is waking again ? That's good isn't it ? "
"Not exactly " Hal muttered. Another spark spattered out, leaving a faint tingle up his forearm "This isn't mage craft it's just residual flow , unstable as hell . My channels probably collapsed while I was gone "
Atheus frowned"Collapsed ? . Can they be fixed ? "
" They can but not by me I'll need a proper mage maybe even an archimage. Someone who can help me redo my initiate ritual and reset my conduit and help me reclaim aperion. Without that I'll be stack with this spark
Atheus crunched over fallen plaster as he slowed " I think I know someone. Once we reach Selengar he will know how to do "
Hal nodded, comforted by the certainty in Atheus voice " Yeah Selengar and while we're at it once we get there , do you think you could help me with something else? "
"Depends. What is it ? "
"An occupation" Hal shrugged, embarrassed "I can't eternally walk into the city like this . And until my channels are fixed , I'll need something to keep me also from starving"
Atheus snorted" Hal after all we survived finding you an occupation will be the easiest task I've had all year . We'll sort it out"
The small assurance warmed Hal morethan any spark of magic they continued deeper into the ruins of the Eldergrove Haven toward the outskirts of the quarter, the strange presence from earlier still gnawing at the back of Hal's awareness like a memory deliberately misremembered. Not the void but definitely something adjacent.
The morning was finally passing through, the air felt less hostile than before but not harmless. Hal flexed his fingers again no sparks this time just a faint empty coldness
"Atheus" he murmured barely above a whisper. " Whatever that presence was ..... It didn't come from the void but felt like something trying to imitate it"
Atheus's expression darkened " then we need to move quickly if something is mimicking the void , I don't want to be standing here when it decides to perfect the technique"
Together they fastened their pace the risen sun spreading across the broken buildings ahead marking the end of a long night and the beginning of something farmore uncertained .
Hal cast one last look over his shoulder . Even in daylight the shadow that appeared in the cathedral seemed to cling a little to tightly to them and it seems like Atheus hasn't noticed it yet
Definitely someone or something is watching .... Waiting.