They ran until the district was nothing but dark behind them.
The cul-de-sac of Hollow Row vanished into the ruins as the squad cut through a collapsed grocery store and spilled into the wider streets beyond. Toren triggered the last pulse charge at the doorway behind them, and the shockwave sent dust and glass cascading into the road.
Sera slammed the door shut just as the charge detonated.
The building folded in on itself with a deep, rolling boom.
For several seconds no one spoke.
The street outside was empty.
Too empty.
Kael bent over with his hands on his knees, breathing hard. His ribs still ached where Darius had struck him, but the pain was already fading.
That bothered him.
He could feel the healing happening.
Bone settling.
Muscle knitting.
Blood moving faster than it should.
"Elara," Malik said quietly.
She looked up.
He nodded toward Kael.
She saw it too.
The speed of it.
The wrongness.
But now wasn't the moment.
"Move," she said. "We're still in the open."
They pushed deeper into the ruined district until the old freeway ramp came into view. The broken concrete formed a natural choke point where the city fell away into the trench lines that protected Helios Gate's outer perimeter.
Only then did Elara finally signal a stop.
Bram dropped onto a chunk of shattered asphalt with a grunt and rolled his shoulder.
"Please tell me that thing isn't following us."
Sera scanned the rooftops. "If it is, it's being polite about it."
Toren slumped against the barrier, clutching his satchel. "Next patrol, we go somewhere relaxing. Like a nest of Night Titans."
Archivist Sen leaned against the wall and wiped his glasses with shaking hands.
"No," he whispered. "No, no, no."
Everyone looked at him.
"What?" Bram asked.
Sen looked at Kael.
"You spoke with him."
Kael straightened slowly.
"Yeah."
"And he gave you his name."
"Yeah."
Sen swallowed.
"Do you understand what that means?"
Malik answered first.
"It means we're in trouble."
Sen shook his head.
"No," he said quietly.
"It means the trouble already knows us."
Kael felt Elara watching him again.
He avoided her eyes.
Because if he met them, he might have to admit something he wasn't ready to say out loud.
Part of him wanted to go back.
Not to fight.
To understand.
That thought alone made him sick.
"Alright," Elara said finally. "We return to the wall."
Malik nodded. "Before something worse shows up."
Sera lifted her crossbow.
"You mean like the ancient who tried to murder us?"
Malik shrugged.
"I said worse."
They started moving again.
Behind them, somewhere in the ruins of Hollow Row, Darius Vhal watched the smoke from the collapsed houses drift into the night.
And he smiled.