“Not every mark is a symbol of power. Some are curses waiting to awaken.”
— Chronicles of the Runic Vigil, Vol. VI
The sky dawned red.
Nim noticed it first. There was a strange glow behind the morning mist — like embers burning on the horizon. She pushed the cabin door open cautiously and sniffed the air. Ash. But no trees were burning.
“They’re close,” she muttered.
Kael was still asleep, his arm wrapped in a makeshift bandage. Ever since he touched the Sealer, he hadn’t been the same. He slept little, murmured in strange tongues, and the rune… now seemed unstable. As if it fed on his dreams.
That’s when Nim felt it.
A chill. Like a scream echoing through time. She turned abruptly, eyes wide.
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“She’s here.”
The huntress moved like a shadow on snow.
She wore the uniform of the Secret Order: black and crimson, adorned with golden runic threads. Her face, hidden behind a mirrored glass mask, betrayed no emotion. But her presence… was suffocating.
She walked silently between the trees, guided by a small circular artifact spinning like a broken compass — but instead of north, it sought traces of the Veil.
And there, she sensed it.
“Fragment detected,” she said in a metallic voice.
She drew a short spear, its blade shimmering with pulsing symbols.
“The bearer is awake. Time to seal… or eradicate.”
Nim woke Kael with a slap.
“No time. We’re surrounded.”
“Who—?” he began, but the answer came from above.
A crash. The structure collapsed in pieces, and from the dust, the huntress emerged.
Kael barely had time to raise his arms. The agent’s spear was deflected by an improvised shield Nim conjured in the air, formed by three circular runes spinning like magical gears.
“Kael, run!” she shouted.
But he didn’t.
Because in that moment, the rune on his arm responded. A new symbol emerged, burning bright blue.
And for a brief second, the huntress hesitated.
“…Impossible,” she whispered.
