The air tasted like scorched metal and old blood.
Lucian lunged, his shadow-claws raking toward the nearest Veilbound. The masked figure twisted, silver runes flaring across their armor. A blade of light seared from nowhere.
Move.
He barely jerked back in time. The heat kissed his throat, leaving a line of fire across his skin.
System Alert:
Minor Soul Burn Detected
Effect: Shadowform response slowed by 0.3 seconds
A decimal point. A death sentence if the next strike landed.
Across the shattered ruins, the hunter danced between the second Veilbound, her knife flashing. No finesse—just brutal, efficient strokes aimed to cripple. The way Lucian remembered. The way she'd killed him.
Focus.
Vaelros was a blur of motion, his wounded arm dangling, his good hand weaving shadows into jagged spikes. He fought like a man who'd done this before. Like a man who knew exactly how Veilbound hunted.
The first Veilbound advanced, their mask's eye-slits bleeding light. Lucian's pulse hammered. His claws itched.
"Come on, then," he growled.
The Veilbound tilted their head. Their voice was a dry rasp, like parchment crumbling.
"You are not the first anomaly we've purged."
Lucian bared his fangs. "Bet I'll be the loudest."
He moved. Shadows coiled around his fists, hardening into serrated gauntlets. The Veilbound's blade met them with a shriek of protesting light.
Impact rattled his teeth. His boots skidded on broken stone.
System Update:
Blood Corruption: 36%
Shadowform Integrity: 89%
Numbers. Useless. What mattered was the ache in his arms, the way his vision blurred at the edges.
The Veilbound pressed. Their strikes came faster, each one precise, mechanical. No wasted motion. No rage. Just execution.
Lucian blocked. Parried. Bled.
A slash opened his ribs. He hissed. The Veilbound's mask gleamed.
"You struggle for nothing."
"Try me."
Behind them, the hunter's boot cracked into her opponent's knee. Bone snapped. The Veilbound staggered—
And her knife found their throat.
Silver blood sprayed. The Veilbound screamed, a sound that wasn't sound, a vibration that made Lucian's bones hum.
Their mask split.
Light—real, burning light—erupted from the cracks. The hunter yanked her blade free and ran as the Veilbound's body detonated into a pillar of fire.
Lucian ducked. Heat lashed his back. When he looked up, his opponent was gone.
Vanished.
Coward.
The hunter stood amidst the fading flames, her knife dripping silver. She met Lucian's stare.
No words. Just a nod.
Then she was running—not toward him, but away, into the ruins.
Vaelros appeared at Lucian's side, breathing hard. His wounded arm was slick with blood, black and glistening.
"Charming woman," he muttered. "Let's not invite her to dinner."
Lucian wiped his mouth. His hand came away smeared with shadow. "She's not human."
"No," Vaelros agreed. "But she's not one of them either." He jerked his chin toward the fading silver flames. "Interesting, isn't it?"
System Alert:
Veilbound Presence: 1 Remaining
Warning: Cleansing Rite Imminent
Lucian's claws twitched. "We need to move."
Vaelros' smile was thin. "Follow the pretty killer?"
"Follow the answers."
They ran.