Aiden stood, slow and unsteady.
The pain had dulled, but it hadn't vanished. It lingered like a warning, pulsing behind the newly etched mark on his stomach. He straightened his back, breathing shallowly as he pulled his shirt down to cover the symbol - the cracked wolf's skull now burned into his skin.
He didn't have time to think.
"You don't look well."
Aiden froze.
The voice came from just beyond the tree line.
Ro.
Aiden turned his head.
The man stood with his arms crossed, leaning casually against a tree. His expression was unreadable as always, though his eyes were sharp - focused entirely on Aiden.
"How long have you been there?" Aiden asked.
"Long enough."
Ro stepped forward slowly, boots silent against the forest floor. He didn't look threatening, but something in his posture made it clear - he had seen everything.
Aiden didn't respond. He adjusted his stance slightly. Not defensive, but not casual either.
"I was wondering what you were up to, Bones. Always something strange."
There was no accusation in his tone. Just quiet certainty.
Aiden studied him, the edge of caution creeping back into his thoughts.
Ro's gaze flicked to Aiden's stomach.
"That's new," he said. "You already had a Mark. You don't get a second. That's not something that's supposed to happen."
He trailed off.
Aiden didn't respond.
Ro's expression shifted, suspicion hardening into something colder.
"That body... it belonged to my brother. I don't care how you did it, Bones. But I will find out - sooner or later."
Aiden stepped back slightly, posture tense.
"I didn't choose this. You think I asked for any of it?"
I kind of did.
"I don't know what you asked for," Ro snapped. "But you're walking around with someone else's face. My brother's. And now you've carved something new into his skin that shouldn't even be yours."
Aiden didn't respond instantly, using the momentum of the conversation to change to a subject that was bothering him for a while now.
"Let's talk about something really important... You shot me. With a gun. Back in the prison. How?"
Ro didn't answer.
The silence grew.
"Bones... you knew exactly how to operate a gun. How to reload, how to shoot, how to aim. But you're not one of them. I saw how you looked at things. Confused. Like it was all familiar, but wrong. Tell me. Who are you... Aiden?"
Aiden looked up at him, jaw tight.
"I'm not from this world."
The words hung in the air.
Ro blinked once. His face went blank.
"I figured," Ro said. "It's strange... but Zane. He knows too, doesn't he? He sent us there. But I'm sure it wasn't just for scouting. That place... it wasn't just an abandoned prison. It was... something else."
"Zane sent me and Po to find..." Ro said, eyes widening as realization hit him.
Aiden blinked. "Find what?"
"Zane knew. From the start."
Ro stood still, his mind racing.
"Ro... what are you talking about?" Aiden asked carefully.
Ro didn't answer. His form vanished, reappearing at Aiden's left -
A dagger in his hand.
Aiden didn't have time to react. The blade connected with his neck, piercing through his throat, before pulling out.
He fell to the ground.
But Ro didn't finish the job.
He disappeared into the forest, leaving Aiden bleeding in the dirt.
Aiden gasped.
Or tried to.
Air wouldn't come. Blood didn't spill, but the sensation of the blade remained - cold, deep, final. He gripped the earth, eyes wide, vision blurring at the edges.
Then the burning started.
It began at his back.
A familiar heat - from within. The first mark.
It pulsed, then surged. The pain that followed was not sharp, but heavy. Like fire forced through his bones.
The wound at his throat didn't bleed. It closed.
Muscle, skin, nerve - everything reformed, sealed in silence.
Aiden lay still as it happened. Not screaming. Not breathing.
When it was over, he exhaled with a rasp.
He sat up slowly.
It's the second time he nearly kills me... But why did I regenerate? It was dormant when I was injured before...
Aiden touched the place where his ribs had been injured some time ago, but the discomfort was gone.
I still don't know the condition for its activation, but that doesn't matter right now. Ro just stabbed me, and he's clearly pieced something together about Zane. If he was willing to go that far with me, what would he do to him?
Aiden stood again, slower this time, the forest still quiet around him.
He checked the edge of his shirt to make sure the new mark wasn't showing, and started walking.
At least blood hasn't spilled on my clothes.
The trees parted as he pushed forward, his steps quickening the more distance he put between himself and the spot he was stabbed at.
The village wasn't far.
He needed to speak to someone - anyone. Zane had to know Ro had snapped, or at least that he tried to kill him.
When the outlying path gave way to cleared ground, Aiden broke into a jog.
The first guard saw him approaching and reached for his weapon, but stopped short at the sight of Aiden's face.
"Where's Zane?" Aiden asked.
The guard hesitated. "His office, but he said not to be interrupted."
"Send someone. Tell him it's urgent. Ro's gone rogue."
The words felt strange as he said them.
The guard nodded, already moving.
Aiden didn't stop.
He pushed open the tavern door.
It was mostly empty at this hour. A few stools tucked under tables. A narrow staircase in the back led up to Zane's office on the second floor.
Aiden was halfway across the floor when he heard it.
Voices. Raised. Muffled, but clear enough to catch fragments.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Ro.
Then another.
"I could have helped you!"
Another slam. A thud. Movement.
Aiden bolted up the stairs.
The moment he reached the top, the office door burst open from the inside.
Ro came flying out, sword drawn, colliding with Aiden.
Steel flashed.
Aiden rolled with the impact, barely avoiding the strike. Ro spun, planting his feet just inside the threshold of the hall.
Inside the room, Zane stood with his blade already in hand, teeth clenched.
No one said anything.
Then both men lunged at each other.
Aiden didn't have time to think. He grabbed the nearest blade he could reach - a decorative sword mounted on the wall. It wasn't balanced, but it would have to do.
Ro was already in motion.
His dagger flicked outward, testing Zane's defense. Zane parried cleanly, his noble sword glinting with a practiced rhythm. His footwork was precise, each step measured.
Ro's strikes were unpredictable. Wild angles. Quick bursts. Each blow meant to end the fight fast.
Aiden cut in, blocking a strike meant for Zane's side. The impact jolted through his arm.
Ro turned sharply.
"Stay out of this! Body Thief!"
Aiden didn't answer. He repositioned, blade raised.
Zane took the opening, pressing forward with a smooth series of strikes. Ro danced back, eyes tracking both of them.
Then he spun.
His dagger came low. Aiden twisted, but not fast enough. The blade grazed his ribs. No time to react to the pain.
Zane engaged again, this time faster. He drove Ro back with a flurry of strikes, each one more precise than the last. Ro deflected with the flat of his sword, his body flowing between attacks like water.
Aiden circled to flank. Ro moved before he could, knocking Zane's guard wide and aiming a slash toward Aiden's head.
He ducked. The wall behind him cracked.
Blood was running down Aiden's side now.
He pushed forward anyway, sword dragging upward in a desperate arc. Ro caught the strike with his dagger, then kicked Aiden square in the chest.
Aiden crashed into the far wall. The sword slipped from his grip.
Zane seized the moment.
He surged forward with a clean, elegant thrust. Ro twisted just enough to avoid the worst of it, the blade slicing into his shoulder but not deep.
The three of them paused.
Heavy breathing. Footsteps scraping across wood.
Aiden coughed and stood, pain flaring in his ribs.
Ro looked at them both. Sword still in hand. Chest rising and falling.
Without warning, the air around him shifted.
Three silhouettes flickered into existence. One to his left, one to his right, one behind him. Identical. Clones.
Zane stepped forward. Magic flared at his hands, coiling down his arms in faint lines of light. His grip tightened on the hilt of his blade as his fingers clenched.
Then it began again.
Ro struck first. Two clones rushed Zane while the third feinted toward Aiden.
Zane met the charge head-on. His movements were tighter now, faster. Each step landed with exact force. His blade sang through the air, parrying the first strike, then shattering a clone with a flash of reinforced magic.
Aiden ducked another swing from the illusion near him, catching only the edge of its strike. It faded before he could retaliate.
The real Ro dashed low, his dagger flashing toward Zane's midsection.
Zane spun, his free hand erupting with force. The blow landed, launching Ro across the room and into a support beam.
Ro coughed, blood on his teeth, but didn't drop his weapons.
"I should have killed you the first chance I had, traitor," he said through gritted teeth.
Zane didn't answer. His stance lowered, and his aura deepened.
Aiden pulled himself upright again. Everything ached. But he wasn't out yet.
Ro rushed forward again, blades spinning.
And the second round began.
Ro came in fast. The clones surged again, but now there were five - each one moving differently.
Zane matched the charge, his blade clashing with two at once, magic shielding his arms as he parried and struck.
Ro's dagger sliced through one guard charging up the stairs. Blood splattered the wall. Two more guards were cut down before they could draw their weapons.
Lyanna's voice rang from below. "Contain him! Now!"
She stormed into the room with more soldiers behind her, sword drawn. But even with backup, they struggled to keep up.
Ro moved like a blur. A clone caught Zane's guard and twisted his wrist - metal clattered as two of Zane's fingers were severed.
Zane grunted but didn't fall. He stepped back, clutching his hand, eyes burning.
Aiden saw his chance.
He grabbed the sword he dropped earlier, ran forward, and drove it through Ro's side.
Not clean. Not deep enough to kill.
But it was enough.
Ro's body wavered. The clones flickered.
Then - smoke.
His form dissolved into shadow and vanished with a rush of wind.
Only silence remained.
Blood pooled. Zane staggered back, breathing hard. Lyanna knelt by one of the injured guards.
Aiden stood over the place Ro had been.
Why all this?
He attacked Zane, minutes after realizing something.
Aiden turned his head toward Zane, who was being treated by one of the medics. Lyanna passed by without a word, heading straight for him.
"What happened?" she asked, clearly unsure of what she had just walked into.
"Ask your brother," Aiden replied, leaning against the wall for support as blood ran down his side. "He was the target of that maniac."
Lyanna said nothing. She turned and walked toward Zane, the two exchanging words Aiden couldn't hear.
A guard stepped up beside him, offering an arm. "You need medical attention. Come on."
Aiden nodded, too tired to argue.
As they walked down the stairs, he looked back one more time toward the room above.
Ro had vanished.