The light-thread beneath their feet trembled.
Iris froze mid-step, glancing down at the shimmering path. It had been steady since they left the guardian island, but now ripples ran through it like something enormous was moving below.
Nyx turned sharply, eyes narrowing. "We're not alone anymore."
Thalen shifted his grip on his sword. "He's coming."
They broke into a run.
The thread curved sharply upward toward a small island shaped like a broken crescent. Shards of crystal drifted around it, slowly rotating. Iris could feel the fragment of the Heart in her satchel pulsing, tugging them forward—urging her to move faster.
Halfway across, the path shuddered again.
A shape rose from the void below.
At first it was just darkness, then it took form—a towering figure wrapped in a cloak of shifting masks, each face turning to watch them as it passed. The Lord of Masks didn't need to walk; he simply glided upward until he was level with the thread.
"I gave you a head start," his voice echoed, calm but cold. "It's time to end the game."
The masks on his cloak broke free, spinning through the air like silver-edged blades.
Nyx shoved Iris forward. "Go!"
One of the spinning masks sliced through the thread just behind them. The severed section dissolved into sparks, forcing them to leap the gap.
Thalen turned mid-run, batting away a mask with his sword. It shattered, reforming in the Lord's hand an instant later.
"You can't outrun me here," the Lord said, drifting closer. "This is my domain."
Iris tightened her grip on the watch. "Then maybe it's time we stop running."
The words left her mouth before she fully realized what she was doing. She skidded to a halt on the thread, turning to face him.
The Lord's head tilted, curious. "Brave. Or foolish."
Iris raised the watch, focusing on the patterns it held. She felt the fragment in her satchel answer, the two pulses syncing into one rhythm.
Light flared between them—thin at first, then growing into a blinding arc that connected her to the Lord.
He staggered back, masks on his cloak screaming in unison. The thread beneath them buckled, sending Nyx and Thalen scrambling for balance.
Through the light, Iris saw something—flashes of the Lord without his mask. A fae face, sharp and unyielding, but marked by cracks of starlight running through the skin. Not human. Not whole.
The vision broke as he slashed a hand through the beam, cutting it off.
"You are playing with fire, Seer," he hissed. "And fire always consumes."
The thread twisted violently, throwing them forward. They landed hard on the crescent island, skidding across the crystalline ground.
Nyx was the first up. "Move! He's not going to give up now."
The path ahead splintered into three threads. Without thinking, Iris took the center one. The others dissolved instantly—leaving the Lord of Masks stranded on the opposite side.
For now.
They didn't stop running.
The thread carried them through a region of the Fold Iris had never seen—vast spirals of floating stone, each etched with constellations. Here, the light was dimmer, shadows thicker, and she could feel the Lord's presence pressing in from the edges, searching for a way to cut them off.
Thalen kept pace beside her. "He's not chasing us to kill us. Not yet."
Nyx's voice was grim. "No. He wants the shard. And her."
Iris swallowed hard. "Then we make sure he gets neither."
After what felt like hours, the thread dipped toward another island. This one was smaller but crowned with a stone archway, its surface covered in runes that pulsed faintly.
Nyx slowed. "This is a Fold Gate."
Thalen frowned. "Meaning?"
"Meaning it can take us anywhere in the Fold—or throw us straight into the void."
The Lord's voice drifted toward them, closer now. "Run to your doorways. Hide behind your tricks. I will find you."
Iris didn't hesitate. She ran to the arch and pressed the watch against the runes. The symbols flared, spinning faster and faster until the air inside the arch became liquid light.
Nyx looked at her sharply. "You don't know where it leads."
"I know it's not here," she said.
The Lord's shadow stretched across the thread behind them.
"Jump!" Thalen barked.
They leapt together.
Light swallowed them, and the last thing Iris saw was the Lord of Masks stepping onto the island, mask tilted in something like amusement.
"This isn't over," his voice followed. "It has only just begun."
They landed hard on black stone. The air here was thick and warm, and above them swirled a sky of gold and crimson. The Fold was gone.
Nyx stared around. "Well. That's new."
Iris looked down at the watch. It was still ticking—but faster now, as though counting down to something she couldn't yet see.