They rode fast along the splintered trail east of Elandor, the distant skyline broken by jagged trees and red-misted hills. Varnok sightings had surged again near the Hollow Verge — a cursed forest where Essence twisted and shadows moved wrong.
Kael gripped the reins tighter, his Storm-charged cloak fluttering behind him. The wind bit at his face, but he welcomed it. Anything was better than the tense stillness back at headquarters.
He glanced sideways. "You sure about this one?"
Leiya nodded from her saddle, her twin blades strapped behind her. "If we wait around every time danger shows up, we'll always be too late."
Her voice was calm, but her grip was firm. Eyes forward, focused.
They passed a scorched watchtower, its beacon long dead. Whatever had hit the region, it wasn't small. And the Verge was never kind.
"How bad is it this time?" Kael asked.
"One of the patrols vanished near the brimstone grove," Leiya said. "Scout reported a cluster of heat signatures deep in the trees — not animal. Not human either."
Kael exhaled. "Sounds like a nest."
She nodded grimly. "Or worse."
They didn't speak again for a while. The path grew darker, Essence thick in the air. Birds had gone silent. Trees leaned closer, their bark warped like old scars. Kael could feel the pressure shift — not natural. A slow, pulsing wrongness.
He reached for the weapon latched to his side, eyes scanning the ridgeline.
"By the way," he said after a beat, "I never asked. What Flame are you at now?"
Leiya arched an eyebrow, smirking slightly. "Surprised you noticed."
Kael shrugged. "You've been keeping up better than some veterans. I figured you weren't still in Kindle."
She looked ahead, then replied, "Ignis. Sixth Flame."
He gave a low whistle. "Not bad."
"I'm not just trailing behind anymore, Kael," she added, more serious this time. "I've got my own fire now."
Kael grinned. "Good. Because I'm not slowing down."
The road bent sharply. The trees parted — revealing the edge of the Hollow Verge.
Mist crawled over blackened soil. Strange roots arched like ribs from the ground. In the distance, Essence flared — violent, unstable. Shapes moved, but not with any rhythm the living should have.
Kael's eyes narrowed. "Looks like we're here."
He dismounted, Storm Essence already sparking across his fingertips. Leiya followed, her blades glowing faint with Light and Ice.
They stepped into the Verge together — no hesitation. Just resolve.
Whatever waited inside, it wouldn't catch them off guard.
The Verge breathed like a dying thing.
Every few steps, Kael swore he heard something whisper between the trees — not a voice, not wind, but a low vibration in the Essence around them. The trees here weren't just old; they were wrong. Split open as if clawed from within, yet still rooted and growing, bark rippling with the faint shimmer of corrupted magic.
"We're not alone," Leiya murmured. Her voice was barely above a breath, but it echoed too clearly.
Kael nodded. "Keep your essence steady. If it flares too bright, they'll swarm."
He switched to low-intensity Stormflow — enough to keep his reflexes sharpened without becoming a beacon. Leiya mirrored him, letting her Ice affinity chill the air just slightly, enough to blur their footsteps.
Ahead, a fallen monolith jutted from the ground, etched with broken runes. It hummed faintly — a ward long since shattered.
They passed it in silence.
"Tracks," Kael said, crouching beside a gouge in the mud. Deep, irregular. Not beast. Not bipedal either. Something with weight and unnatural gait. "Fresh."
Leiya frowned. "How fresh?"
Kael looked up. "Fifteen minutes, maybe less."
From deeper in the forest, a tree cracked. Not swayed. Not groaned.
Snapped.
Both of them froze.
Leiya's Light affinity shimmered faintly across her eyes. "Three targets," she whispered. "Moving slow… but spread. Like they're hunting."
Kael clenched his fist, feeling the thrum of his Lightning core ready to ignite. But he didn't spark it yet.
"They're not charging. Not yet," he said. "Which means they're smart enough to stalk."
He stepped forward and motioned for silence. The forest thickened around them, vines twitching slightly as if breathing. Every step felt heavier, like the ground didn't want them here. Kael's foot brushed against something brittle — he looked down.
A torn boot. No foot inside.
Leiya spotted it too. She didn't speak, just drew one blade — pale blue and white Essence humming along its edge.
They reached a rise — a small ledge overlooking a crater-like clearing, vines strangling the edges like veins. And there, barely visible through the mist, were the shapes.
They didn't look like Varnok at first. Too still. Too lean. But then one tilted its head in a slow, jagged motion, and the illusion broke.
Skeletal frames stretched thin, with spines curled unnaturally high. Their arms hung longer than normal — hooked and twitching. No eyes. Just raw Essence leaking through the gaps in their bone-like skin. One had a human face… stitched over its own like a mask.
Leiya's breath caught. "Humanoid Varnok."
Kael's expression darkened. "And there's more than three."
As if hearing him, one of the creatures snapped its head toward them.
Then another.
Then all at once, the clearing filled with the sound of hissing, like air escaping a dying world.
Kael stepped back. "Not yet. Let them move first."
Leiya's eyes narrowed. "You've got a plan?"
He smiled faintly. "I'm building one."
The Varnok didn't charge.
They waited too.
Predators, both sides.
The Hollow Verge had become a pressure chamber — every moment stretched thin, like glass waiting to shatter.
And somewhere behind the mist… something heavier walked.