The alleyways of Veritus weren't meant to breathe, yet they did. A wet wind skated along the cracks between buildings, carrying with it the faint tang of rust and decay. My lungs drew it in, ragged, sharp, as if the air itself were testing me.
The courtyard from last night had barely cooled in memory before the city pulled me back into motion. Something in the stone beneath my boots had changed, the pulse of what I'd awakened still thrumming faintly through the streets. I didn't know if it was warning or promise, but either way, I couldn't ignore it.
I moved quickly now, keeping to the shadows, my eyes scanning. The city felt alive in a way I hadn't noticed before— edges sharper, corners deeper, alleys stretching just beyond their geometry. Something— or someone — was following. I could feel it, not in sound, not in sight, but in the tug beneath my shoulder blade where the Wraithmark rested.
A door slammed somewhere above. Metal against brick. Too deliberate to be coincidence. I pressed myself against the wall and listened. Footsteps— more than one —echoed behind me, overlapping.
I drew the blade from my coat pocket. Cold, firm, a tether to reality. The Wraithmark beneath my skin pulsed in response, low and urgent.
Then they moved.
From the mist, they came — not one shadow, but three. Coats like shifting darkness, faces obscured, Wraithmarks faintly glowing along their necks. They spread out, hemming me in. The alley seemed to shrink around their presence, stone bending to accommodate the weight of them.
I breathed. One, two, three seconds— time enough to sense the pressure they exerted on the air around me. They weren't human, or at least not fully. Each step made the cobblestones hum, vibrating against the soles of my boots like a drumbeat counting down.
The first charged. Fast. Faster than any human should be able to. I sidestepped, letting the momentum carry me past, and slashed with the Wraithmark. Dark light lanced out in jagged arcs, cutting through mist and shadow. The figure staggered, and I didn't wait. I drove into the second, shoulder first, using the impact to throw him against the wall. The sound of stone colliding echoed like a gunshot in the tight alley.
The third circled behind me, and I felt it before I saw it— a pressure, subtle, crawling up my spine. My pulse surged, Wraithmark flaring. I twisted just in time to block a strike aimed at my side. Pain bit into my ribs, but I didn't falter. The dark pulse of energy from my mark surged again, sliding along my arm, snapping the tendrils of something unseen against the air. One of the shadows hissed, recoiling.
"Impressive," the closest one breathed, voice low and rasping. "But the city is ours. It tests those who trespass."
I growled, heart hammering, and pushed forward, breaking the rhythm of their encirclement. Boots splashing through puddles, I drove one figure into the wall, Wraithmark biting the stone beneath him, and he froze mid-step. The pulse thrummed through me, stronger now. The other two hesitated, sensing the surge, sensing me.
And then it broke loose.
The ground beneath our feet heaved violently. The cobblestones buckled, sharp ridges rising like broken teeth. From the cracks, dark strands slithered upward, writhing and reaching— remnants of the city itself responding to the mark. They weren't slow. They were deliberate, searching, hungry.
I moved through them, using every instinct to stay upright. Each pulse of my Wraithmark sent the strands recoiling, but more kept rising, cutting off escape routes. The shadows hissed, lunging again, but now with caution, as if aware they could be caught by what I was channeling.
I swung the blade, the dark light painting arcs across the courtyard. One shadow fell, dissolving into smoke as the Wraithmark's energy tore at its presence. Another came at me head-on, but I ducked, shoulder sliding against the wet stone, and drove my palm into the base of his coat. The pulse shivered into him, black light coiling like serpents over his body. His scream was low, inhuman, and then nothing.
Only one remained. He backed away, watching me with a twisted admiration. "You push the limits," he said. "And you'll break them. Soon."
I didn't respond. The Wraithmark burned against my skin, searing, whispering, urging. The alley felt smaller, denser, alive with the residue of what I'd forced awake.
A new tremor ran through the ground beneath us, sharper than before. I realized the city itself was responding, the weight beneath the stone shifting again— older, vast, aware. My boots sank slightly into the surface, and I felt the pulse of the city through me, a heartbeat I could grasp, strain against, command if I dared.
The shadow lunged. I met him head-on, Wraithmark flaring along my arm, dark light coiling into the space between us. The collision made the air hiss, and the ground beneath us cracked with silent fury. I could feel the remnants trying to reach him, to consume him, and he struggled against it, clawing at the stones, but my mark held stronger.
Then he screamed. Not in fear — something else. Something primal.
I drove him into the wall with everything I had, Wraithmark thrumming. The cracks in the stone reached toward him, black strands tightening like shackles. I could feel his energy, his unnatural essence, writhing and twisting, trying to escape.
And then, silence.
The remnants retreated into the fissures, leaving the courtyard trembling in stillness. The final shadow collapsed, his coat vanishing into the night as if it had never existed. My chest heaved, wet hair plastered to my face, the Wraithmark cooling to a faint, throbbing heat.
I looked around. The alleyways were empty. The city exhaled, heavier, darker, aware. I was alone.
But I knew better.
Somewhere, in the shifting heart of Veritus, eyes followed. And I wasn't the only one testing limits tonight.
I dropped to my knees, hands braced against the wet stones, breathing hard. The pulse of the Wraithmark still throbbed, faint but insistent. I could feel every ripple beneath the stone— the city alive, awake, and watching. It didn't frighten me. Not entirely. But it reminded me: my strength had limits, and those limits had been crossed tonight.
The rain returned as I stumbled back toward the main street, light drizzle first, then steady enough to soak through my coat. Mist curled around the alley corners, hiding any trace of my pursuers. I didn't slow down. I didn't stop. Every step burned, but I welcomed the ache. It reminded me I was real.
By the time I reached the main avenue, the city felt normal again, indifferent to the fight that had raged within its veins. Neon signs flickered lazily, vendors cleaned their stalls, and the hum of engines thrummed beneath the wet stones. Nothing had changed outwardly. Everything had changed inwardly.
I found the pendant in my pocket, tracing its faint pulse. The Wraithmark had responded to me in ways I hadn't thought possible. The city had tested me, and I'd pushed back. But I knew the warning: the limits I had reached tonight were only the beginning.
And somewhere in the shifting darkness, I could feel it— the promise of more, the pull of challenges yet to come.
I didn't know if I'd survive the next test. I only knew I would face it. And push further.
The alleyways waited silently, watching.
And I would return.