The screams of the people echoed between the walls, their bodies pressing and pushing like frightened waves.
Children ran barefoot,
women dragged baskets of bread as they fled,
and a vendor toppled over his cart, shouting:
"Shadows! The Shadows have returned… Run!"
From the smoke emerged a twisted shape—its limbs unnaturally long, crawling like a spider but leaping like a panther.
Its eyes glowed fiercely, and its breath chilled the street, as if sucking the life from everything around it.
It stopped before a small child who had fallen to the ground, trembling violently and screaming madly.
Liura gasped and sprinted to save him.
"Liura! Wait!" Revan snapped sharply.
Without looking back, she replied, "What is this…?"
Her hand reached toward the child, panting, when the shadow lunged at her like a nightmare.
Before it could touch her, a glow burst from her palm—
magic, wild and chaotic, yet powerful enough to hurl the creature away.
The child began to cry and fled down a narrow alley, searching for safety.
The shadow roared—a roar that made stones tremble.
Three more shadows appeared from the street's edges, their numbers multiplying as if the earth itself spewed them forth.
Revan ran toward Liura.
"This is more than we can handle!"
Liura stepped back.
"Their magic… it's different from what we faced in the forest!"
Revan's voice dropped, stern and focused:
"Liura… protect the other side. I'll take care of these."
He wasn't afraid—only worried.
Worried for the child who had just fled,
worried for the screaming women,
worried for the city that had no idea this was just the beginning.
Revan planted his feet firmly and extended his hand.
A blue light gathered in his palm, like dawn caught between his fingers.
"Reveal the shadow… Norris Nova!"
A beam exploded from his hand, forming a glowing magical aura.
A flame shot forth, piercing the chest of one shadow, burning it until it shriveled to ash.
The ash drifted down slowly…
but this was no end—only the prelude to a fiercer battle.
Three more shadows crawled through the smoke.
One was taller, with twisted horns and a hiss that sounded like the breath of the dead.
"They won't stop…" Liura panted.
"But we won't retreat," Revan's eyes blazed.
His palm lit up again, but suddenly the ground trembled beneath their feet…
From the mist came the sound of heavy footsteps on the cobblestones.
"Tap… tap… tap…"
The rhythm was slow, steady, eerily calm.
Then he appeared.
From the fog stepped a young man no older than twenty,
his athletic body moving with the grace of a warrior,
brown hair swaying with the dusty breeze,
and eyes so steady, as if they already knew the battle's outcome.
At the center of his neck,
a strange tattoo—three-headed and mountain-shaped—
stood out clearly, even in the shadows.
As if born to be seen.
The creatures paused.
Even the shadows took a step back.
The young man's calm voice echoed:
"Gravida."
Suddenly the ground shook violently.
The stone market floor cracked open,
and huge pillars of earth rose, encircling the shadows…
then crushed them with the force of the land itself.
A strange silence fell over the place.
The mist slowly cleared,
leaving only the young man standing amid the rubble, his tattoo glowing.
He turned calmly and looked at Liura and Revan.
With a tone edged with amusement, he said:
"Oh… you won? How surprising."
He stepped toward them slowly, eyes full of confidence—and boredom.
The young man, with soft arrogance, said:
"I expected something more exciting.
Low-tier shadows? Is that all they have?"
He glanced at Liura and Revan, raising an eyebrow as if entertained by the scene:
"And you two… were you fighting? Or just stumbling on the ground pretending?"
He laughed shortly, then added:
"Well, no thanks necessary.
Saving the weak is part of my daily hobbies."
Before he could finish, Revan moved.
He grabbed the young man by his collar,
pulled him close with firm but light force,
and looked at him coldly.
"Who are you?
Before I blow your head off and turn you into a monument of stupidity."
Liura's calm gaze and soft yet firm voice interrupted:
"Enough, Revan."
Her presence was different—as if anger itself paused to listen.
Revan hesitated for a moment, then exhaled slowly and released the young man.
Kyle adjusted his collar without hurry,
but his eyes didn't return to Revan.
They rested on Liura.
He studied her silently for a few seconds.
His gaze unreadable—somewhere between curiosity, suspicion, and mysterious attraction.
The young man muttered, as if forgetting they were there:
"Strange…"
His tone softened, with a hint of interest:
"You… are not like the others, are you?"
He paused as if waiting for an answer,
but Liura neither smiled nor looked away.
She met his gaze steadily, her voice calm but sharp:
"Who are you? What do you want?"
Her voice held no fear—only focus and doubt.
Kyle stepped back, hands behind his back, eyes to the gray sky.
"My name is Kyle… just Kyle."
He looked at them again, his voice balancing between mockery and honesty:
"My goal?… Nothing specific.
I just go where the fun is."
He gave a slight sideways smile, as if chaos itself was his map.
Liura raised her gaze at Kyle,
studying his careless smile and eyes unlike anyone else's.
"If you're looking for fun… maybe you'll find it with us.
Our next destination is no ordinary place."
Kyle chuckled briefly, then leaned forward a little, speaking sarcastically:
"Join you? What a ridiculous offer."
He laughed lightly, then added with a more biting sarcasm:
"Trust me, I have more creative ways to waste my time."
He glanced aside as if ending the conversation,
but his eyes lingered on Liura for a moment.
Inside him, something unsettled.
He wasn't sure what he saw…
but she was different. Too calm…
and that calm unsettled him.
He turned away, ready to end the talk,
but Liura's voice stopped him—steady, cold, and direct:
"Do you think you're too deep to waste your time?
You wander aimlessly, chasing pleasure as if it has meaning."
"In the end… you're free.
This is your path. No one controls your steps. Do as you please."
Kyle paused, said nothing for a moment.
A strange sparkle in his eyes—a mix of surprise and suppressed respect.
Then he chuckled lightly, raising an eyebrow:
"I'll come with you."
He turned his face back to her and added:
"Maybe I was wrong about you, girl. You're interesting."
But before he could take another step, Revan's sharp voice interrupted, full of displeasure:
"No. No, no, no.
Are you really thinking of dragging this fool along with us?"
Then he turned to Kyle, voice dry:
"Stay on your path, find your fun far from ours."
Kyle, with clear sarcasm and stubbornness, replied:
"Oh… so you don't want me to come?
Good. That's exactly why I decided I'm coming."
He pointed forward like announcing with fake enthusiasm:
"Fun? It's here.
Drama? Plenty.
Frowning faces? Like yours? Perfect for entertaining the road."
He walked calmly, hands in his pockets, adding with a smile:
"Come on, my new friends… let's see who explodes first."
Revan muttered, grinding his teeth, then turned to Liura complaining:
"Really, Liura?
Why did you bring this with us?"
Liura didn't look at him directly, but spoke quietly, her voice heavy:
"After today's battle… I realized something."
She paused, then looked at him:
"Shadows aren't easy, Revan.
And we… aren't enough alone."
Revan was silent, as if sensing the truth, but he didn't like it.
Liura:
"I don't fully trust him… but I feel his strength.
We might need every bit of power, even if it's annoying."
Kyle, tying back his hair after the fight, approached quietly, voice carrying light reproach:
"You call them shadows?"
Liura raised an eyebrow as Revan looked at him expectantly.
Kyle:
"The correct name isn't 'shadows.' It's just a nickname spread by those who don't know their truth."
He pointed to the remains of the evaporated creature on the ground:
"The real name… is Zierath.
They are the lowest rank in a wider lineage known as Azarim."
Liura didn't respond at first, but her gaze narrowed.
"What makes you so sure?
You look too young to speak like an expert."
Kyle scoffed and stepped away, looking up at the sky:
"Because I've fought more than you can imagine…
and I'm still alive."
A moment of silence prevailed.
Revan:
"Zierath… Azarim… no one told us this."
Kyle:
"Of course not. Only a few know the truth about these monsters."
He pointed at them again:
"First lesson: a name gives power.
Whoever doesn't know what they fight loses before the battle even begins."
Kyle looked at them again, this time with narrowed eyes as if connecting dots:
"By the way… where exactly are you from?"
Neither answered immediately, but Kyle studied them:
"Your clothes, your accent, your fighting style…
You don't resemble the people of Calvera.
In fact, you don't resemble anyone in this part of the continent."
Revan opened his mouth to speak, voice cautious:
"We're from Mora—"
Suddenly, Liura quickly covered his mouth.
"We… lived in the forest.
With our teacher. Far from cities."
Kyle stared silently, then his eyes widened slightly, as if recognizing a familiar tone in her words.
"Teacher?"
He stepped closer, voice mysterious:
"Don't tell me his name is… Eliora?"
Liura and Revan froze.
Revan blinked twice, while Liura's gaze briefly dropped before lifting again.
"You know him?"
Kyle chuckled softly and said:
"Who doesn't know Eliora?
That name is only spoken in stories… or in critical moments."
A silence fell after Kyle spoke the name, as if the forest behind them and the city ahead had stopped breathing.
Kyle's eyes gleamed with something unreadable, and he said slowly:
"I haven't seen him in a long time…
But if Eliora sent you, it means only one thing…"
His words paused, then he looked at them with deeper meaning:
"You're not here by accident.
Nor is this war."
Liura blinked slowly, while Revan exchanged a quick glance with her.
Kyle turned his back quietly:
"The question now… are you ready for the coming battle?"
He stepped forward before adding with calm confidence:
"The Zierath were only the beginning."
Then he walked away, leaving the echo of his words deep within them.