Rafe could barely stand.
His legs shook each time he tried to take a step, and Mara had to keep a hand under his arm to stop him from collapsing completely. Lyn clutched his other side, her small fingers cold and trembling.
But even with his vision blurring and his body burning from the inside out—
Rafe felt it.
The Hunters were coming.
The forest around them seemed to pulse with approaching footsteps — faint, metallic, synchronized. The air shuddered like the world inhaled sharply.
Selene moved like a woman possessed, forcing them deeper into the trees, her cloak snapping behind her.
"We don't have time," she hissed. "They're already close."
"How many?" Mara demanded.
Selene didn't look back.
"Too many."
The Seer ran beside them, unsettlingly steady for her age.
"You shouldn't have tried to seal him," she muttered, her tone more bitter than apologetic. "It triggered the resonance. The Director definitely felt it."
Rafe forced the words out through his teeth.
"What… is she sending?"
The Seer exhaled shakily.
"Not a Pursuer. Those are basic. She'll send a Traceborn."
Mara frowned."A what?"
Selene answered, voice tense.
"A unit specifically designed to track and capture Primordial anomalies. Not kill. Capture."
Rafe's stomach twisted.
Capture was worse.
Death was mercy.Capture meant experiments, dissection, analysis — everything the Director wanted from him.
Behind them, a faint mechanical chime echoed through the forest, like distant wind chimes made of metal.
Rafe froze.
He knew that sound.
The Seer did too.
Her face drained of color.
"They're already here."
A branch snapped somewhere far behind them.
Not heavy.
Precise.
Rhythmic.
Selene snapped her fingers, conjuring a barrier of shimmering light at their backs.
"We run until that thing hits my shield," she ordered. "Then we change direction."
Mara tightened her grip on Rafe.
"Don't slow down on me, okay?"
He tried to answer, but his voice was barely a breath.
"I'm… trying…"
Lyn lifted her head, eyes glassy.
"I can help… I-I can—"
"No," Selene said sharply. "Your mana signature is small and pure — don't risk exposing it."
Lyn bit her lip, tears forming.
It didn't matter.
The thing following them would find them anyway.
Another chime echoed.
Closer.
Mara swore under her breath.
"Can we fight it?"
"No," Selene said. "Not this one."
The Seer nodded.
"Traceborns adapt. They learn your spell pattern instantly. They don't stop. They don't rest. They reassemble if broken."
Mara's eyes widened.
"So how do we kill it?"
The Seer blinked.
"You don't."
Rafe's heart pounded.
"So how do we survive?"
The Seer pointed ahead.
"Move. If we reach the river before the Traceborn fully calibrates on his aura, we can lose it in the mist."
Selene sped up.
"Keep going!"
But Rafe's steps faltered again, his body shaking violently.
The third layer inside him was still awake — still pushing against the shell Selene created, like a creature testing its cage.
Mara caught him.
"Rafe! Hey—look at me!"
He tried.
Her face blurred.
Lyn tugged desperately at his sleeve."Please don't fall— please don't leave—"
"I'm… okay," Rafe lied.
He wasn't.
Not even close.
The Primordial whispered faintly inside him.
You run from shadows. But shadows run toward you.
Rafe gritted his teeth.
SHUT UP.
The whisper faded, amused.
The forest thinned.The sound of rushing water grew louder.
Selene pushed branches aside and pointed forward.
"There — the river crossing!"
Mara dragged Rafe toward the sound.
But as they reached the incline leading down, the light behind them shattered with a sound like breaking glass.
Selene spun.
Her barrier cracked in three perfect lines — geometric cuts, too precise to be human.
A low, metallic hum echoed through the clearing.
Then something stepped through the trees.
It wasn't large.
It wasn't monstrous.
But it was wrong.
A humanoid machine with a smooth, pale mask for a face. No eyes, no mouth, just a blank surface with glowing marks shifting across it. Its joints moved silently, fluidly, unnervingly graceful. Blue lines pulsed along its limbs, scanning the air.
Every breath Rafe tried to take felt suddenly too loud.
The Seer whispered:
"That's a Traceborn."
Lyn's grip on Rafe tightened painfully.
Mara let out a slow, vicious, terrified growl.
Selene lifted her staff.
"If it touches you," she told Rafe softly, "you won't wake up again."
The Traceborn tilted its head.
A soft, polite chime echoed.
Then a mechanical voice spoke:
"Anomaly located.Extraction protocol initiated."
The ground trembled.
Rafe forced one breath.
He whispered:
"…Run."
They didn't need to be told twice.
Mara grabbed him.Lyn pushed his back.Selene unleashed a blast of light to blind the machine.
The Traceborn stepped forward—
Through the spell.Through the light.Unaffected.
Its mask glowed.
"Acknowledged.Resistance detected."
It raised its arm.
And the forest split apart—
As the hunt truly began.