The Traceborn moved first.
Not fast—instant.
One moment it stood among the trees, blank mask glowing.
The next—
It was in front of them.
Rafe didn't even see it move.The world simply changed positions around it.
Mara reacted first, pure instinct.
She swung Rafe backward and threw herself in front of him, planting her foot into the earth with a sharp stomp that cracked the dirt.
"DON'T TOUCH HIM!"
Her punch shot forward like a crater forming, raw strength amplified by desperation.
It hit the Traceborn's mask dead-on.
A shockwave rippled across the clearing.
For a moment—
It looked like she'd done it.That she'd actually stopped it.
Then the Traceborn tilted its head, mask smooth and unbroken.
Mara's expression dropped.
"…you've gotta be kidding me."
The Traceborn lifted a single finger.
Ping.
A tiny chime.Harmless sound.Barely audible.
Mara flew backward like a ragdoll.
She crashed into a tree with enough force to splinter the trunk, gasping as air was knocked out of her lungs.
"MARA!" Lyn screamed.
Rafe tried to run toward her—But Selene grabbed him, dragging him away.
"Move! You can't fight that thing!"
The Traceborn was suddenly where Mara had been.Then standing where Selene stood.Then beside Lyn.
Blinking through space.
Scanning.Targeting.Learning.
Its voice echoed, calm and cold:
"Threat level adjusted.Primary objective: anomaly extraction."
It reached toward Rafe.
And the world narrowed to a single breath.
"No—!" Rafe tried to twist away.
Lyn jumped between them.
"STOP!"
The Traceborn paused mid-motion.
Not because Lyn scared it.But because something in her small burst of mana created static in its scan.
It tilted its head toward her.
Evaluating.Categorizing.
"Unregistered mana.Secondary anomaly detected."
Lyn froze.
Selene's eyes widened in horror.
"No— no, no— don't analyze her—"
The Traceborn lifted its hand toward Lyn.
A beam of blue data-light formed at its fingertip.
Selene reacted instantly.
"LYN, DOWN!"
She slammed her staff into the ground, creating a wall of shimmering brilliance.
The data beam struck the wall—And the wall didn't block it.
It absorbed it.
Selene flinched.
"That's… new."
The Traceborn appeared behind her in the blink of an eye.
Selene didn't turn quickly enough.
It touched her shoulder.
Her body locked up.
"SELENE!" Rafe shouted.
A soft chime echoed.
"Nonessential.Paralysis applied."
Selene fell to her knees, unable to move.
Mara staggered to her feet, blood at her lip.
"You… BASTARD—!"
She charged again.
This time the Traceborn didn't bother dodging.
It calculated her strike—
And struck first.
Its hand tapped her chest.
One tap.
A gentle touch.
Like a finger knocking against a door.
Mara collapsed instantly, unconscious before she hit the ground.
Rafe's breath shattered.
He stepped forward without thinking.
"No.NO—!"
Lyn grabbed his arm, crying.
"Please don't— please—!"
But Rafe couldn't listen.
His vision tunneled.
The world dimmed—Light bending—Shadow trembling—That third layer pulsing hard enough to make his heart malfunction.
The Traceborn turned toward him.
Its mask rearranged, symbols shifting like an ancient script decoding his existence.
"Anomaly unstable.Immediate extraction required."
It raised its hand—
And reached for him.
Rafe's aura snapped.
Something inside him cracked open like a door kicked off its hinges.
Not Light.Not Shadow.Not Primordial.
Something deeper.
Older.
Silent.
A faint mist curled around Rafe's feet, blue and cold.
The Traceborn hesitated.
Its mask flickered.
Then it spoke again—
But this time, its voice glitched.
"Warning: unknown resonance…Unidentified layer…This anomaly——this anomaly——cannot be——parsed."
The forest vibrated.
Wind reversed.Shadows bent toward Rafe.Light leaned away.
And the Traceborn—
For the first time—
Stepped back.
Rafe felt nothing except the pressure in his chest building and building and building—
"Rafe—!" Lyn cried.
He couldn't hear her.
He couldn't hear anything.
His thoughts drowned beneath the weight of the third layer rising.
Something gripped his spine from the inside and forced breath into his lungs.
His vision went white.
Then black.
Then both.
A whisper echoed through the collapsing world:
"Let me out."
Rafe's eyes snapped open—
Not entirely his own.
And the Traceborn finally—
truly—recognized danger.