The first one reached them with terrifying speed.
It didn't run.
It glided its body skimming over the ash-dark sand as if the ground itself pushed it forward. Its limbs bent at angles that made Liora's stomach churn, joints popping audibly as it lunged.
Kael shoved her backward with what little strength he had left. "MOVE!"
The creature struck where she'd been standing a heartbeat earlier, claws tearing deep furrows into the ash. Its face split open not in a mouth, but in a vertical seam lined with dull, ember-glowing teeth.
Liora screamed.
Kael roared back.
Shadows exploded outward from him in a violent surge, slamming into the creature and hurling it away. The force knocked Kael to one knee, blood spraying from his mouth as he gasped for breath.
The crimson fractures in his eyes flared brighter.
"Kael!" Liora cried, scrambling toward him.
"Don't" He coughed violently. "Don't touch me."
Too late.
Another figure lunged from the side.
Instinct took over.
Liora raised her hand.
Light flared.
Not blinding. Not pure.
It was structured sigils snapping into existence mid-air, spinning and locking together like parts of a living equation. The force slammed into the creature, folding space just enough to crush it inward with a wet, bone-breaking sound.
Silence fell.
The remaining figures froze.
So did Liora.
She stared at her hand, heart hammering, the glow fading slowly from her skin.
"I… didn't think," she whispered.
Kael looked up at her, horror and awe warring across his face. "You didn't draw from me."
"I know."
The ground trembled.
The figures began to laugh.
Dry, cracked laughter echoed across the dunes, bouncing unnaturally as if the land itself found the sound amusing.
"Well," rasped the first one, straightening unnaturally. "That confirms it."
Another tilted its head toward Liora. "She's awake."
Kael staggered to his feet, shadows writhing violently around him. "Stay back."
They ignored him.
"You should not exist," one said calmly. "Neither of you should."
Liora's pulse thundered. "Then what are you?"
The figures shifted.
Their forms peeled back like shedding skin, illusions dissolving to reveal what lay beneath.
They were not humanoid.
They were stitched.
Fragments of bone, armor, flesh, and shadow fused together by sigils burned directly into their bodies. Multiple ribcages overlapped. Extra limbs twitched uselessly along their sides. Their eyes too many of them glowed with dull, knowing light.
Kael sucked in a sharp breath.
"Hunters," one of them said. "Threshold Wardens."
Liora's blood went cold.
"You hunt people like us," she whispered.
"We reclaim what escapes," it replied. "We unmake what destabilizes."
Another stepped closer, its gaze locking onto Kael. "And you…
It smiled.
"are overflowing."
The ancient presence stirred, closer now, heavy with anticipation.
THEY CLEAN WHAT I CANNOT.
Rage flared through Liora. "You brought us here to be killed."
I BROUGHT YOU HERE TO BE MEASURED.
The hunters spread out, moving with coordinated precision, cutting off every possible escape route. Sigils flared beneath their feet, anchoring them to the realm itself.
Kael's breath came faster. "Liora… they're not going to stop."
She tightened her grip on his arm. "Then neither are we."
The hunters attacked.
The world erupted into chaos.
One lunged for Liora-Kael intercepted it mid-stride, shadows forming jagged blades that tore through its torso. Black ichor sprayed across the sand, hissing as it burned away.
The hunter didn't fall.
It laughed and slammed its fist into Kael's chest.
He flew backward, hitting the ground hard enough to crack it. Shadows burst outward uncontrolled, rippling violently as Kael screamed, clutching his chest.
"KAEL!"
Liora spun, power flaring instinctively again. Sigils formed faster this time, snapping into place with terrifying ease. She hurled them forward, bending gravity itself.
Two hunters were crushed into the ground, bodies imploding into themselves.
The remaining ones hissed.
"She's accelerating."
"Terminate her first."
Kael forced himself upright, blood streaming freely now. The fractures in his eyes spread further, crimson light leaking like molten glass.
"No," he growled.
Something snapped inside him.
The shadows didn't just surge.
They answered.
They rose up around him, no longer wild or random, but structured forming wings, blades, armor etched with the same ancient patterns carved into the ruins.
The land recoiled.
Even the hunters hesitated.
Liora stared in shock. "Kael…"
He turned toward her slowly.
For a terrifying second, she didn't recognize him.
Then.,,
"Don't be afraid," he said softly.
The shadows lunged.
Not outward.
Downward.
They plunged into the sand, spreading like roots, like veins, connecting Kael directly to the realm beneath them.
The ground screamed.
The hunters shrieked as shadows erupted from below, impaling them, tearing them apart, dragging them screaming into the depths.
Liora covered her mouth, horror flooding her.
This wasn't defense.
It was annihilation.
Kael stood at the center of it, shaking violently, shadows pouring from him unchecked.
"Kael, stop!" she screamed. "You're letting it in!"
He turned toward her, eyes blazing with layered light. "I know."
The last hunter crawled toward him, body half-destroyed.
"You've crossed the line," it rasped. "You belong to the abyss now."
Kael looked down at it.
"I crossed it when you touched her."
He raised his hand.
The hunter was erased.
Silence fell again.
The sand settled.
Liora rushed toward him, grabbing his shoulders. "Kael look at me. Look at me!"
His gaze snapped to hers.
For a heartbeat, the shadows stilled.
Then his knees buckled.
She barely caught him before he collapsed into her arms.
"I didn't mean to go that far," he whispered weakly. "But they wouldn't stop."
She clutched him tightly, tears streaming down her face. "I know. I know."
The ancient presence loomed closer than ever.
YOU HAVE FED THE DEPTHS.
The ground trembled violently.
Far beneath them, something answered.
A pulse rippled through the realm, carrying Kael's act outward like a signal flare.
Liora felt it instantly.
Eyes opening.
Attention turning.
Her breath hitched. "What did you do to him?"
HE HAS CLAIMED TERRITORY.
Kael's eyes fluttered open slightly. "That's… bad, isn't it?"
She laughed weakly through tears. "You could say that."
The ruins ahead began to glow brighter now, sigils activating one by one as if responding to Kael's presence.
Something inside them was waking up.
And something else…..
Far, far away….
Had noticed.
The presence's voice softened, almost pleased.
NOW THEY WILL COME.
Liora's heart sank. "Who?"
The ground split open behind them.
A shadow deeper than night rose slowly, towering, vast, its shape impossible to fully perceive.
Kael went utterly still.
"That," he whispered hoarsely.
The shadow leaned closer.
And spoke.
"RETURN WHAT YOU STOLE."