The narrow staircase twisted deep beneath the earth.
Kael ran as fast as he could.
Behind him, the heavy footsteps of Highland soldiers echoed through the stone tunnel.
"After him!" one of them shouted.
Torches flickered wildly as the soldiers rushed down the stairs.
Kael's lungs burned, and every breath felt sharp in his chest. His legs ached from exhaustion, but he forced himself to keep running.
He couldn't stop now.
Not after everything that had happened.
His village.
His father.
The sanctuary.
All of it flashed through his mind as he sprinted deeper underground.
Suddenly, an arrow whistled past his head and struck the wall in front of him with a loud crack.
"Stop running!" a soldier yelled.
Kael ignored them.
Instead, he focused on the strange warmth glowing inside his chest.
The magic.
Tiny sparks of fire flickered around his fingers as he ran.
He still didn't understand how it worked, but he could feel its power.
And it belonged to him.
The staircase finally ended, opening into a long underground tunnel.
The walls here were rough and uneven, carved from raw stone rather than ancient ruins.
Kael dashed down the corridor.
Behind him, the soldiers burst out of the staircase.
"There he is!"
"Don't let him escape!"
Kael glanced back.
Five soldiers were chasing him, their armor shining in the torchlight.
Too many.
He clenched his jaw.
"I can't outrun them forever…"
A few moments later, the tunnel split into two paths.
Left.
Right.
Kael hesitated for only a second before turning left and running again.
The passage grew darker as he moved deeper underground.
Soon, two soldiers broke away from the others and followed him.
"Split up!" one of them shouted.
Kael's heart pounded harder.
Two soldiers were still dangerous.
The tunnel suddenly opened into a small cavern.
A fast-moving underground river rushed through the cave, its dark water crashing against jagged rocks.
Kael stopped at the riverbank.
"There's nowhere else to go…"
The soldiers stepped into the cavern behind him.
Their torches lit up the stone walls.
One of them laughed.
"Looks like you're trapped, boy."
Kael slowly stepped backward toward the rushing water.
The river looked deep and dangerous.
The first soldier raised his spear.
"Come quietly," he said coldly. "The Highlands want you alive."
Kael stared at them.
Alive.
That meant they wanted information from him.
Or maybe they feared what he could become.
The fire inside his chest flickered again.
Kael slowly raised his hand.
Small flames appeared around his fingers.
The soldiers froze.
"He's using magic!" one of them shouted.
The second soldier drew his sword.
"Just a beginner spell," he said. "It won't save you."
Kael's heart pounded.
He had never used magic in a real fight before.
What if it failed?
But then he remembered the trials.
The sanctuary.
And his father's final words.
Live… Kael.
Kael took a deep breath.
"Ignis."
The flames around his hand suddenly grew stronger.
A burst of fire shot forward.
WHOOSH!
The flames exploded against the ground between the soldiers, forcing them to jump back.
"Damn it!" one of them shouted.
Kael didn't hesitate.
He turned and leaped into the river.
SPLASH!
The freezing water swallowed him instantly.
The powerful current dragged him downstream through the dark tunnel.
Above the rushing water, the soldiers shouted in anger.
"He jumped!"
"After him!"
But the river carried Kael far beyond their reach.
The tunnel twisted and curved deep beneath the earth.
Kael struggled to keep his head above the water as the current pushed him forward.
His body slammed against rocks, and the icy water stole the warmth from his limbs.
Everything blurred together.
Cold.
Darkness.
The roar of rushing water.
Then suddenly—
Moonlight appeared ahead.
The underground river burst out of a cliffside opening and spilled into a wide forest valley.
Kael was thrown out with the rushing water.
He crashed into the shallow riverbank and rolled onto the wet ground.
For a moment, he lay there, gasping for air.
Alive.
Slowly, Kael pushed himself to his feet.
The forest around him was silent.
No soldiers.
No torches.
Only the sound of the river flowing behind him.
Kael looked up at the night sky.
Far above the clouds, the floating Highlands still shone like distant stars.
Untouchable.
For now.
Kael clenched his fists.
A faint flame flickered briefly around his fingers before fading away.
"I'm not running anymore," he whispered.
Then he turned and walked into the dark forest.
Somewhere in the Lowlands, others like him were still hiding.
And Kael intended to find them.
The war against the Highlands had only just begun.