The tremor beneath their feet wasn't the only thing shaking the world.
Kael's breath hitched as Malrek's words sank in. "The Harvesters." The name alone carried weight — an ancient horror whispered in fearful legends, a force of ruthless extinction summoned only when the old orders wished to cleanse the land.
Anya clung to Kael's side, still weak but fiercely alive. Her eyes, sharp with pain and resolve, met his.
"They're coming," she said. "And we have no time."
---
Outside the Rusted Shrine, the sky was a bruised canvas — dull purples bleeding into black. The stars seemed dimmer, as if the Harvesters themselves snuffed out the light before arrival.
Malrek paced, urgency marking his every step.
"We must move," he said, voice clipped, "or be consumed."
Kael tightened his grip on his sword. "Consumed… or destroyed?"
Malrek didn't answer, just gestured toward the horizon where faint shapes clawed their way through the fog.
---
From the east, the first silhouettes emerged. Towering figures draped in tattered black cloaks, faces obscured by grotesque masks that looked carved from bone and rust. Their gait was slow but inexorable — as if the earth itself sought to swallow them whole but was forced to cough them up in vengeance.
The Harvesters.
Kael's Chain flared—an angry, burning coil around his arm.
His body tensed as memories flooded back. The vision from the Wound—the ancient city swallowed by fire. The screams. The chained souls in the darkness.
"This isn't just a hunt," Kael said, voice low. "It's an annihilation."
---
The Disavowed prepared for war. Malrek barked orders, positioning his few fighters behind crumbling walls and ruined machinery that might serve as cover.
Anya's breathing was ragged, but her hand gripped Kael's arm.
"We don't have the strength for a fight like this," she whispered. "We need to survive. We need to warn the city."
Kael hesitated. The city—their fortress sanctuary, their last bastion. But if the Harvesters reached it…
He shook his head.
"No."
---
A roar split the silence.
The lead Harvester raised a hand — long, clawed fingers twisting into a sign Kael didn't recognize.
The air rippled.
Suddenly, the ground beneath the defenders cracked open in jagged splits, and from the chasms emerged snarling beasts—hulking creatures with segmented limbs, their eyes glowing a cold blue.
Malrek's fighters opened fire, but the beasts were relentless, charging through the bullets like ghosts.
Kael leapt into the fray, his Chain lash whipping through the beasts' ranks. The glowing metal burned flesh and bone alike.
Still, the creatures pressed forward.
---
Amidst the chaos, Kael caught sight of another Harvester approaching — smaller, quicker, wielding twin daggers that gleamed with a sickly green light.
This one moved differently — fluid, almost graceful, but every strike promised death.
Kael met its assault, his Chain shifting shape — from whip to blade, to shield — reacting to the fight as if it were a living part of him.
The battle was brutal. Every moment a test of will, every breath a struggle against overwhelming odds.
---
Suddenly, the Harvester's blade sliced through Kael's forearm.
Pain flared.
But instead of retreating, the Chain flared brighter — responding, evolving.
Kael felt power surging, not just in his arm but deep inside him. The Chain was no longer just a weapon or a curse. It was awakening.
With a roar, Kael shattered the attacker's dagger, then twisted his Chain around its neck.
The creature gasped, its eyes wide with shock.
Kael's grip tightened.
"Tell me," Kael demanded, voice harsh, "why are you here? What does the High Circle want with me?"
The Harvester's eyes flickered — and in that moment, something ancient and terrible passed between them.
Before the creature could answer, a bolt of energy from behind Kael struck it down.
---
Malrek's voice cut through the din.
"Retreat! We are outnumbered!"
The Disavowed pulled back, dragging the wounded with them.
Kael's mind raced. Retreat was a surrender. But survival was the only way to fight another day.
He nodded grimly.
"We fall back."
---
As they ran, the distant gates of the city loomed ahead — their last hope, their sanctuary.
But Kael's heart hammered with dread.
Because he knew.
The Harvesters weren't just coming to kill.
They were coming to reclaim something.
Something buried deep inside him.
---
The gates creaked open — but it wasn't the guards who greeted them.
It was a figure cloaked in shadows, eyes glowing with cruel light.
"Kael," the voice hissed.
"We've been waiting."