I quickly pocket the letter and try to get Ashveil back into the shadows before anyone sees, but the damage is already done. Liira moves in the corner of my vision, and I turn around to see multiple Scorchbane already on the move to take me and Ashveil away. I grab Liira by the arm, and we take off running with Zephera close behind. A quick glance behind me confirms that there is a squad of six hunters chasing us with a clear leader charging in front.
"Liira, over here" I gasp as we round the corner into the market.
"We can lose them here."
Liira follows close behind as we run left and right when I hear a deep, manly-like voice call after us.
"You can run Solace, but you can't hide," he calls out.
Then it hits me, like a knife to the heart. I know that voice. I start to panic as I go through the list of people who it could be.
"Mais Adler?" I whisper. No. It can't be. But that voice—I'd recognize it in my sleep. My legs nearly falter, as my heart beats so fast like it wants to escape my chest.
Liira looks up at me, breathless and wide-eyed.
"Let's split up," a woman's voice to the right shouts.
I veer left and run into a muscular looking man holding two knives ready to throw when a thin woman runs behind us, trapping us in the aisle. I grab Liira and force her behind me and my head darts back and forth between the two. The muscular man looks like he might be in his upper twenties as the woman behind us looks to be about my age. As she slows down her face changes from pissed off to having a giant smirk.
I tell Liira to duck as the muscular man throws his knife straight for my throat, nearly missing.
"I thought our order was to bring her in alive Kael," the woman calls out from behind us.
"Fuck off" he responds and tries again with his other knife. I move to the left causing Liira to jump back in a startle.
"Elena," Liira yells as a knife is being held to her throat.
No, no no no, I say to myself.
"Move any closer, and this knife will be covered in her blood," She says with a smile.
"Thyra," says the deep, manly like voice. I dart my head around to see Mais Addler walking over from Kael's right.
"Mais," I say trying to hold back the panic look on my face.
"Please, tell them to let go of her," I say nearly breaking into tears.
"Oh you know I can't do that, Elena." He lowers his head a little and says, "Just hand your self over, and she will be fine."
I look around, taking note of what was around me. The knife that Kael threw earlier landed just 5 feet from my boot giving me a sudden idea.
I take a deep breathe, plant me feet firmly in the ground when I look straight in his eyes. Mais lets the worry in his eyes slip before quickly masking it.
"Fine," he mutters, voice cold. "I want her alive," he snaps toward Kael.
"Fine," Kael says barking back to where Mais stands, or where he should have been standing.
I guess that's one of his powers: teleportation.
"Elena!" Lirra yells back.
The blade is still pressed to her skin. My thoughts spiral. I step back and channel everything I have, reaching deep inside for my power—calling out for help.
A second later a Veilshadow Lynx emerges out of the shadows behind me making itself exposed. The shimmering coat that shifts between shadow and light is almost translucent as it gets closer and closer. With every step the Lynx takes, I can make out the creature's glowing violet eyes.
"My name is Nyxari," she says softly. "I came to help you in your time of need." Her voice changing to worry as she becomes more and more aware of the situation. "Don't fret," she says quickly, masking her emotion, "I am giving the power to wield shadows. Use it wisely." She steps aside as if the show was about to begin. I turn my head to see Liira and the woman holding her captive, gawking over the Lynx.
I feel it—the flood of power. The shadows gather and pulse around me. I stare down at my hands, or where they should be. Nothing. Just air and the hum of raw power vibrating in my blood. I don't hesitate—I can't. My hand finds the blade on the ground, and before the woman can react, it's buried deep in her side. I grab Liira, running passed the muscular man, looking at him with a casual smile. I give Nyzari a quick thank you and just like that her power vanishes.
Liira and I sprint as fast as we can to get out of there and as soon as we think we are safe, we slow down to catch our breath.
Liira asks, "Elena who are they and what do they want with you."
"They are Scorchbane, people who go through the Transformation after failing in the Trials or being corrupted by the Ember Star's unstable energy," I explained quickly. "They are basically out to kill anyone with rare abilities who threaten them for their rise to the top, but I haven't done anything that would cause this." I stop as the memory of the interaction between me and Mais Addler begins to rush back. That's why they were after me. He knew about my power and everything started to make sense.
Mais Adler wasn't always a monster. He used to believe in me—used to protect me. We met when I was nine, just days after my power first surfaced. I'd accidentally shattered a crystal barrier during a street scuffle, and he was the one who dragged me into hiding before the enforcers could find me. He should've turned me in right then. Instead, he kept my secret. For years. But things changed when his younger brother went through the Trials and didn't come back. Word is, he died in a flare of unstable Ember magic—magic that looked too much like mine. After that, Mais joined Scorchbane, twisted by grief and convinced that people like me are too dangerous to be left alive. He thinks the Wyrdcall is a curse. A ticking bomb. And he's made it his mission to snuff it out—starting with me. That's why he's here. Not because he wants justice. But because he wants revenge.
I stand up and tell Liira that we can't stay here and that we have to head towards the forest. I peer around the corner to see if we were safe and we take off running. I see something shine and I freeze. A line of Trial Wardens, their silver armor glinting like ice in the fading light. I whirl around. Behind us, six Scorchbane close in fast, their footsteps pounding like war drums. We're trapped.
I look back and forth when a sudden crack of silver light blinds me. I throw my arm over Liira, shielding her as a thunderous crack echoes through the square. It splits the air like lightning. The Scorchbane freeze—every single one of them.
Then a voice, sharp and commanding, cuts through the chaos:
"Stand down. She is under Warden jurisdiction."
Before I can process what's happening, a pulse of energy slams into me. Not pain—just weight. Crushing, invisible, pulling me under like deep water.
Liira screams my name.
And then—
Darkness.