The road out of the quarry felt narrower than the one that had led them in.
No one said it aloud, but they all felt it—that pressure in the air, the sense that something had shifted from watching to deciding. The quarry hadn't just been a test. It had been a signal flare.
Nyx walked ahead, scouting wider arcs than usual. Borin stayed close to Elyra, matching her pace instinctively whenever her steps faltered. Kael brought up the rear, bow in hand, eyes constantly flicking to shadows that hadn't existed before.
They hadn't gone a mile when Nyx froze.
She didn't raise a hand. Didn't signal.
She just stopped.
Kael felt it a heartbeat later—the Mark tightening, not flaring, not burning, but pulling sideways, like a compass needle dragged by a stronger magnet.
"Company," Nyx said quietly. "Hunters."
Borin frowned. "Registry?"
Nyx shook her head once. "No."
Elyra swallowed. "Then who?"
Nyx turned, eyes dark. "People who aren't hiding anymore."
They stepped into a clearing where the old road split—one path continuing toward Blackhollow, the other dipping toward a ravine choked with pine and fog.
Four figures waited there.
They didn't ambush. They didn't hide.
They stood, relaxed and confident, as if this was a meeting they'd scheduled.
Renn Varn leaned against a boulder at the center, gilded sword resting on his shoulder like an accessory instead of a weapon. His cloak caught the light in a way it hadn't before—subtly wrong, absorbing color instead of reflecting it.
Beside him stood Cressa, spear grounded, posture rigid and conflicted. Halvek lingered a step behind, hammer hanging low, jaw clenched so tightly his teeth creaked. Joryn stood furthest back, pale and shaking, eyes darting like a trapped animal's.
Nyx exhaled slowly. "Well. That explains the itch."
Borin's grip tightened on his hammer. "Renn."
Renn smiled broadly. "Stonefall. Still breathing. I'd hoped."
Elyra stiffened. "You shouldn't be here."
Renn pushed off the boulder and took a casual step forward. "Neither should lions in cities. Or doors in quarries."
His gaze slid to Kael.
"And yet," Renn murmured, "here we all are."
Kael didn't move. "Step aside."
Renn chuckled. "Straight to commands? No greeting? I'm hurt."
Nyx's blades slid free with a soft whisper. "You tracked us."
Renn nodded easily. "Yes."
Borin's voice was low and dangerous. "Why."
Renn tilted his head, studying them like a painter considering a canvas. "Because you keep surviving things you shouldn't."
His eyes lingered on Kael's shoulders.
"And because you keep closing doors that could be opened."
Elyra stepped forward, staff humming faintly. "You're playing with forces you don't understand."
Renn's smile sharpened. "I understand ambition."
Cressa finally spoke, her voice tight. "Renn, don't do this."
Renn didn't look at her. "I already am."
Halvek shifted uneasily. "We weren't told it would be them."
Renn glanced back, annoyed. "You were told to follow."
Joryn whispered, barely audible, "Renn… please."
Renn sighed. "Always the choir boy."
Kael took a step forward. "If you want me, say it."
Renn's eyes lit. "Oh, I do."
The Mark pulsed sharply.
Renn felt it. He laughed softly. "There it is. Every time."
Nyx moved half a step in front of Kael without thinking. "You don't get him."
Renn raised an eyebrow. "See, that's the difference between us."
He gestured to his group. "They follow me."
Then he looked back at the Grey Hunt.
"You choose each other."
Borin snarled. "Don't pretend you admire that."
Renn shrugged. "I admire efficiency. Loyalty is a tool. Fear is another."
Elyra's voice trembled—not with fear, but anger. "You opened a breach."
Renn nodded, unconcerned. "Yes."
"You killed people," Elyra said.
Renn tilted his head. "Indirectly."
Nyx's eyes hardened. "That's not better."
Renn sighed theatrically. "Must everything be so moral with you?"
Kael raised his bow—not drawing, just grounding. "This ends now."
Renn smiled wider. "I was hoping you'd say that."
He lifted his hand.
The air shifted.
Not tearing—pressing.
A ripple rolled through the clearing, distorting the fog, bending sound. The ground vibrated faintly, like something large had shifted far below.
Borin staggered. "What—"
Renn's sword hummed.
Not loudly.
Hungrily.
Halvek's eyes widened. "Renn—this isn't what you said it would be."
Renn didn't look back. "Plans evolve."
Cressa took a step forward, spear rising. "Call it off."
Renn finally turned to her. His voice softened. "I can't."
"Why?" she demanded.
Renn's eyes flicked briefly to Kael. "Because if I don't push, someone else will. And I intend to be standing when the world reshapes itself."
Nyx muttered, "Arrogant bastard."
Renn heard her. "Visionary, actually."
The pressure intensified.
From the fog at the ravine's edge, shapes began to form—not full breaches, not beasts—but impressions, like silhouettes pressing against thin cloth.
Elyra gasped. "You're tearing it open—right here!"
Renn nodded. "A stress test."
Borin roared. "People live here!"
Renn shrugged. "People live everywhere."
Kael felt the Mark surge—harder than before.
Pain flashed briefly, sharp and warning.
"Renn," Kael said, voice steady despite it. "Call them off."
Renn smiled slowly. "No."
Nyx moved.
She didn't charge Renn.
She went for Joryn.
In a blur of motion, she crossed the clearing, grabbed the shaking hunter by the collar, and dragged him back behind her blades.
Joryn cried out. "I didn't want this! I swear!"
Halvek reacted instantly, stepping forward. "Nyx—don't—"
Cressa's spear snapped up, blocking Halvek's path.
Nyx held Joryn close, blades at his throat. "Back. All of you."
Renn's eyes darkened. "Careful."
Nyx's voice shook—not with fear, but fury. "You dragged them into this. He doesn't belong to your door-opening cult."
Joryn sobbed. "Please."
Renn's jaw tightened. "Let him go."
Nyx didn't move. "End it first."
The pressure spiked.
One of the silhouettes at the ravine tore partially through—an arm, elongated and wrong, clawing at open air.
Elyra screamed. "Kael!"
Kael didn't hesitate.
He drew.
The arrow thrummed with restrained power as he aimed—not at the thing emerging, but at the space around it.
Renn's eyes widened slightly. "Interesting."
Before Kael could loose, Renn moved.
Faster than he should have been able to.
He crossed the clearing in a heartbeat, sword flashing—not toward Kael, but toward Nyx.
Borin reacted without thought.
He threw himself between them.
The sword struck Borin's side.
Deep.
Too deep.
Borin gasped, the sound raw and wet, and staggered backward.
"BORIN!" Elyra screamed.
Nyx caught him before he fell, blades clattering to the ground as she lowered him carefully.
Blood poured between her fingers.
"No—no—no," she whispered. "Stay with me."
Renn froze.
Just for a moment.
Halvek shouted, "Renn, stop!"
Cressa spun, horror on her face. "You said no one would die!"
Renn stared at Borin, then at the blood, something unreadable flickering across his expression.
"It wasn't—" he began.
Nyx looked up at him, eyes blazing with something close to murder. "Get away from him."
Kael's Mark flared violently.
The pressure in the clearing snapped—hard.
The silhouettes recoiled, the partial breach collapsing inward with a thunderous crack like stone slamming shut.
Renn staggered back, barely keeping his footing.
Kael loosed.
The arrow screamed through the air—not lethal, not meant to kill—but precise.
It struck Renn's sword.
The impact sent a shockwave through the clearing, flinging Renn backward and ripping the weapon from his hand. The blade skidded across stone and came to rest, humming angrily.
Silence fell.
Nyx pressed her forehead to Borin's, voice breaking. "You idiot. You absolute idiot."
Borin coughed, blood bubbling at his lips. He managed a weak smile. "Worth it."
Nyx choked. "Don't you dare."
Elyra was already there, hands glowing faintly as she tried to bind the wound, tears streaking silently down her face.
"Stay," Elyra pleaded. "Stay with us."
Borin's breathing was shallow now. His eyes fluttered.
Nyx's voice cracked completely. "You mean something to me. Do you hear me? I would never let anything happen to you. Never."
His hand twitched, finding hers. "Guess… we both failed… a little."
"Shut up," she sobbed. "You're not allowed to be funny right now."
Kael stood rigid, every instinct screaming to move, to strike, to end Renn where he stood.
But the Mark pulled back—warning, restraint.
Renn looked at the scene, at the blood, at the shattered calm.
Halvek dropped to his knees, hands shaking. "What have we done?"
Cressa backed away from Renn as if seeing him clearly for the first time. "You promised."
Renn's jaw clenched. "I didn't plan this."
Nyx looked up, eyes wild. "Plans don't matter."
Kael's voice cut through the chaos, low and deadly. "Leave."
Renn met his gaze.
For a moment, something like regret flickered there.
Then it hardened into resolve.
"This isn't over," Renn said quietly.
Kael's eyes burned. "No. It isn't."
Renn turned sharply. "We're going."
Cressa hesitated, torn. Halvek looked between Borin and Renn, anguish ripping through him.
"Go," Borin rasped faintly.
Halvek flinched. "I—"
Borin forced his eyes open, fixing Halvek with a look that carried weight. "Get out… before you become him."
Halvek swallowed hard.
Then he turned away.
Joryn broke free from Nyx's loose grip and ran after them, sobbing.
Renn retrieved his sword without another word and disappeared into the fog with what remained of the Gilded Fang.
The clearing felt emptier without them.
And heavier.
Elyra's magic finally stabilized the bleeding, but her hands shook violently as she collapsed beside Borin.
"He'll live," she whispered. "But barely."
Nyx let out a broken sound and pulled Borin into her arms, not caring about the blood soaking her clothes.
Kael knelt beside them, jaw clenched so tight it hurt.
"I'm here," Nyx whispered to Borin. "I'm not going anywhere."
Borin smiled faintly, eyes half-lidded. "Good. Neither am I."
The Price
They returned to Blackhollow under escort.
Not celebratory.
Not optional.
Registry riders met them halfway, faces grim as they took in Borin's condition and the reports spoken in low, urgent voices.
By the time they reached the Keep, word had already spread.
They were taken straight to the administrative wing.
Borin was carried to the healers.
Nyx didn't let go of his hand until the doors closed.
Kael stood alone before Magistrate Seln and Captain Maelor an hour later.
Seln's expression was carved from stone.
"You engaged another hunter group without authorization," she said.
Maelor's jaw was tight. "And someone was gravely wounded."
Kael met their eyes. "He saved a life."
Seln's gaze flicked to the door Borin had been taken through. "He paid the price for your proximity."
Kael's Mark pulsed sharply.
Maelor stepped forward. "This was not their fault."
Seln's voice was cold. "It is precisely because of him."
She looked directly at Kael.
"Effective immediately," Seln said, "your movements are restricted. No independent contracts. No off-ledger operations."
Kael's stomach dropped. "You can't—"
"I can," Seln cut in. "Your presence escalates situations. Your Mark draws attention. Until we understand it, you are a liability."
Maelor snapped, "You're grounding him."
"Yes," Seln replied. "For everyone's safety."
Kael clenched his fists. "People will die."
Seln's voice didn't waver. "People always die."
The words hit harder this time.
Seln continued, "You will remain within Blackhollow's jurisdiction until further notice. Any breach response will be handled without you."
Kael's voice was hoarse. "And the others?"
Seln paused. "They may operate. Under supervision."
Kael's eyes burned. "Then you're splitting us."
Seln met his gaze evenly. "You already are."
Maelor looked away.
Kael felt the Mark pulse once more—low, contained, angry.
As he was escorted out, he heard Borin's weak laughter from somewhere down the hall, and Nyx's voice murmuring comfort through tears.
Kael stopped.
Seln's guard snapped, "Keep moving."
Kael obeyed.
For now.
Because the line had been crossed.
And everyone—Registry, hunters, and breaches alike—had felt it.