My legs barely held me up, trembling like I'd run a hundred miles. The alley was a trap, walls too close, air too thick, and that crack in the stone ahead glowed with a sickly light that made my skin crawl. My hand, scarred with those cursed symbols, burned like it was still clutching the amulet. I wasn't anybody—just some guy who'd clawed out of a coffin with no past, no answers, and now this blade that felt too big for my shaky grip. The hum from the cobblestones got louder, vibrating in my bones, and my blade answered with a faint, nervous whine. "Kael," that voice whispered again from the crack, sharp and hungry, like it knew me better than I knew myself.
I wanted to run, but my feet wouldn't move. The light pulsed, and the shadow inside it stretched longer, its edges twisting into shapes—claws, eyes, something that might've been a face. My heart was pounding so hard I thought it'd burst. I wasn't ready for this. Whatever that thing in the chamber was, throwing the amulet at it hadn't stopped it. It just pushed me back here, to this alley, to face something worse. I was a beginner, a nobody, and this was way bigger than me.
"Shut up," I muttered, more to myself than the voice. I gripped the blade tighter, my knuckles white, the scars on my hand screaming with pain. The shadow in the crack moved, stepping out—not a man, not a beast, but something in between, its body a mess of jagged angles and glinting teeth, like it was carved from broken mirrors. Its eyes—too many, all wrong—locked on me, and I felt small, like a kid caught in a storm he didn't see coming.
"You kept it," it said, voice like knives scraping stone. "The debt. You thought you could throw it away." It pointed at my scarred hand, and the pain flared, dropping me to one knee. I gasped, the blade clattering against the cobblestones. My vision swam, those damn memories flooding back—burning cities, blood-soaked hands, the amulet glowing in a fire that ate the sky. I didn't want them, didn't want this, but they wouldn't stop.
"I don't know what you want!" I shouted, voice cracking, sounding weaker than I meant. I grabbed the blade, hauling myself up, legs shaking but stubborn. I wasn't strong, wasn't brave, but I wasn't done yet. The thing laughed, a sound like breaking bones, and took a step closer, its shadow swallowing the alley's light. The air turned cold, my breath fogging, and the crack behind it widened, spilling more light, more whispers—my name, over and over, like a curse.
I swung the blade, clumsy and desperate, the song wobbling like it didn't trust me either. It sliced the air, missing the thing by a mile, and it laughed again, stepping closer. "You're not ready," it said, almost pitying. "But you'll learn." Its claws reached for me, and I stumbled back, tripping over a loose cobblestone, barely catching myself. My hand burned hotter, the scars glowing now, matching the light from the crack.
Then I saw it—etched in the stone where I'd fallen, one of those symbols from the amulet, pulsing like it was alive. I didn't know what it meant, but it felt like a chance, a spark in the dark. I scrambled to my feet, blade up, heart racing. The thing lunged, claws gleaming, and the crack's light flared, blinding. Something was coming through—bigger, older, its voice a roar in my head: "Pay, Kael, or break."
I froze, blade shaking, scars screaming, as the alley filled with shadows that weren't mine.