Chapter 3: Freefall
The wind roared in Kael's ears as gravity claimed him.
His coat flapped violently, neon lights streaking past like comets. Thirty stories of vertical drop—steel, glass, and concrete rushing toward him.
Instinct screamed to brace for death. But he did not follow his instincts if his instincts led him to death then he'll abandon it all together.
He spotted a maintenance cable bolted to the building's side, snaking down toward the street. Without thinking, Kael twisted mid-air, reaching out. The mana in his blood surged, and for a heartbeat, time slowed.
His fingers closed around the cable.
The jolt nearly tore his shoulder from its socket.
"Ah—damn it!" he hissed, teeth clenched. Sparks flew from the friction. His boots skidded along the glass windows. He tried to control the fall, legs pressed to the wall, grinding like a brake.
The cable ended two floors up—but he took that into account, he spotted a balcony to his right.
Kael pushed off the wall, swung his legs, and let go.
For a split second, he flew. Then he crashed into the balcony.
He landed on the balcony hard, shoulder slamming against the railing. He grunted, rolling to disperse the impact. His knees throbbed, but he was alive.
Alive and burning with adrenaline.
Behind him, above, Jalen appeared at the edge of the rooftop. His visor scanned the street, then locked onto Kael's mana signature.
"Persistent bastard," Kael muttered.
Jalen didn't jump. Instead, he leapt backward—disappearing from view.
Kael's eyes widened. "He's flanking me."
He didn't have time to marvel. He needed to move.
He vaulted the balcony's rail and dropped onto a steel fire escape. It groaned under his weight. Below, the winding maze of Lumora's backstreets beckoned.
Kael descended in rapid bursts, his hands skimming against railings, boots tapping the steps with precision. Every movement felt instinctual—fluid.
A spark of joy ignited within him again.
He wasn't just running. He was adapting.
Two floors down, he leapt the final distance, rolled, and sprinted into a narrow alleyway trash bins were sprawled all over the place as they gleamed under neon lights.
But as he emerged into the open a massive shockwave struck the street ahead—Jalen landed with a thunderous boom that resonated throughout the area, he landed with a force so immense it cracked the pavement under his boots.
Kael skidded to a stop.
There was no way Kael could outrun Jalen in a contest of speed and neither would he be able to beat him in a fight Jalen was superior to him in every aspect Kael knew that a direct confrontation would end in his loss… but he wasn't looking for a direct confrontation Kael is cunning sharp and manipulative. Yes people may call him a coward but it doesn't matter to him if cowardice leads him to his goals, he'd rather be a breathing coward than a courageous corpse. That's why he led Jalen here.
Kael looked up and let out a dark grin.
A power line stretched across the buildings above, sagging slightly. A drone recharging coil hovered nearby.
He sprinted.
"Reckless," Jalen muttered and raised his gauntlet. Mana gathered at the tip—arcane circuitry buzzing with blue light.
Kael didn't stop.
He grabbed a broken street sign and hurled it upward like a javelin. It struck the recharging coil, triggering a cascade of sparks.
The lights flickered. The coil detonated in a burst of plasma.
Jalen shielded his eyes—just long enough.
Kael leapt, bounced off a dumpster, and kicked off the walls propelling himself upward— his arms outstretched.
His fingers barely caught the swaying power line.
Electricity buzzed dangerously close, but the rubber sheath held.
He swung wildly, his weight stretching the line to its limits gathering potential energy, turning it into a human catapult of sorts before he let go.
Kael soared through the air carried by inertia he landed across the street and onto a sloped roof of a two story building. He hit hard and rolled down the sloped roof some of its tiles broke from the impact, he barely stopped his fall grasping onto the roof, scrambling back to his feet.
"Okay," he panted breathing heavily. "That was insane."
Jalen was already launching after him the distance between them growing dangerously close.
Kael ducked into the connected rooftop network—narrow bridges, solar panel grids, and cables forming a jungle gym above Lumora's tech-slum district.
It was a parkour maze now.
Kael dashed over vent shafts with inhuman speed jumping from roof top to roof top with equal grace, he vaulted low railings jumping down and then used a slanted solar panel as a ramp, and flipped onto a hanging platform that wobbled under his weight but in the end still held.
Jalen followed relentlessly, breaking through all the obstacles with super human brute force and strength, smashing through walls as if they were made out of paper.
Kael couldn't outrun him forever after all Jalen was far stronger than him and a more experienced soldier and etherion alike. But maybe…
He glanced around as he ran. The rooftops had old Etheric collectors—devices that used ambient mana to power homes. One of them was sparking violently, a clear sign of instability.
And suddenly an idea struck him.
Kael turned sharply, making his way toward it. He grabbed a line of broken wire from a hanging security lamp as he passed.
As he reached the collector, he slid behind it, hidden from view.
Jalen landed moments later, scanning for any signs of kael. "Where—"
Kael burst from cover and slashed the wire across the cracked emitter node.
The damaged collector surged with wild mana.
Kael dove away.
BOOM!
Mana exploded outward in a blast of light and heat, engulfing the rooftop. The force knocked Kael off his feet, sending him tumbling down the sloped shingles—
He reached for anything he could grasp but caught nothing and then crashed through a lower-level window into an empty apartment.
Glass shattered, wood splintered, and Kael hit the floor hard.
Groaning, he rolled over, coughing, surrounded by broken furniture and mana sparks.
Above, the rooftop burned. Jalen's silhouette stood in the flames, momentarily disoriented.
Kael limped to his feet and made for the back door.
The alley behind the apartment led into the underdistrict—narrow passageways too small for drones, too complex for tracking tech.
He slipped into the shadows just as sirens began to wail across the city.
---
Ten minutes later, Kael ducked into an old ventilation shaft beneath a collapsed rail platform. It stank of rust and mold, but he could finally breathe.
His chest rose and fell with each ragged breath. His body ached, bruises showed all over his body, and blood trickled from a cut on his brow.
But he was smiling.
He had escaped, escaped from his pursuer he briefly wondered what would happen to Seraphine he was genuinely worried about her after all if not for her he would've been captured before he even realised what was going on
Kael leaned back, heart still thudding. He stared at his hands—callused, trembling, but glowing faintly with mana.
"ok so I've become an etherion and of course an extremely handsome one at that and I'm being chased by the government." Kael chuckled gently his voice echoing throughout the ventilation shaft he smirked to himself and added "all in all quite the accomplishment if I do say so myself….I mean how many handsome etherions can brag the same feat."
_____
Far above, Jalen stood on the rooftop of an old building, his visor cracked from the blast caused by kael. He looked out over the district, scanning for traces of Kael.
He found none.
For now at least