đź“– Chronicles of the Watchers
Chapter 18: The Iron Masked
The Hunters moved like shadows given flesh.
They descended the chains with inhuman grace, weapons scraping sparks. Each step made the links quake, each movement echo like a funeral drum.
"Stand ready," Liora hissed, raising her blade. Her eyes flicked to Kairo—he was still on his knees, trembling, too weak to even lift a weapon. "Stay behind me."
The first Hunter landed.
Iron boots cracked the chain. Its mask was blank, silver polished to a mirror's shine, reflecting their terrified faces back at them. In its hand was a weapon that looked less forged than grown—half-sword, half-scythe, humming with dark resonance.
The second followed. Then the third. Six in all.
Selene raised her lantern, its flame erupting with sudden fury. "Don't let them touch you! Their blades drink souls!"
The Hunters lunged.
Liora's blade met the first scythe in a clash of sparks. Her arms shook with the force. She twisted, barely dodging the second strike that would have cut her in half. Another Hunter surged for Selene, but her lantern's light flared, searing it back a step—just enough.
Kairo tried to rise, to summon even a spark of the fire from before. Nothing came. His chest burned, but Azariel remained silent, as if watching.
"Help us!" he begged inwardly. "If I die, you die too!"
A whisper answered. "Not yet. You are still too fragile. Let them bleed for you."
Kairo's rage boiled, but he had no choice. His body was useless.
One Hunter broke through Liora's guard. The blade arced straight for Kairo.
At the last instant, Selene's lantern flared blinding white, intercepting the strike. The backlash shattered the lantern's handle, knocking her to the ground. The flame inside flickered dangerously, nearly dying.
"Kairo, move!" she screamed.
Instinct screamed louder than thought. He stumbled forward as the Hunter's scythe crashed down, shattering the chain where he had knelt. The iron groaned, snapping link by link.
The whole chain lurched violently, tilting into the abyss. Hunters, companions, all thrown off balance.
"Run!" Liora shouted, shoving him ahead.
They scrambled across the swaying links as more Hunters descended. The chain cracked apart behind them, whole sections falling into black nothingness.
Selene dragged Kairo by the arm, nearly carrying him. Liora cut down one Hunter that leapt across their path, but more followed, tireless, faceless, endless.
The abyss swallowed broken fragments as they leapt to another chain, the Vale collapsing in their wake.
But the Hunters kept coming. Always coming.
And above them, far in the shadows, something larger moved—something even the Hunters feared.
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⚡ End of Chapter 18.