The rain had eased to a drizzle, but the streets still glistened with mud and puddles. Kael leaned against a broken wall, chest heaving, black fire faintly coiling along his arm. The paladin approached cautiously, sword lowered but still alert.
She studied him closely. Her eyes narrowed, noticing the faint flicker of shadows along his golden eyes.
"You didn't give in." she said quietly, voice cutting through the wet silence.
Kael raised a brow, exhausted.
"Give in? To what?"
"The fragment." she replied, stepping closer.
"Most hosts... most mortals... they lose themselves. They let it consume them, and it becomes a weapon against everyone. But you..."
She tilted her head, intrigued.
"...You're controlling it. Not the other way around."
Kael looked down at the black fire on his arm, letting it coil and retract like a living thing restrained.
"It's part of me. Doesn't mean it owns me."
She blinked, a hint of respect in her gaze.
"Then maybe... maybe we can actually work together. If you can fight alongside me without losing yourself, we might survive this hunt."
Kael smirked, rubbing mud off his blade.
"Don't expect me to follow orders. But we can cover each other."
The paladin gave a small nod, her stance relaxing slightly. For the first time, the tension between hunter and hunted eased, replaced by a tentative understanding.
"Good." she said.
"Because the Church isn't going to wait for you to figure things out. If you want to survive, we fight as one."
Kael sheathed his sword and glanced at the city ahead, lightning cracking the sky.
"Fine. But don't get used to me following anyone."
She smiled faintly.
Rain pelted the broken street like needles. Kael Arden's boots splashed through the blackened puddles, each step sending mud slapping against his legs. Behind him, the paladin woman, crimson scarf whipping in the storm, watched silently, sword lowered but eyes sharp.
The Church soldiers had regrouped.
Word of the fragment's awakening spread fast, faster than any man could run. Every shadow in the ruined city could hide a spear, a crossbow or a blade. Every echo in the rain could be a shout announcing death.
Kael's chest burned where the Hades fragment throbbed, a cold fire licking his veins.
"You can't run forever."
the whisper reminded him, smooth and inevitable.
"Each step brings you closer to surrender."
He shook his head, teeth clenched.
"I'm not yours. Never yours."
The paladin stepped closer.
"You should stop resisting." she said, voice calm against the storm.
"The fragment will devour you if you don't learn control."
Kael spat into the mud.
"I don't need your advice."
Suddenly, a shrill whistle cut through the rain. Church scouts had spotted him.
Kael bolted, boots sliding on the slick stones. The paladin followed, agile, precise, keeping pace effortlessly. Their sprint carried them through crumbling alleys, over toppled carts, past charred huts.
Rain-soaked rooftops cracked under their weight. Kael vaulted over a half-collapsed wall, rolling through mud, barely avoiding a falling beam. His sword bounced on his shoulder, black fire faintly tracing along the blade's edge.
Behind him, soldiers shouted, their armor glinting in bursts of lightning. Spears jabbed at his back as he turned a corner.
Kael swung his blade in a blur, cutting the nearest spear in two. Rain hissed as the black fire kissed the metal, eating through its steel.
He didn't stop. Every swing, every step, every breath was a dance with death and with the fragment.
"You feel it, don't you?"
Hades voice whispered inside him.
"The hunger. The fury. Just give in."
Kael's muscles tensed.
"I decide when I give in." he growled.
His golden eyes flared, shadows of black fire crawling over his arms.
The city funneled them into a narrow alley. Slippery walls, shattered beams, debris everywhere. Kael skidded to a halt as a wall of Church soldiers blocked the exit. Spears bristled like a silver forest.
The paladin beside him raised an eyebrow.
"Your move." she said.
Kael glanced at her, then at the soldiers.
"Fight through or vanish into the shadows?"
He let the fragment surge, just a fraction. Black fire licked across his arms, coiling around his blade. Steel met him head-on as he charged, parrying and spinning, every strike sharp, every motion precise. His boots skidded, body screaming with exertion. He cut down spear after spear, sending soldiers crashing into each other, their shouts lost in the storm.
The paladin moved like water, striking from the flanks, taking down enemies with lethal efficiency.
Together, they were chaos incarnate.
Kael felt the fragment tug at him, whispering.
"kill faster, burn everything"
But he resisted, guiding its power like a blade, not a master.
The alley emptied behind them.
Kael leapt onto a toppled cart, rolling off into the open street. The rain poured harder, but he felt... more alive than ever.
They paused on a rooftop overlooking the city. Paladins far below searched, shouting orders into the storm. Kael leaned against the wall, panting, chest heaving.
The paladin, finally lowering her sword, studied him.
"You fight like a demon." she said softly, almost a whisper against the wind.
Kael wiped mud from his cheek.
"I've survived worse."
Her eyes flicked to the black fire crawling along his arm.
"...You're not just any mercenary. That fragment... it's alive."
Kael's golden gaze met hers, hard and unyielding.
"And it obeys me. Always."
For a moment, silence fell, broken only by the rain and the distant tolling of church bells. Two hunters, walking a narrow line between alliance and rivalry, yet both aware that death could come from any direction.
Kael clenched his fist. T
"his is only the beginning."
Above them, lightning split the sky, illuminating the ruins and the blood soaked path that lay ahead.