The footsteps behind them multiplied.
Not just Varric's heavy tread this time. More. Dozens. The sound rolled like thunder through the smoke-choked alleys, bouncing off brick and glass.
Mara's head snapped toward the noise, her hand tightening around her backpack strap. Aubrey's veins flickered crimson, the fire inside him stirring awake.
"They found us," Varric growled, already unslinging his weapon.
Aubrey didn't ask who. He didn't need to. The air itself seemed to thicken, a low hum vibrating the ground beneath their feet. Watchers.
A dozen black-robed figures emerged from the haze, their movements too fluid, too synchronized. Their masks glowed faintly, carved with symbols that seemed to shift and crawl the longer Aubrey looked at them.
The lead Watcher raised a hand. The streetlight above flickered, then shattered, plunging the block into near darkness.
"The Bloodfire cannot hide behind shadows," the voice intoned, echoing like a dozen voices speaking at once. "It must be tested."
Mara flinched at the sound, but she didn't run. She didn't even step back. Aubrey's chest tightened at the stubborn fire in her eyes. She was terrified—he could see it—but she stayed.
"You should go," Aubrey said, voice sharp, low.
"No," Mara shot back instantly, her jaw set. "If you think I'm going to walk away while these freaks—"
Her words cut off as the Watchers raised their hands in unison. The ground cracked. Out of the fissures clawed Ashborn remnants—half-formed monsters of smoke and bone, their bodies twisted as if unfinished, but their hunger undeniable.
Varric cursed under his breath. "They're not just watching this time."
The Ashborn lunged.
Aubrey moved before thinking, fists igniting with a roar of crimson flame. The nearest monster shrieked as his punch landed, bloodfire searing through its half-solid body and reducing it to ash. But three more replaced it, crawling over broken concrete.
Mara stumbled back, her backpack sliding off her shoulder. One of the creatures turned its skeletal head toward her, jaw opening too wide, too human.
Aubrey's heart spiked. He launched forward, flame trailing behind him, smashing through the Ashborn before it reached her. The fire burned so bright it lit the entire alley in a red glow.
Mara stared at him, breath caught in her throat. For the first time, she saw it in full—the raw, terrifying force of the Bloodfire. And Aubrey saw himself reflected in her eyes, not as a monster, but as something more.
The Watcher leader tilted its head, observing. "Yes. You burn brighter. But how long before the fire consumes?"
Aubrey grit his teeth, fury blazing hotter than the flames around him. "I'm not your experiment."
The Watchers didn't answer. They simply raised their hands again—and the shadows themselves bent forward, forming jagged spears aimed at Aubrey, Mara, and Varric.
Aubrey braced for impact, fire roaring around him. But just before the spears struck, Mara shouted—not words, but something deeper, rawer.
A pulse of energy rippled from her, faint but real. The shadows recoiled, twitching like smoke caught in a sudden wind.
The Watchers froze.
Varric's eyes snapped to her. "What the hell was that?"
Mara's hands trembled. Her lips parted, but no explanation came. She looked just as shocked as they did.
The Watchers, however, seemed almost pleased. "Ah," the leader whispered. "The fire draws more than one. The weave tightens."
And then, as suddenly as they had arrived, the Watchers dissolved into smoke, leaving only the broken street and the echo of their words behind.
The Ashborn remnants crumbled into ash. Silence swallowed the alley.
Aubrey turned to Mara, heart still pounding, fists dimming to normal flesh. Her wide eyes locked onto his, fear and confusion warring inside them.
"I…" she whispered. "I don't know what just happened."
Neither did Aubrey. But the way the Watchers looked at her, the way the shadows had reacted—he knew one th
ing.
She was part of this now. Whether she wanted to be or not.