The dog's body was already cooling when the wind shifted. A faint metallic tang hit Mikhail's tongue, sharp and wrong. The air ahead shimmered like ripples on water. He knew that sign. An anomaly.
He moved closer, cautious, tossing bolts. The first vanished with a hiss. The second sparked mid-air, swallowed by a twisting shimmer. A Vortex anomaly — hungry and invisible, pulling everything toward its heart.
But there was something glinting in its center. Small. Pulsing faintly like a dying ember.
An artifact.
His heart hammered.
He dug through his pack, pulling free the hook and cord he'd fashioned from scavenged wire. His hands shook as he tied it off, eyes fixed on the shimmer. He crouched, rolled the hook forward. It skittered across broken asphalt, caught on nothing. A breath of wind tugged it sideways, pulling toward the anomaly. He yanked it back, swore under his breath.
Second try. The hook slid past the shimmer, almost brushing the glowing object. Mikhail edged forward, pulse screaming in his ears. He could feel the anomaly pulling at him, whispering hunger. He nudged the wire again. The hook caught. The glow shifted. He hauled hard, stumbling back as the artifact scraped across the edge of the anomaly's field.
For a heartbeat, he thought it would be ripped back in. But then — with a metallic snap — it tumbled free.
Mikhail fell to his knees, panting, staring. The artifact was small, no larger than a fist, shaped like molten glass frozen mid-bubble. It pulsed with dull heat, faintly humming.
He didn't know its name. Didn't care.
He touched it carefully — heat surged against his palm, but not enough to burn. His skin prickled, his breath fogging in sudden warmth despite the cold wind. The artifact was alive, in its own way.
He slipped it into the lead-lined pouch his father had given him, sealing it tight. The hum faded.
Then he laughed, breathless and trembling. His first artifact. Proof he wasn't just another body for the Zone to chew up. Proof he could be a stalker.
The journal came out. His hand scrawled notes fast, crooked.
"Anomaly: Vortex type. Pull radius: ~2m. Artifact retrieved. Appearance: molten glass orb, warm to touch. Effect: raises body heat — minor, safe when carried. Possible uses: warmth, survival in cold. Classification: unknown. Name: Ember Seed."
The adrenaline began to fade. He looked at the dog's corpse, then at the pouch where the artifact lay. The Zone had nearly killed him twice in one day. It would again. But he was still here.
Still alive.
And now… a stalker.