The forest lay hushed after Varic's departure, as if even the Wilds feared to stir in his wake. Kael moved through the underbrush with uneven steps, body screaming from exhaustion. Every breath felt like knives scraping his ribs.
He found a stream at last, kneeling to cup the water with trembling hands. The shard's glow beneath his skin dimmed, pulsing faintly like a buried heartbeat.
"Not dead yet, Hollow."
Kael froze, water dripping from his palms. The voice was dry, edged with mockery—but not Varic's.
A figure stepped out from the trees. Cloaked in rough leathers, bow slung across their back, a long braid of soot-dark hair falling over one shoulder. A woman, older than Kael by some years, her eyes sharp as flint.
Kael's hand drifted toward his blade. "…Who are you?"
"Name's Riven." She crouched at the stream's edge, dipping a waterskin. "And relax. If I wanted you dead, I'd have feathered you with arrows ten paces back."
Kael hesitated, then lowered his hand—but not all the way. "…You've been following me."
Riven smirked. "Hard not to. You lit up half the Wilds last night. That shard of yours… it's loud."
Kael's stomach turned cold. "You saw?"
"Enough." Her gaze flicked to his chest, where the shard's faint glow bled through the fabric. "You're lucky I saw you before the cult did. They're sniffing around the smoke like wolves. You'd have been meat in their teeth by now."
Kael frowned, suspicion clawing at him. "Why help me, then?"
Riven filled her waterskin, then leaned back on her heels. "Because I don't like the cult. And because I don't like the way you looked at Varic."
Kael stiffened. "…You were watching?"
"Mm." She sipped from the skin, eyes never leaving him. "You're not like him. Not yet. But you're carrying the same fire. That's dangerous—for you, for everyone around you. I've seen men burn out from less."
Kael lowered his head. "…Then maybe you should've left me."
Riven studied him for a long moment, then chuckled, the sound dry as dead leaves. "Maybe. But you're interesting. And interesting things are rare in a world this broken."
She rose, slinging her bow over her shoulder. "I'll walk with you a while. You don't have to trust me. Just know the Wilds eat loners first."
Kael's first instinct was to refuse. But his legs trembled beneath him, and the echo of Varic's words still gnawed at his chest. He swallowed hard, forcing himself to nod.
"…Fine. For now."
Riven's grin was quick and sharp, like a blade drawn in the dark. "Good boy. Let's see how long you last."
For the first time since the shard branded him Hollow, Kael felt the smallest flicker of something new. Not hope, not safety—but the fragile ember of not being entirely alone.
⸻
➡️ Cliffhanger: Riven enters as Kael's first fragile ally, but her motives are unclear. She could be mentor, betrayer, or something in between.