"A mistake can teach more than certainty ever will." — Unknown
The corridor was littered with dust and shattered stone. My shoulder ached where I'd braced against a falling beam. My fingers still tingled from clutching the shard as Serin's arrow had sliced through the air behind me.
She advanced, silent, her bow still trained. Every step precise, every movement deliberate. I noticed the way her eyes scanned, how she never hesitated, how her body reacted to threats I hadn't even seen.
Purpose. Focus. Dangerous. Exactly the kind of person you don't want as an enemy.
I tried to keep my balance, dodging debris and unstable floor tiles. The shard pulsed faintly again, almost guiding me. I didn't understand it yet, but instinct trusted it more than my memory.
Serin's voice cut through the clatter. "Careful. One slip, and the corridor decides for you."
I muttered under my breath, more to myself than her, "I'm starting to think it already has."
She flinched almost imperceptibly, perhaps surprised I was still upright. Then she stepped closer, scanning the shadows for threats I couldn't yet see.
Another beam above creaked ominously. Dust rained down. My foot caught a jagged stone. I twisted, barely keeping my balance, and the shard glimmered against my palm.
Serin's bow twitched. Arrow ready. Not threatening me anymore—not yet—but ready. Measuring. Testing. Assessing.
I rolled, narrowly avoiding a collapsing stone, and landed against the wall. Heart hammering. Muscles screaming. Every instinct I didn't remember had kicked in.
She finally spoke, softer this time. "You're reckless. But… alive."
I didn't respond. Words slowed me. Observation was faster.
Ahead, the corridor opened into a dark chamber. Shadows shifted at the edges, too deliberate to be coincidence. The shard pulsed violently, almost thrumming in sync with my heartbeat.
I realized then that surviving this was more than balance or reflex. It was anticipation. Understanding. Reading her as much as reading the environment.
Serin stepped toward the chamber, her eyes fixed ahead, unrelenting. I followed, cautiously. Every movement mattered. Every step could mean life… or death.
And in the silence between falling dust and distant cracks, I felt the first tug of something bigger—something deliberate—waiting in the shadows of that chamber.