Their breath was like a scream trapped in their chests. Branches scratched their faces, roots tangled around their feet. The cold, persistent presence behind them never diminished; instead, it grew closer with every second.
"This way!" Moaito called, pointing towards a crevice in the rocks. It was a natural shelter formed by a collapsed boulder. They plunged inside. It was dark and narrow, but defensible.
"We can't run," Moaito breathed, turning to Sere. His eyes shone with unusual urgency. "We have to fight." He quickly pointed to a loose rock near the entrance. "Push it onto them the moment they enter. Understood?"
Sere could only manage a quick, sharp nod. Her throat was tight. She barely managed to draw her sword from its hilt, slick with the sweat from her palms. This would be her first real battle.
And then, the sounds outside ceased. All the noises of the forest died. There was only the roar of their own heartbeats and, from a distance, the slow, heavy footsteps crushing leaves. Not one pair, but two.
Shadows appeared at the entrance of the rocky shelter. Two Ash Hunters. Their eyes were empty, their faces expressionless. They drifted inside like pieces of coal carried by the wind.
As the first one stepped fully inside, Sere pushed the rock Moaito had indicated. The stone grated from its place and tumbled onto the Ash Hunter. The creature was crushed without a scream or a groan, like a lifeless puppet, its body dissolving into a cloud of grey dust.
But the second one was already inside.
Moaito shouted, "Lumer! Umbra!" The two swords appeared in his hands as if born from the shadows and light themselves. They were more solid now, more real. The sword of light gleamed, while the shadow one swallowed even the light around it. Moaito charged the Ash Hunter. The clang of steel flashed like lightning within the rocky shelter.
Meanwhile, the other Ash Hunter straightened and headed straight for Sere. Sere stood frozen. She seemed to see the reflection of her own death in the creature's empty eyes. Fear had turned her into a statue.
Run... you can't... you'll fail... The poisonous whispers, just like at the Lake of Destiny, rose in her mind.
Then, she felt the warmth of the Threshold Stone on her chest. And she remembered Moaito's voice: "Remember your intent!"
"No!" Sere snarled, her voice trembling not with fear, but with rage. She gripped her sword with both hands and swung it at the Ash Hunter. The attack was clumsy, barely grazing the creature. But at that exact moment, a white glow erupted from the Threshold Stone, not blinding, but radiating a pure force of will.
The Ash Hunter, bewildered by this energy of pure intent, staggered for a moment. In that instant, Moaito had already dispatched his opponent to dust and turned, plunging the shadow sword into the back of the final Ash Hunter. The creature vanished silently into dust like the others.
In the shelter, nothing remained but dust clouds and the sound of heavy breathing. Sere trembled, nearly collapsing to the ground. For the first time, she had killed – or destroyed – something, and the feeling sickened her.
Then, a slow, sporadic clapping was heard.
Kael stood at the entrance of the rocky shelter. His face held an expression of cold, calculated admiration.
"Impressive," he said, his voice icy and flat. "Truly. Especially you, girl. That 'purity' has brought you this far." He looked at the remains of the dusted Ash Hunters. "But look... They felt no pain. They weren't afraid. They felt nothing. A perfect end, isn't it? Peace."
Moaito immediately stepped in front of Sere, his swords still in hand. "Who are you?" he asked, his voice sharp as a blade.
Kael smiled slightly, but the expression didn't reach his eyes. "I am the consequence of this world's suffering. A cure. You are the desperate guardians of the cycle. And I am its gravedigger."
Kael didn't even reach for his sword. Instead, he just stood there. But suddenly, the air inside the shelter changed. Colors faded, sounds became muffled. Sere felt it hard to breathe. It was as if her very existence was being pulled away from her like a thin veil. This was much stronger than the attack at the Lake of Destiny.
Moaito reacted instantly. From Lumer and Umbra, he created a shimmering shield of balance. Sere clung to the Threshold Stone and focused her own intent – her desire to survive, to conquer her fear – into this shield. The two energies shone with relentless resistance against the void field Kael had created.
An invisible battle raged. The rock walls cracked. The disdainful expression on Kael's face was replaced by concentrated seriousness. He hadn't underestimated them, but he hadn't expected them to be this strong either.
Finally, Kael took a step back. The suffocating pressure vanished abruptly. Moaito and Sere, gasping for breath, had to lean against the rock for support.
"This was just a hello," Kael said, his voice returning to that calm, threatening tone. "The real dance hasn't begun yet. I don't need to tire you out. This world will be tiring enough for you on its own."
His eyes rested on Sere for a moment, almost curiously. Then, he turned his back and disappeared silently into the shadows of the forest, just as he had come.
Sere covered her face with trembling hands. Moaito stared at the spot where Kael had vanished, deep worry etched on his face.
Just then, the Threshold Stone on Sere's chest flashed suddenly and violently. But this time, it wasn't pointing in the direction Kael had gone, but in the opposite direction, towards the "Pinnacle of the Wind." It was as if, while Kael had been distracting them, a much greater threat had sprouted there.
Kael's shadow had left the forest, but the chill he left behind had seeped into their bones. This wasn't a victory, but a postponement. And in that moment, they understood they were no longer just running towards a goal; they were in a war, fighting on two fronts at once.