The Echo Hunters advanced with predatory grace, their cloaks billowing like shadows in the wind. The leader, a wiry woman with scars crisscrossing her face like a map of old battles, twirled her anti-essence staff. It hummed with a sickly green glow, designed to sever beast bonds and drain the life from tamers. Her two companions—burly men armed with curved blades etched in nullifying runes—flanked her, eyes locked on Ignis perched on Kairos's shoulder.
"You reek of the void, boy," the leader snarled, her voice a venomous hiss. "That abomination on your shoulder? It's a parasite. We'll purge it, and you with it if you resist."
Kairos stood amid the ruins of Riftedge, the acrid smoke stinging his eyes. Grief for Elder Mira and the others churned in his gut, fueling the echoes within. Ignis's rage bubbled up, a hot tide urging him to incinerate these intruders. But he held back, assessing. Three against one—plus a beast. He was no trained fighter, but the bond thrummed with potential, like a weapon begging to be unsheathed.
*They are weak to fire,* Ignis whispered in his mind, its tone eager. *Their tools suppress essence, but our forge is raw, unbound. Strike first.*
"Why?" Kairos demanded, stalling for time as he circled slowly, feet crunching over debris. "What did we ever do to you? This village was innocent!"
The leader laughed, a cold bark. "Innocent? Harboring a Voidheart? Your kind invites chaos. The stars fell because of bonds like yours—tamers playing god, fracturing the cosmos. We Echo Hunters restore balance. No more beasts, no more madness." She thrust her staff forward, unleashing a bolt of green energy that arced toward him.
Kairos dodged instinctively, the bond enhancing his speed. The bolt struck a ruined hut, dissolving it into ash. "Balance? You slaughtered them!"
One of the men lunged, blade swinging in a wide arc. Kairos rolled aside, flames erupting from his palms as he countered. A fireball grazed the man's arm, singeing his cloak and eliciting a yelp. Ignis took to the air, diving at the second man with talons extended, raking across his shoulder.
The leader cursed, swinging her staff in a sweeping motion. A wave of suppressing energy washed over the battlefield, dimming Ignis's flames and making Kairos's chest tighten. The bond flickered, echoes weakening. "Feel that? Your 'power' crumbles before true purity."
Kairos gritted his teeth, pushing through the nausea. The suppression was like a weight on his soul, but the Voidheart pulsed defiantly—a core of darkness that the green energy couldn't fully touch. Visions flashed: his parents, delving into the crater, whispering of a bloodline that defied the guilds' rules. *Unbound,* they had called it.
With a roar, he channeled deeper, drawing not just from Ignis but from the lingering essences in the air—the remnants of the horde. Flames reignited, hotter, laced with void shadows that resisted the suppression. He hurled a shadowed inferno at the leader, forcing her to leap back.
*Yes!* Ignis exulted, breaking free of the wave and unleashing a torrent of fire from above. The first man screamed as flames engulfed him, rolling in the dirt to extinguish them. The second swung at Ignis, but the phoenix was too agile, circling and pecking at his defenses.
The leader recovered, her eyes narrowing. "Impressive for a novice. But you're fracturing already—I see the madness in your eyes." She chanted under her breath, her staff glowing brighter. A dome of green energy expanded, enclosing Kairos and cutting off Ignis's support. Inside, the air grew heavy, the bond straining like a taut string.
Kairos felt the echoes surge uncontrollably—rage, destruction, the urge to burn everything. His vision tinted red, hands trembling. "No... control it," he muttered, but the temptation was sweet. Why hold back? These killers deserved oblivion.
Outside the dome, Ignis battered against it, flames splashing harmlessly. *Fight it, Voidling! The echoes test you—embrace, but do not surrender!*
The second man charged Kairos within the dome, blade raised. Time slowed as the bond's awareness sharpened. Kairos sidestepped, grabbing the man's wrist and channeling heat through his touch. The blade melted in the assailant's grip, skin blistering. With a twist, Kairos slammed him into the dome's wall, the green energy crackling and weakening from the internal assault.
The leader faltered, sweat beading on her brow. "You... you're not just a tamer. What are you?"
Kairos's voice came out laced with Ignis's crackle. "Surviving." He pressed his advantage, pounding fists wreathed in flame against the dome from inside. Cracks spiderwebbed across it. The first man, still smoldering, tried to aid his leader, but Ignis intercepted, pinning him with fiery talons.
With a final, echoing shout, Kairos shattered the dome. Shards of green energy rained down, harmless now. The leader swung her staff desperately, but he caught it mid-arc, the wood charring under his grasp. "This ends," he growled, snapping the staff in two. The backlash sent her sprawling, essence draining from her as her own tool turned against her.
The remaining hunter fled into the night, leaving his comrades defeated—one unconscious, the leader gasping. Kairos loomed over her, flames dancing in his eyes. The echoes screamed: *Finish her! Consume!*
But a flicker of doubt held him back. Mira's face flashed in his mind—kindness amid hardship. Was this what power meant? Becoming like them?
*Choose,* Ignis urged, landing nearby. *Mercy or might. The forge shapes you.*
Kairos extinguished his flames, binding the leader's hands with charred rope from the ruins. "You'll answer for this. Where are the survivors?"
She spat blood, glaring. "Fled to the Ember Guild outpost, fool. But more hunters come. The Voidheart is a beacon—they'll never stop."
Kairos turned away, the weight of her words sinking in. A beacon? His bloodline wasn't just a gift; it was a curse, drawing danger. He scavenged what he could from the ruins—a waterskin, some dried rations, a cloak to hide Ignis if needed. The phoenix shrank slightly at his mental command, perching discreetly.
As dawn broke, painting the sky in hues of fire, Kairos set off along the eastern trail. The path wound through sparse forests, the air growing cooler away from the crater's heat. Ignis's presence was a constant hum, sharing senses: the rustle of leaves, distant bird calls, and... footsteps ahead?
*Survivors,* Ignis confirmed. *But caution—echoes of beasts linger.*
Kairos quickened his pace, hope flickering. But as he crested a hill, the scene below dashed it. A group of villagers—perhaps a dozen, including children—huddled around a campfire, weary and wounded. Among them, a familiar face: Lirra, a girl his age with braided red hair, who had often shared scraps with him in the slums.
"Lirra!" he called, descending.
She whirled, eyes widening in relief and shock. "Kairos? We thought you fell... By the stars, what happened to you? Your eyes—they glow!"
The others murmured, some drawing makeshift weapons. Kairos raised his hands placatingly. "The crater... I bonded. With this." Ignis revealed itself, eliciting gasps.
"A beast? You're a Soulforger now?" Lirra approached, tentative. "The hunters—they drove the horde. Said something about purging a 'heart'."
Kairos nodded grimly. "My bloodline. It's why they came." He shared a brief account, omitting the echoes' temptation. The group accepted him warily—survival trumped fear.
As they traveled toward the outpost, Ignis shared lore in his mind: *The Ember Guild controls this region. They train tamers, but envy the unbound like you. Tread carefully.*
By midday, the outpost appeared: a fortified compound of stone walls and watchtowers, banners fluttering with flame emblems. Guards at the gate eyed the ragtag group.
"Refugees from Riftedge," Lirra explained. "Horde attack."
The guard nodded sympathetically. "Enter. But the boy with the beast—guild master wants a word."
Inside, the outpost buzzed with activity: tamers drilling with bonded creatures, merchants hawking cores. Kairos felt eyes on him, the Voidheart pulsing like a signal.
In the central hall, the guild master awaited—a stern man named Thorne, with a scar across his cheek and a wolf-like beast at his side. "A wild bond? Impressive. But rumors of Echo Hunters follow you. Tell me, boy—why do they hunt?"
Before Kairos could respond, alarms blared. Shouts from the walls: "Beast incursion! And hunters at the gates!"
Chaos erupted as a new horde approached, led by more Echo Hunters. In the distance, a figure on a shadowed steed watched—a greater threat looming.
Kairos's flames ignited unbidden. The test had just begun.