The chaser behind Kael seemed adamant on drawing blood, not even realizing that Kael was slowing down on purpose.
The man's footsteps were loud and sloppy, the kind of pursuit fueled more by rage than sense.
He kept barking threats into the tunnel as if noise itself could make Kael trip. He gave him an opportunity to 'catch up'.
The pursuer took it greedily, closing the distance with the confidence of someone who thought he was cornering prey, not being led.
He never understood that the reason Kael was doing that wasn't simply to bait him into following him, but because the next station was very close.
Kael could feel it in his bones more than his eyes, he remembered the layout, the way the air changed near the station, the faint draft that seeped through connecting corridors.
The minimap confirmed it: the next station's outline was just ahead, a pale shape in the darkness. If Kael timed it right, he wouldn't just escape. He would turn this tunnel into a weapon.
