A week had passed since Alex's last excursion beyond the city.
His wounds had closed, though faint aches still surfaced when he moved too quickly. He'd spent the time refining Orionis Sagitta, practicing restrained flight maneuvers, and drilling control—never speed, never force. Always restraint.
The briefing room was quiet.
Holo-maps of the dead region hovered along the walls, marshland fractured by unstable terrain and Void Entity markers that pulsed irregularly.
Kaelthar's gaze swept the room.
"Twilight Marshes," he said. "Low- to mid-rank Void presence confirmed. Residual chaos energy. Your objectives are reconnaissance, threat neutralization, and recovery. You operate in pairs. Observe first. Act only when necessary."
No one spoke.
"Failure will have consequences."
— — —
Fog swallowed them the moment they crossed the perimeter.
The Twilight Marshes did not smell like rot.
That was wrong.
No decay. No stagnant water. Just a faint metallic sharpness, like rain before a storm that refused to arrive. Bioluminescent spores pulsed through the mist, out of rhythm with Alex's breathing.
Every step sank slightly too deep.
Milo moved ahead, bow already strung.
"You feel it," Milo said quietly.
Alex nodded. "The silence."
"No," Milo replied. "The ground."
They stopped.
The water shifted—not rippling, but parting**. Thin paths carved through the fog beneath the surface, circling them.**
[ ENEMY DETECTED ]
Beast Chimeras
Threat: 1
Existence: 2
Karma: 1
"Beast chimeras," Milo said.
They emerged slowly.
Marsh stags, long-limbed, antlers branching wide. Their bodies were hollowed, organs flickering in and out of phase. Their hooves never touched the ground—yet the marsh yielded for them.
Milo exhaled once and drew.
The bowstring thrummed.
The fog bent.
Invisible corridors formed.
The beasts hesitated.
Milo loosed.
Lightning curved midair and collapsed inward inside the lead stag's chest. Not an explosion—a consumption. The creature folded into itself and vanished.
The others split instantly, following the same unseen paths.
"They're tracking your lines," Alex said.
"They shouldn't be able to," Milo replied.
One phased forward.
Alex struck low.
Orionis Sagitta punched through empty space—then missed. The creature moved after deciding.
Tempus flared.
Alex reversed mid-motion. Lux grounded the strike just long enough. The spear caught the stag's neck as it tried to re-phase.
Another arrow.
Three arcs. One convergence.
Silence rushed back in, thicker than before.
"They weren't hunting," Alex said.
Milo nodded. "They were maintaining."
The fog knitted itself closed.
Something deeper pulsed beneath the marsh.
They moved on.
— — —
They smelled the other group before they saw them.
Burned ozone. Wet iron.
Milo raised a fist.
Voices drifted through the fog.
"…it moved when we stopped looking at it."
"That's impossible."
"So is this place."
A clearing emerged.
Four students. Third-years, by the look of their gear. Tense. Wired.
One knelt by the water, veins faintly luminous along his arm.
"Don't step in," he said. "It remembers weight."
Alex felt a chill.
"We're not hostile," Alex said, stepping forward.
"Pairs?" a girl asked.
"Yes."
Her jaw tightened.
"We lost someone," she said. "He stepped off the path."
"There wasn't a path," another muttered.
"There was," she replied. "Just not one we all saw."
Milo glanced at Alex. "Same pattern."
The girl nodded once. "My rune's Echo."
That explained the counting. The pacing.
"This place assigns routes," she said. "By intent."
"And if you don't fit?" Alex asked.
The kneeling man laughed once. "Then the marsh edits."
A pulse rolled through the fog—closer.
"We shouldn't cluster," Milo said immediately.
The others hesitated.
"We move parallel," Alex said. "Close enough to respond. Far enough not to interfere."
A beat.
"Names," the girl said.
"Alex. Milo."
"Iria. Kerr. Jace."
They separated.
The fog shifted—subtly.
Approvingly.
— — —
Later, Milo spoke without turning.
"This place likes decisions."
Alex watched the fog reconfigure where paths hadn't existed before.
"No," he said. "It likes consequences."
— — —
The ground ahead pulsed.
Milo stopped.
Alex felt it before he saw it.
[ ENEMY DETECTED ]
Blood Hydrangea
Threat: 0
Existence: 1
Karma: 3
Tendrils drifted just above the marsh, crimson veins pulsing faintly. They didn't move toward prey.
They waited.
"They're weak alone," Milo said. "Immobile. But parasitic. Drain vitality. Anyone harvesting runes—"
"Dies," Alex finished.
They moved carefully, not faster—cleaner. No lingering. No testing.
The marsh watched.
And somewhere beneath the fog, something adjusted the routes again.