Men in black armor poured into the square.
Not soldiers.
Hunters.
But they weren't hunting animals.
They were hunting her.
"Run!" Kael grabbed her wrist.
She yanked free—but followed.
They dashed between buildings as beams of blue light sliced past them, burning holes in stone walls. Ariya leapt over barriers, vaulted crates, moved with instinct.
She fired.
Her arrow struck one of the armored men in the shoulder. Sparks flew. He didn't fall.
Metal armor. Enhanced.
"Those are Veil Wardens," Kael shouted.
"They capture crossers!"
"Why?"
"Because you're not the only thing slipping through!"
Behind them, something roared.
Ariya glanced back.
The air split open.
A creature the size of a warhorse crawled out of thin air—scaled, winged, eyes burning violet.
It shrieked.
The Wardens turned their weapons on it.
The monster turned its attention to the nearest moving thing.
Ariya.
Kael dragged her into a building. They sprinted up endless stairs.
The creature smashed through the lower floors.
Stone crumbled.
Metal twisted.
They burst onto the rooftop just as the beast exploded through the wall.
It lunged.
Ariya rolled beneath it, slashing its underbelly.
Black blood hissed on the concrete.
Kael pulled a strange blade from his coat—its edge glowing with silver light.
"You fight monsters here too?" she shouted.
"Only the ones that fall through cracks in reality!"
The creature snapped its jaws inches from her face.
Ariya leapt onto its back.
She drove an arrow through its eye.
It thrashed violently.
Kael stabbed deep into its spine.
With a final scream, the beast dissolved into ash.
Sirens wailed below.
Kael looked at her, breathing hard.
"You just declared war."