I kept walking behind Eryndar for a while longer.
The cold from the snow had started to fade from my skin, replaced by the heat building inside —Essentia. I hadn’t planned it, but it worked.
Elliot would've figured that out from the start.
One second.
That’s all it took.
The ring Leon gave —now resting quietly on my finger—sent a pulse through my body. A ripple of Essentia, sharp and clear.
It could only an one thing:
Danger.
Last ti, Leon gave his life to protect us, and that was with everyone there.
Now it was just and Eryndar.
The pulse surged again—
Right side.
My instincts scread it before I could even think.
My eyes snapped toward the source just as my arms ca up—
Boom.
I blocked the punch, barely. A dark figure had launched straight at . The impact drove back, boots skidding across the snow, breath caught in my throat.
“What the hell—?” I muttered, catching my balance, eyes scanning.
Then—
A crack in the distance.
I whipped around.
Eryndar was under attack.
A second figure descended from above, foot raised in a brutal hamr kick. Eryndar t it with bare hands. No weapons—just sheer, unflinching force.
He didn’t budge.
But the ground beneath him shattered like glass, spiderweb cracks splitting through the snow, which blasted away in every direction.
“Where’ve you been hiding, little boy?”
The voice sliced through my thoughts like a dagger.
A figure stepped from the shadows—dark, lean, and familiar.
Askael. The one who fought Lytharos.
“Do you have the book?”
He smiled like a wolf sniffing blood.
“No more warriors to protect you now.”
He glanced briefly toward Eryndar—still locked in combat with whoever was attacking him.
I can’t beat him. Not alone.
I had to run.
But what about Eryndar?
My thoughts tangled in panic, every instinct screaming different directions.
“I don’t have the book anymore!” I yelled, hoping it might slow him down, distract him, sothing.
He kept walking. Calm. Confident.
“I’m sure you know where it is.”
His smirk dug into my spine like a hook.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to for the genuine story.
I shifted my stance—defensive, tight. One of the ones Lytharos drilled into during the last few weeks.
Then—
Wham.
A fist shot toward like a bullet.
Too fast—
I couldn’t react in ti.
The punch hit flush and my world went sideways.
I crashed into a tree with bone-rattling force, pain flaring through my ribs and back like fire.
Damn it…
I should’ve known they’d be hunting us.
The dojo was protected by the artifact. But here? We were exposed.
“Talk to , kid.”
Askael approached, voice as casual as if we were chatting over tea.
He pulled a jagged knife and pressed it to my neck.
I couldn’t move. My body wouldn’t respond—paralyzed from the blow.
How much damage did I take?
I thought I was stronger than this.
Then—pain. A sting at my neck.
Not blood. Essentia.
It started leaking out in a thin stream, reacting to the knife.
Essentia-draining tools.
The sa ones he used against Lytharos.
He was going to siphon dry.
Boom.
A sharp, spinning spike of earth shot through the air and slamd into Askael’s arm.
“AAAHH!”
He let out a scream, staggering back.
I looked toward the source.
Eryndar stood tall—one hand stretched toward Askael, the other gripping an attacker by the neck like they weighed nothing.
He already took the other one down?
That fast?
"You don’t know who you’re ssing with," Eryndar said, his voice calm, clear, unshaken.
Askael froze. His expression twisted into disbelief.
“There’s no way you’re…” he trailed off, voice laced with realization.
He’d recognized him.
His eyes darted back to .
“You got lucky, kid. Got yourself an unmovable wall, huh?”
I pushed myself up—barely—my legs trembling under the weight of my own body.
Tried to speak, but pain still clung to my ribs like iron chains.
Eryndar stepped forward.
So did Askael.
He extended a hand.
“We’ll see later.”
A sudden burst of smoke exploded around us, clouding my vision.
Eryndar didn’t flinch.
He struck the air with a precise motion—his Essentia slicing the smoke apart.
But Askael was already gone.
“They ca for you sooner than I thought,” Eryndar muttered.
You knew?
“Didn’t expect them to be so… careful and risky.”
“What do you an?” I asked, still wincing. Careful and risky? They got their asses handed to them.
“You’re not at that level yet,” he said simply.
He placed a hand on my shoulder and helped start walking. Eventually, our pace evened out.
“I can sense Essentia when it moves,” he began.
“You can too. So can Lytharos. Even Leon. You just haven’t learned to recognize it yet.”
Sense Essentia moving…?
“But they completely stopped their flow to hide their presence. It’s the most careful way to attack soone—but also the riskiest. If you’re caught, you won’t be able to restart your flow in ti to defend yourself.”
So they went dark until the very last second…
“So they reactivated their flow right before the attack?”
He nodded.
“Exactly. That’s why I could react.”
Then he looked at .
“And so did you.”
I frowned.
“I didn’t. Leon’s ring—it sends a vibration when danger’s near.”
I glanced down at the silver band around my finger.
Eryndar smirked, just slightly.
“You still raised your arms before you knew what was happening. Maybe not consciously. But your instincts are sharpening.”
Then he added:
“And Leon’s ring? It doesn’t react to danger. It reacts to intent.”
I blinked.
Intent?
“I was there when he created the first ones,” Eryndar said, and held up his own hand.
A ring glinted on his finger—similar in design, but gold instead of silver.
The flow carved into it felt... the sa. Yet not.
“Huh,” I muttered. “Why does everyone I et have one of these?”
He smiled. A tired, knowing smile.
“We were all connected to him. In one way or another.”
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