Trey walked quickly, barely making out the path. Every tree in the forest seemed closer than it should have been. Every rustle louder. It was as if the very air was trying to speak to him.
He didn't notice how tightly he was gripping his sword — his fingers had turned white, his skin almost bursting from the tension. The mark beneath his shirt pulsed again, but now with a different energy. Uneasy. Restless. Alive.
Kaira waited by the slope. She sat holding her crossbow on her lap. She didn't seem surprised to see him.
— You encountered something, — she stated, not asked.
Trey nodded.
— It knew who I was. It spoke... through a reflection.
Kaira frowned, quickly hid her crossbow in its case, and stood up.
— Then we have a problem. A big one.
They walked in silence until they reached an ancient track — an abandoned road that, according to rumors, led to old temples from before the Mark era. It was usually deserted here. But not today.
The first thing they saw were trees bent in one direction, as if something enormous had rushed through the thicket, bending the trunks like grass.
Then — shadows.
Trey only had time to turn around when the first figure flew out from around a bend in the road. Tall. Wrapped in shadow, its face hidden by a hood, but beneath it — nothing. Literally — an absence of features. A black, smooth mask, as if it didn't exist in this world.
It didn't run — it glided. And as soon as it got closer, a sharp movement — and Trey's sword ignited in his hands.
A strike. And another. He struck as he had been taught — quickly, with a step to the side. But the blow passed through the enemy.
— A shadow?... An illusion?
No. The blow to the face made it stagger. It's real. Just... not alive.
Kaira fired, not sparing any bolts. But each one, upon reaching its target, slowed down as if passing through water. Only one got stuck — right in the chest. The stranger froze for a moment.
That's when Trey struck. With all his might. The sword went through the chest and came out the back — but no blood or smoke flowed. Instead, the enemy began to melt, like a black candle melting in reverse — upwards, into the air.
Before disappearing, it whispered:
— You are already chosen. They just don't know who yet.
When everything fell silent, the forest was deathly still. Even the birds had stopped singing. Kaira breathed heavily, leaning on her knee.
— That wasn't a normal infected, — she said. — And not a human.
Trey didn't answer. His mark was burning.
— It left a trace, — he whispered. — Inside. I can feel it.
— Then we don't have much time. It called the others.
In the distance, in the direction they had come from, a fire ignited. A tall, orange pillar of flame. Too big to be accidental.
Trey looked towards the sky. And for the first time in a long time, he felt fear. Not for himself. But for what was approaching.
And that fear was smiling.