The roar that shook the forest wasn't like the Guardian's molten bellow.
It was older.
Deeper.
A sound that felt carved from the bones of the world.
The Marked girl flinched, pulling Arlen closer. "We have to move. Now."
Mira stepped between them, sword raised. "Not until you tell us what's coming."
The girl shook her head violently. "There's no time. They followed me across three nights. They don't stop. They don't tire. They don't—"
The forest exploded.
A massive shape tore through the treeline, scattering branches like splinters. It landed on all fours, shaking the ground. Its body was a shifting mass of shadow and bone‑white lines, like someone had drawn a creature in charcoal and then set it half on fire.
Its eyes glowed the same blue as the fracture.
Arlen's mark burned.
The system screamed:
Remembered Hunter Detected.
Classification: Echo Predator.
Threat Level: Lethal.
Warning: Mark Resonance escalating.
Mira whispered, "That's… not a monster."
"No," the Marked girl said. "It's worse."
The Hunter Moves
The creature's head snapped toward Arlen, nostrils flaring as if scenting something familiar.
Arlen's pulse spiked. "It's tracking the mark."
The girl nodded. "Both of ours."
The Hunter lunged.
Arlen barely had time to shove Mira aside before the creature slammed into the ground where they'd been standing. Dirt erupted. Claws gouged deep furrows.
Mira rolled to her feet. "We can't fight that thing!"
Arlen's analysis flickered, overloaded by the creature's shifting form.
The system whispered:
Situational Analysis compromised.
Echo interference detected.
Recommendation: Retreat.
Arlen grimaced. "For once, I agree."
The Flight
They ran.
Branches whipped past. Roots snagged their boots. The forest pulsed with unnatural energy, responding to the Hunter's presence.
The Marked girl stumbled, and Arlen caught her arm. "What's your name?"
"Lysa," she gasped. "Lysa Vane."
"Okay, Lysa. Stay close."
Behind them, the Hunter roared again — a sound that made Arlen's teeth ache.
Mira glanced back. "It's gaining!"
Arlen's mark flared painfully.
Teh light pulsed outward in a sudden burst.
The Hunter recoiled, snarling.
Lysa stared. "You pushed it back. How did you—"
"I didn't," Arlen said. "The mark did."
The system chimed:
Echo Mark Activation: 41%.
New Effect: Repulsion Pulse (Instinctive).
Control: None.
Mira huffed. "Great. A power you can't control that only works when you're terrified."
Arlen managed a breathless laugh. "So… always?"
The Clearing
They burst into a wide clearing illuminated by the cracked sky's pale glow. The air shimmered with faint blue motes — remnants of Echo energy.
Lysa froze. "No. No, no, no. This is where they found me last time."
Arlen looked around. "Why here?"
"Because this place is thin," she whispered. "Between worlds. Between echoes."
Arlen felt it too — a strange pressure, like standing between two mirrors facing each other.
The Hunter stepped into the clearing.
Its form stabilized — less shadow, more bone. More real.
Mira raised her sword. "Arlen… we can't outrun it anymore."
Arlen nodded. "Then we stall it."
Lysa grabbed his arm. "You don't understand. Hunters don't stop until—"
The Hunter roared and charged.
Arlen's mark ignited.
Lysa's mark answered.
The air between them cracked like glass.
The Echo Surge
A shockwave of blue light erupted outward, freezing the Hunter mid‑lunge. Its body convulsed, lines of light crawling across its form like veins.
The system blared:
Echo Synchronization Event.
Multiple Marks Resonating.
Warning: Unstable surge detected.
Arlen felt his mind split — not painfully, but expansively. The Echo Realm flickered at the edges of his vision. Possibilities. Futures. Paths.
Lysa screamed, clutching her head. "It's too much!"
Arlen grabbed her hand. "Focus! Anchor to me!"
Mira shouted something, but her voice was drowned out by the rising hum of energy.
The Hunter broke free of the paralysis, snarling, its form warping violently.
Arlen's vision blurred.
He saw—
—himself, older, standing in a field of shattered sky.
—Lysa, holding a blade made of pure Echo light.
—Mira, facing a creature of impossible size.
—three marks glowing in unison.
—something colossal waking beneath the world.
Then—
Everything snapped.
The Aftermath
Arlen collapsed to his knees, gasping. The clearing was scorched with blue fire. The Hunter lay motionless, its form flickering like a dying ember.
Mira rushed to him. "Arlen! Are you okay?"
He nodded weakly. "I… think so."
Lysa knelt beside him, trembling. "That wasn't supposed to happen. Marks aren't meant to resonate like that."
Arlen looked at her. "Then why did they?"
Lysa swallowed. "Because our marks match. That means…"
She hesitated.
Mira narrowed her eyes. "Means what?"
Lysa met Arlen's gaze.
"It means we were chosen by the same Echo."
Arlen felt the world tilt.
"Chosen for what?"
Lysa whispered:
"To fix the fracture… or to finish what broke it."
The cracked sky pulsed overhead — faster now.
And somewhere far away, something answered.
Somwhere beneath the earth, a second roar rose.