Chapter 11 — The Quiet Before
The thing behind them was moving.
Kael didn't need to look to know. The sand shifted. The air bent. It was coming closer.
Lira's eyes widened, but she didn't speak. She just reached for something hidden under her cloak—a small, jagged knife.
Kael took a step forward, keeping his blade in front of him. "This won't help."
Lira's lips pressed together, but she didn't argue.
The shadow behind Kael seemed to grow thicker, almost like it was stretching. He could feel it without turning around. Whatever was coming wasn't normal, but the shadow... the shadow seemed to understand it too.
The road in front of them shifted again.
This time it didn't bend. It split.
A narrow path opened up, leading off to the left, while the rest of the road remained straight. A fork.
"You see that?" Lira whispered, her voice tight.
"Yeah," Kael muttered. "I see it."
The footsteps behind them grew louder, but still slow, deliberate. It wasn't rushing them. It was measuring the distance, taking its time.
"We move," Kael said. "Now."
They both turned toward the new path. Kael didn't wait to see if Lira was following. The road beneath him hummed, resonating with each step.
Lira caught up quickly, matching his pace.
A sound sliced through the air—a harsh, scraping noise. Then, a voice.
"You're not supposed to be here."
Kael didn't flinch, but Lira did. Her grip on her knife tightened.
They kept moving.
The road forked again. Then again. The landscape twisted, trees half-formed, ruins half-buried. Every step felt like they were crossing through an unfinished version of reality. The world wasn't right—it was warped, like a dream that hadn't settled into place.
Lira's breath was quick, her eyes darting to the side as if waiting for something to leap out of the shadows.
"You're not real either, right?" Kael asked, without looking at her.
Lira blinked. "I've been asking myself that for the last few hours."
They reached another split in the road.
Kael glanced around, trying to decide which way to go. But the roads were all the same. And the sound of footsteps... it hadn't stopped.
"It's following us," Lira said, her voice almost a hiss. "Whatever it is."
Kael turned and finally looked.
In the distance, moving from shadow to shadow, was a figure. Tall. Thin. Hard to see clearly—just a shape that didn't quite fit into the world.
"Not just following us," Kael said, his voice low. "It's hunting."
The ground under his feet shuddered.
Then the sky above flickered. Just for a moment.
Kael stopped. He knew that feeling. It wasn't just a shift in the land. It was a change.
The figure ahead of them was closer now. Close enough for Kael to make out its outline.
It wasn't human. Or anything else he recognized.
Something in him screamed to turn around, to run.
But the path ahead was open now. Wide.
No more splits.
"Run," Kael said quietly. "Whatever that thing is, it's not just watching us anymore."
He sprinted forward, Lira right behind him. The sound of footsteps was louder now, but it wasn't just one set.
There were more. A lot more. Coming from all directions.
The ground was buckling.
Kael kept running, but the path was narrowing again. The world was folding in. Behind him, something roared—a sound without a mouth.
Lira grabbed his arm. "Kael—"
He yanked it away, eyes locked on the path ahead.
The road was almost gone. He could see the edge of it.
He reached the edge and leapt.
The ground collapsed beneath him. Everything fell.
Not into darkness. Into something worse. Something waiting.