The emergency stairs of Iéna station felt like they were stretching, the concrete steps warping into something that resembled jagged bone. Every time Jacques's heavy boots struck the ground, the sound echoed upward like a dinner bell for the things prowling in the dark.
"Faster," I hissed. My voice didn't even waver. The Draugr's Cold Heart kept my breathing rhythmically slow, my chest barely moving while Jacques sounded like a dying engine.
Behind us, the green glow of the Hunter's lanterns began to bleed into the stairwell. The air grew impossibly cold, freezing the sweat on Jacques's brow into thin needles of ice.
[WARNING: THE WILD HUNT IS CLOSING THE GAP]
[DISTANCE: 150 METERS]
[ADVICE: SACRIFICE DEAD WEIGHT TO INCREASE VELOCITY]
The System's advice flashed in blood-red text right over Jacques's head. The "Dead Weight" was clear. Jacques stumbled, his hand slipping on the slime-covered railing. He fell to one knee, a groan of agony escaping his lips as his broken ribs shifted.
"Elias... wait... I can't... my side..."
I stopped three steps above him. I looked down. In the pale, flickering light, Jacques looked ancient. His eyes were wide with a primal terror that I could no longer feel. I looked at the silver mark on my forehead—the beacon that was drawing the Hunters to us. If I stayed to help him, we both died. If I pushed him down the stairs, I might buy thirty seconds.
But then, a new notification pinged.
[QUEST TRIGGERED: THE SHEPHERD OR THE SLAYER]
[OBJECTIVE: REACH THE SURFACE WITH YOUR PARTNER]
[REWARD: 100 ESSENCE & 'SOLIDARITY' TITLE]
[FAILURE: 0 ESSENCE & LOSS OF HUMANITY]
100 Essence. That was four times what I had earned from the Scraper. The System wasn't just testing my survival; it was betting on my cruelty.
I reached down, grabbed Jacques by the collar of his rugged jacket, and hauled him up with a strength that surprised me. The Draugr's Heart didn't just numb the cold; it gave me the tireless power of the undead.
"Don't speak. Move," I commanded.
We reached the final gate—the heavy iron bars that led to the street level. Usually, they would be locked, but the "Formatting" had twisted them like wet straw. I kicked the gate open and we burst out into the night air of Paris.
I stopped dead. Jacques collapsed beside me, vomiting from the exertion.
The city was gone.
The Eiffel Tower still stood in the distance, but it was no longer made of iron. It had been overwritten by a colossal, glowing tree of white light whose roots wove through the streets like mountain ranges. The Haussmann buildings were covered in a thick layer of frost and glowing moss. The sky wasn't black; it was a swirling vortex of purple and gold, filled with stars that were too large, too bright.
But it was the sound that hit me. Not the sound of cars or sirens, but the sound of a thousand battles. Screams echoed from every balcony. People were jumping from windows to escape things that looked like giant ravens.
[LOCATION REACHED: THE FROZEN BOULEVARDS]
[STATUS: ACTIVE COMBAT ZONE]
"Look," Jacques whispered, pointing back toward the metro entrance we had just exited.
Rising from the darkness of the stairs was a Rider. It sat atop a horse with eight legs that stepped onto the pavement without making a single sound. The Rider was tall, encased in armor that looked like frozen smoke, and it held a spear that hummed with the same silver light as the mark on my head.
The Hunter tilted its head, its faceless visor fixed on me. It didn't care about Jacques. I was the one with the mark. I was the prize.
"Run into the buildings!" I yelled.
We bolted across the street, weaving between stalled cars that were already being reclaimed by the earth. I could feel the Hunter's gaze on my back like a physical weight. The hunt wasn't just a trial anymore; it was a race against a god's executioner.
13 DAYS : 21 HOURS : 45 MINUTES.
I looked at my hand. 0.000 Essence. To survive the night, I didn't just need to run. I needed to become a hunter myself.