They had found shelter in an inn on a small town the had stumbled across after escaping the shrine. Well, technically Lyria said she knew a town nearby and Seren didn't complain, so that was a good sign.
The town was called Emberfall.
And he just tagged along like always.
Moving to the inn now.....
Kaito hadn't slept.
He sat on the edge of the rickety bed in the Emberfall inn, elbows on his knees, staring at the cracked floorboards like they might start breaking. The room was too quiet. Too still. That kind of stillness that didn't necessary mean peace. The kind that felt like something might be lurking around. Watching.
Outside the window, the city moved like a restless beast. Shadows moving under the flickering streetlamps. Someone was arguing two floors down. The smell of smoke and sweat rose in with the night air. Emberfall was never truly quiet, surely not tonight.
His Error System blinked in the corner of his vision.
[Warning: Unknown Presence Detected] [Thread Signature: Divine Class - Unverified] [Auto-Cloaking: 2% Effective. You Are Exposed.]
And yes they system's voice had gone for now. Thank god.
He swallowed, heart skipping. "Great. Awesome. Thanks for the nightmare fuel."
Across the room, Seren stirred in her chair, one long leg draped over the other, a half-finished book in her lap. She hadn't been reading for the last hour, though. Just pretending.
"What is it now?" she muttered without looking up.
"The system just gave me the fantasy version of 'you're being watched through binoculars,'" Kaito said. "Maybe by a god. Or something close to one."
Seren sighed and finally looked at him. Her hair was a wild mess from sleep, but her eyes were sharp. "Your system's unstable. It feeds on fear. Half these alerts could be glitches."
"And the other half?"
She didn't answer. Instead, she stood, fingers glowing faintly as she traced a warding circle around the door.
Kaito raised an eyebrow. "So we're not just being paranoid."
"You can be paranoid and right. Gods know I usually am."
Kaito stood and stretched, bones popping. "You think it's one of those Old Code freaks again? Or another assassin?"
"Maybe. Maybe worse. Divine surveillance magic doesn't leave behind a normal trail. This feels... older. Heavier."
She didn't say the word on both their minds: god.
The air shifted, and a strange flicker lit up the far wall. Kaito turned toward the window.
For a brief second, the clouds above Emberfall swirled into a circle, a golden, burning eye and then just vanished.
His Error System pinged like a broken fire alarm:
[Anomaly Detected: Celestial Beacon - Confirmed] [Targeting Lock: Active.]
Seren's mouth tightened. "Shit."
"You saw that too?"
"I saw it. And I felt it. That wasn't just surveillance. That was a mark. Someone's trying to tag us, probably you."
Kaito backed away from the window, hands clenched. "Why now? We've been laying low."
I wouldn't say what the have been doing is "laying low ' but.....
"Laying low doesn't mean invisible. Especially not with your system practically screaming divine energy every time you sneeze."
It does do that sometimes.
He rubbed his forehead. "What do we do?"
"We stay inside," Seren said. "We wait until I can find out who sent that mark. We don't run. That'll just make us easier to track."
Kaito glanced around. One bed. One door. Thin walls. A whole city full of eyes.
"What about Lyria?"
Seren frowned. "She said she needed air. Went out two hours ago. Didn't say where."
Kaito looked back out at the glowing skyline of Emberfall, now moving gently like coals ready to catch fire.
His gut twisted. Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
And Lyria was out there alone.
Now where is Lyria, you might ask?
A tavern but not for the reasons you might think.*
The Redstone Quarter was the kind of place people pretended didn't exist.
It sat on the edge of Emberfall like a broken tooth, all crooked alleys, leaky rooftops, smoke stained windows, Fires burned by the sides. In other words, it was a sh*thole. Where old soldiers and would be mercenaries crowded gambling dens and crumbling taverns, their armor dusty, their eyes empty.
Lyria moved like she belonged there.
Her cloak low, her hood drawn. Every footstep was light, each breath measured. The sword at her hip barely made a sound.
She didn't want to draw attention to herself, which is already hard being a muscle mummy In a tavern.
She stopped outside a warped tavern with no sign over the door. Just an iron hook where one used to hang.
Inside, it was dim and smelling. Stale ale, sweat, and too many years of blood. The bartender didn't glance up. She didn't even care to ask.
Lyria crossed to a back booth, where a hunched figure sat.
"You still breathe," she said.
The man looked up. His face was all scars. One eye. Burned patches down his neck. But his voice still held a rough edge of humor.
"Barely. I keep forgetting to stop."
"Varek."
"Commander," he said, nodding. "Or... whatever they call you now."
She smiled and slid into the booth. He poured a drink from a battered flask and pushed it toward her. She didn't touch it.
"It's worse than the war, Lyria. You brought something with you."
She didn't flinch. "We've been careful."
"Doesn't matter. That boy? That system of hims? You can feel it three blocks away. The gods are sniffing around again."
Lyria narrowed her eyes. "So it's not just paranoia."
Varek leaned forward. "It's not just them, either. Those Old Code lunatics aren't the only ones watching. There are... other things. Ancient ones. Ones that remember what power felt like before the gods got greedy. And whatever that boy is? He's waking it all up."
Lyria was silent.
"Run," Varek said. "Get out before this place burns again."
"Or better yet leave him."
She stood ignoring that last part. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me. Just survive. That's all I'm saying."
And she left.
Back at the inn, Seren had drawn another ward circle. Kaito watched it glowing faintly across the floor, golden lines curling into the walls.
"I don't like this," Kaito said.
"That makes two of us."
He walked to the window again. Nothing out there. Not anymore.
"You think Lyria's okay?"
Seren glanced at him. "She's not the one with a glowing bullseye pointed on her soul."
"So that's a yes."
"Come on, it's Lyria we are talking about here."
"She's fine. She always is. It's you I'm more worried about."
Kaito turned. "Because of the system?"
"Because you have no idea what you're becoming. And neither do I."
And she was the smart one.
There was a pause. Just enough silence to let the air grow thick.
Then the door creaked open.
Lyria stood in the doorway.
No words.
No expression.
Just the sound of her boots against the wood as she crossed the room.
"Pack," she said.
Seren blinked. "Excuse me?"
"We leave tonight."
Lyria's voice was ice. "Now. Before the sun drops. We can't stay here."
"Lyria—" Seren stood. "He needs rest. We all do. You can't drag us out into the wilderness just because your paranoia's flaring...."
"I spoke with a ghost," Lyria said. Her voice was low, deadly. "A friend. From my Legion days. He's still breathing, barely. He said Kaito is shaking the city loose. That something is hunting him, and it's not just the order."
She turned her eyes on Kaito. "Whatever you are… it's waking things that should stay buried."
Kaito didn't flinch. He looked at her, then at Seren.
"If she says we should leave," he said softly, "Then maybe we should."
"I trust her."
Seren looked like she wanted to scream.
Instead, she whispered, "Of course you trust her. Of course."
She agreed of course. But with murmurs.
They left Emberfall under a moonless sky.
The streets were quiet, maybe too quiet for a city that loud. Even the drunks and night shouters had disappeared, like the whole place was holding its breath.
Lyria led the way, her cloak drawn tight. Seren followed behind, murmuring spells under her breath. Kaito was in the middle,as always with his pack bouncing awkwardly against his back and the Error System buzzing like a hornets nest in his skull.
[New Phase Initiated: Exile Protocol] [Location Lock: Broken. Map Unstable. Generating Alternative Route...]
Kaito grimaced. "I think it's stuck in a haunted GPS mode." Pointing at his skull.
Lyria shushed him. Her eyes flicked to every shadow, every rooftop.
"We head east," she said. "Through the merchant tunnels. They'll be watching the main gates."
Seren rolled her eyes. "You mean the tunnels full of monsters, smugglers, and unstable mana fields?"
"Yes."
"Perfect."
The way was narrow, dirty and soaked in old magic. They crawled through collapsed passages and rusted bars. Kaito tripped more than once, muttering curses while his system offered dumb alerts.
It definitely wasn't helping.
[Minor Injury Detected: Ego Bruised] [Would You Like to Cry? (Y/N)]
He ignored it.
They reached the far edge of Emberfall just before dawn. The final hatch opened to a breath of wild, untamed air.
Lyria had brought them towards a port. She wanted to leave everything behind and start afresh.
Weirdly enough no one argued with it, not even Seren and definitely not Kaito. Not like he could have done anything either.
They all saw it as a way to move forward. Kinda.
Ahead of them was vast and empty: hills, forests, and a port in the distance. No more city walls and the gods watchful eyes. All that remained was the harsh reality of exile.
Kaito turned back once, looking at the city's oddly beautiful skyline.
He didn't know if they'd ever come back.
Probably not.
Lyria stood beside him, her voice low. Pointing at the ships ahead.
"Out here, it's all survival. No walls. No laws. Just power."
He looked at her. "Then I guess it's time you started training me for real."
Her smirk was sharp.
"Gladly."
Seren just stood besides them plotting. She was definitely plotting something.