The figures stepped fully into view, sliding between rock spires like streaks of smoke. They wore armor that shimmered in and out of visibility, a chameleon blur that caught the stormlight and twisted it. Their faces were covered by featureless black masks, smooth and reflective. No eyes. No mouths. No humanity.
Kazi felt the change instantly. These weren't memory-figures like the Ember girl. These were real. Dangerous. Their presence scratched at her skin like thorns. Her mark flared in warning, and she braced herself.
Rhazir moved beside her, hand lifting just enough for his Eclipse Line mark to emerge from under his sleeve. The darkness around him thickened slightly, shadows bending toward his silhouette like vines reaching for sunlight.
"They're not Volt Line," he muttered. "They're hunting him."
The Volt bearer, still nameless, turned slightly, sparks dancing up his arm and across his collarbone. Lightning coiled around his shoulders like a living scarf, twitching with each heartbeat.
"They've been following me since it activated," he said, voice low but sharp. "They don't speak, and they've been relentless."
"Who are they?" Kazi asked.
"No idea," the boy answered. "But I know what they want."
He raised both hands.
The storm answered.
Lightning erupted from the clouds above, a net of energy raining down toward the clearing. The boy directed it with brutal grace, splitting bolts between the four invaders. Two of them vanished in the light, disintegrated or thrown back, Kazi couldn't tell. The other two charged forward, moving faster than they should have been able to, skating over the rock with crackling speed.
Kazi reacted on instinct. She dropped into a low stance, focused on the pressure inside her chest. Her mark responded, heat rushing through her bloodstream like molten copper. Amber light burst across her skin. She threw out one arm, and flames followed, fiery arcs coiling through the air to meet the incoming threat.
The first shadow struck her fire head-on. The flames didn't stop them, but they slowed. Kazi slid to the side, dodging as one of the masked figures lashed out with an arm that extended like liquid metal.
It struck the ground where she had been standing a moment ago, exploding in a burst of stone and dust.
Rhazir appeared behind the second attacker, his movements silent and swift. A pool of shadow spread from his feet, rising in thin tendrils that coiled around the figure's legs like living chains. For a moment, it was caught.
"Now, Kazi!" he shouted.
She spun, arm outstretched. Her palm blazed.
A focused blast of fire shot forward, striking the trapped figure in the chest. The explosion lit the valley like a second lightning strike. When the smoke cleared, the shadow was gone.
Only one remained.
It faced the Volt bearer now, who stood calm and electric at the center of the storm. The boy raised his hand, slowly.
The final shadow hesitated.
"Bad move."
A single bolt of lightning streaked from the clouds, sharper than the rest. It pierced through the mask like a spear through paper. The figure convulsed, its body turning to mist before it even hit the ground.
Silence returned as the storm eased.
And all three of them, Kazi, Rhazir, and the boy, stood in the aftermath, breath heavy, the air thick with ash and ozone.
The Volt bearer looked at her. "Name's Dakarai."
Kazi blinked. "I'm Kazi."
He nodded. "Yeah. I figured."