"If you can still feel pain… you're not dead yet."
The words echoed inside Kael's head as he limped through the smoking ruins of Hollowreach. Blood dripped steadily from his side, the gash torn open by the Gravemare's claws refusing to close. The system had healed most of his internal trauma, but not all—not yet.
The glow on his arm had faded to a dull ember. His breathing came in short, sharp gasps.
He wasn't safe.
He was being hunted.
Behind him, the ruins were no longer silent.
The rest of the Gravemares had come. Bigger ones. Armored ones. And not alone.
He saw them when he crested the ridge of broken metal—a full inquisition retrieval unit, descending from a crimson transport ship shaped like a spine. Soldiers in jagged armor, their helmets marked with burning seals. And leading them…
Kael's heart stopped.
A man in robes black as the void, standing beside a mechanical beast four times Kael's size. The man did not move. His hands were clasped. But Kael knew—he was watching.
They're not here to rescue survivors. They're here to erase them.
He turned and ran.
Every step was agony, but he pushed forward, through shattered ducts and flickering ruins, guided only by the whispers of instinct—and the system.
[ SYSTEM ALERT: Host evasion priority enabled. ]
[ Passive tracking scramble engaged. ]
[ Probability of survival: 23%. ]
"Not helpful," Kael grunted.
He ducked beneath a collapsed overpass, the weight of old-world steel humming above him. Somewhere below, a dull light flickered—an old station. He stumbled into it blindly.
And found her.
At first, he thought she was a ghost.
A woman knelt in the dust, head bowed, arms crossed over her chest like in old temple poses. Her robes shimmered faintly red in the blacklight, dust swirling gently around her. Her hair was silver—unnaturally so—and her eyes were closed.
Kael reached for a shard of metal, ready to strike if needed.
She opened her eyes.
They glowed. Not like his, not with fire or hate—but with calm. Like deep water.
"You're not one of them," she said.
Her voice was quiet. Measured. Dangerous.
"No," Kael replied. "Are you?"
She tilted her head. "If I were, you'd already be dead."
Kael didn't lower the shard.
He couldn't afford to.
The woman—this strange, silver-eyed priestess—was too still. Too clean. She didn't look like a survivor. She looked like something untouched by ruin. And that, in Hollowreach, was impossible.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Someone who shouldn't be here." She rose to her feet, robes whispering across the ash-covered floor. "And neither should you."
Kael didn't move. "Then why are you here?"
She paused, studying him like a scientist might study a rare disease. "To see if the rumors were true."
"What rumors?"
Her eyes narrowed. "That the system chose someone again."
Kael stiffened.
[ SYSTEM REACTION: Signature recognized. ]
[ Subject: Class IV Cognition Anchor – Name: LYRA VAEL ]
[ Status: OBSERVER / SYSTEM WATCHER ]
[ Access level: Restricted. ]
"You're part of it," Kael whispered.
Lyra didn't deny it. "I was born with the mark. But I never activated it. I chose silence. You… chose the stone."
"I didn't choose anything."
"You touched it." She stepped closer. "Now everything changes."
Suddenly, from above—the shriek of metal.
The ceiling tore open.
A Gravemare burst through the duct above, followed by two inquisitorial knights. One raised his lance. "Target found!"
Kael barely turned in time.
[ SYSTEM RESPONSE: DEFENSE PROTOCOL TRIGGERED. ]
[ UNLOCKING FIRST DESTINY NODE… ]
The world slowed.
In front of him, four glowing choices burned in mid-air—floating system UI, visible only to Kael.
[CHOOSE YOUR PATH][1: SHIELDWALKER] – Absorb and reflect force, stand your ground.
[2: BLINKSTRIKE] – Short-distance teleport with high impact strike.
[3: GRAVEBORN] – Use surrounding corpses to temporarily reinforce defense.
[4: CHAOS SEED] – Release a burst of raw entropy; unpredictable effects.
He didn't think.
He felt.
[Selected: BLINKSTRIKE]
The system pulsed.
And Kael vanished.
He reappeared behind the first knight—his fist already moving—driven by momentum and rage. Metal crumpled. The man fell without a sound.
The Gravemare lunged—Kael blinked again.
Two steps, one breath, a pivot—he reappeared above, dropping down onto the creature's spine with the weight of falling stone. It shattered beneath him.
The third knight hesitated.
Big mistake.
Kael blinked through him.
The man collapsed in two directions.
Silence.
Dust drifted.
Kael stood in the ruins, panting. Blood on his arms, glowing veins pulsing with system heat. His body shook—but not from fear. From clarity.
He was getting faster. Stronger.
Smarter.
And something inside him… wanted more.
Lyra watched him. Her expression unreadable.
"You really are Unwritten," she said.
Kael turned to her. "Then help me write what comes next."