By nightfall, Kael was on the move again.
The slums of Dravemire never truly slept, but they knew how to hold their breath. The deeper you went, the quieter it became—until even the rats stopped scurrying. Kael's coat fluttered behind him as he crossed a ruined bridge into the Scar Quarter, where half-collapsed buildings slumped like drunkards and the air stank of rust and burned ozone.
This was where people disappeared.
And where Kael went to test his new edge.
His stolen Echo—the Skein of the Hollow Fang—was like a cold breath always lingering at the base of his skull. It didn't speak. It didn't advise. But it acted. Twice already it had jerked his muscles to dodge falling debris before he consciously noticed the danger. That alone could mean life or death in this city.
But a single fragment wasn't enough.
He needed more.
---
They called them Echo-Wraiths—twisted remnants of nightmares that clung to the seams between the Dream Realms and reality. Most were harmless if left alone.
But some hunted.
Kael had heard whispers of a creature stalking the Scar Quarter for weeks now—something that left only bloodless husks behind. No official search had been called. No patrols assigned. It was just the slums, after all. Who cared if a few Forsaken vanished?
Kael did.
Not for justice.
For power.
He crouched on the edge of a cracked rooftop, overlooking a narrow alley soaked in moonlight. He could feel it—something—watching. The echo of a predator. It pressed against his senses like static.
"Come on," he muttered. "Let's see what you are."
The moment the words left his mouth, a chill swept across the air.
Then he saw it.
A flicker of movement. Then another.
From the far wall, a shadow uncoiled like smoke—long-limbed, jointless, and wrong. It crawled down the bricks upside-down, featureless except for its gaping vertical maw that dripped shimmering black ichor.
Kael didn't move.
His heartbeat slowed. His breath synced with the rhythm of the alley. Time stretched.
The Skein activated.
The moment the creature lunged, Kael had already moved. He rolled aside, the beast slamming into the rooftop with explosive force. Cracks spiderwebbed beneath its limbs.
Kael spun, forming a shadowblade in his right hand.
The creature shrieked—a high-pitched, metallic cry—and lashed out with a whip-like arm.
Kael ducked under the blow, slashed low, but the blade passed through it like mist.
"Of course," he hissed. "Not physical."
The creature reared back and dove again. This time, Kael didn't dodge. He stepped into it, letting it pass through him—and in that instant, he focused everything on the mark in his arm.
The world twisted.
Just like before, a ripple tore through the alley.
The Labyrinth responded.
Chains descended around the beast, spectral and flickering, latching onto its form. Kael pulled.
And the creature howled.
---
He stood once more in the void of echoes, inside his soul. The monster writhed at the center, bound in chains. Its body now clearer—less shadow, more shape. A humanoid shell with a hollow chest and elongated fingers tipped with razors.
Its voice pierced the silence.
> "You are not one of us."
Kael stared at it, unblinking.
"No. I'm worse."
He reached forward. The chains tightened.
The creature shrieked as it collapsed inward, pulled apart piece by piece. Threads of shadow and memory unraveled and were drawn into Kael's mark.
---
[Echo Acquired: Whisper of the Maw]
> Type: Active
Effect: Unleash a piercing sonic scream that disorients enemies and fractures illusions within a limited radius.
Stability: Stable (1/1)
---
Kael's body snapped back into the alley, knees hitting the rooftop hard.
The world reeled.
He tasted copper and bile. His veins burned with the integration of the new Echo. His ears rang from the phantom of the creature's scream—but he felt it inside him now. A new ability. A new weapon.
He looked down at his hands, which still trembled.
Not from fear.
From power.
Two Echoes now burned within him. Two tools. Two steps up the wall that had kept him down his entire life.
He wasn't just surviving anymore.
He was ascending.
---
Down below, the alley lay silent. The creature had left no trace.
Kael stood on the edge of the rooftop, watching the stars flicker behind the smog. He wondered what they looked like beyond the reach of the city. If they were even real, or just another dream someone else controlled.
He didn't know. But one thing was certain.
Whatever the Dream Realms had done to him…
They had made a mistake.
---
End of Chapter 3