The first arrow missed by inches.
It hissed past Theo's ear and buried itself into a tree with a thunk sharp enough to snap the silence like glass.
Theo didn't hesitate — he dropped low and rolled behind a fallen log, blade already in hand.
Nova was faster.
She ducked under the next volley, moving like a shadow herself, her dagger flashing once as she flicked it through the air — the blade striking something unseen with a faint, ugly sound.
A figure stumbled out of the trees, clutching its side.
Theo squinted.
It wore a cloak the color of dust, and beneath the hood, its face—
No.Not a face at all.
It was featureless, smooth like stretched leather over bone, with faint cracks where eyes and a mouth should have been.A mockery of a human form.
"A Scavenger," Nova hissed, sliding into cover beside him.
Theo glanced at her. "I thought those were legends."
Nova wiped blood from the edge of her dagger."Most legends are just warnings we forgot to listen to."
Another arrow shattered against the log.
Theo gritted his teeth.
The Scavengers weren't mindless — they worked in packs, surrounding and wearing you down until you slipped.
They didn't need to kill you clean.They just needed to drag you under the threads until you frayed apart.
He caught Nova's eye.
"We move together," he said.
She nodded once.
When the next volley came, they sprang into motion — Theo charging left, Nova flanking right.
Theo's blade caught one Scavenger across the chest, tearing fabric and whatever passed for flesh underneath.The thing didn't bleed.
It whined — a thin, keening sound that twisted Theo's gut — but it kept coming, arms lashing out in jerky, desperate swings.
He ducked under the first strike and rammed his shoulder into it, sending it sprawling back into a tree.
Another one rushed him — this one carrying a crude, jagged spear.
Theo barely parried the thrust, sparks flying from the clash.
Behind him, he heard Nova curse under her breath — sharp and furious — and then the wet sound of a blade finding its mark.
They fought without speaking, without thinking — just trusting each other to cover the gaps.
Theo didn't know how long the battle lasted.
Minutes. Hours. It blurred into a brutal, relentless rhythm.
Strike. Parry. Dodge. Strike again.
But slowly, the Scavengers began to falter.
One dropped to its knees, convulsing as silver light from Nova's dagger seeped into its cracks.Another crumbled into ash when Theo drove his blade into its chest, the Origin Core humming in satisfaction.
When the last one fell, silence returned — heavy, exhausted.
Theo leaned against a tree, breathing hard, muscles burning.
Nova wiped her dagger clean on a strip of cloth torn from one of the Scavengers' cloaks.
"They were organized," she said, her voice low.
Theo nodded grimly. "They knew we were coming."
Nova tucked her dagger away, looking at the dead creatures with a guarded expression.
"Someone sent them."
Not something.Someone.
Theo pushed away from the tree, stepping closer to one of the bodies.
Even in death, the Scavenger's form seemed unstable — flickering slightly, like a bad reflection in a cracked mirror.
And carved into its chest, hidden under the torn fabric, was a mark.
A spiral.A broken thread twisted into a noose.
Theo's heart skipped.
He recognized it.
"The Warden Orders," he said aloud.
Nova stiffened.
Theo ran a hand through his hair, suddenly feeling the weight of the notebook in his pocket — and all the fragile hopes it carried.
"They know we're fixing the threads," he said. "And they're trying to stop us."
Nova stepped closer, her expression tightening like a drawn bow.
"Then we're running out of time faster than we thought."
Theo looked at her — the fire in her eyes, the stubborn set of her jaw — and felt something stir deep inside him.
Fear, yes.But also defiance.
They would not go quietly into collapse.
Not this time.
"We find the next faultline," Theo said.
Nova nodded once, sharp and sure.
"And this time," she said, her voice almost a whisper, "we strike first."
Above them, the sky darkened, as if the world itself was listening.
And somewhere, beyond the broken hills, unseen hands pulled at tangled threads — desperate to unravel everything they fought to save.