The underground corridors were plunged into almost total darkness, pierced only by the glowing glow of the flickering torches hanging on the walls. The air was heavy with ash and dust, each breath a struggle against suffocation.
Raikuto and Aisha ran, their hurried footsteps echoing in the narrow passage.
Behind them, the metallic sound of enemy boots hitting stone grew closer and closer.
— Raï, faster! Aisha gasped, casting an anxious glance over her shoulder.
They ran down a spiral staircase, almost slipping on the worn steps. Raikuto took a sharp turn and rushed into another corridor, pulling Aïsha by the arm.
—They are right behind us!
"We have to find a way out…" Aïsha breathed, her legs trembling with the effort.
Raikuto gritted his teeth. He knew these tunnels. There was a way out somewhere, but how long did they have before they were caught?
A piercing whistle split the air.
Raikuto ducked just in time. A dagger grazed his ear before crashing violently into the wall, still vibrating from the impact.
Aïsha barely had time to turn around when a second projectile rushed straight towards her.
She spun around sharply, narrowly avoiding the blade that ricocheted off the rock behind her.
—They're chasing us! she spat, her fists clenched.
A hoarse laugh echoed in the darkness.
— Run, little girl. We like it when our prey struggle.
Raikuto didn't wait to see where the voice came from.
He grabbed Aisha by the hand and led her further into the maze of tunnels.
Their legs burned, their lungs begged them to stop. But they couldn't.
Torches were becoming rarer. The darkness was gaining ground.
Then…
An explosion.
The ground shook beneath them. A shock wave threw them violently against the wall, making them cry out in pain. Brutal heat rushed through the passage, kicking up a storm of dust and rubble.
The world rocked around them.
Raikuto rolled on the ground, coughing, groggy.
A shower of stones collapsed with a dull roar.
He blinked, his head buzzing.
Then he looked up.
His heart froze.
A wall of rock now stood between him and Aisha.
A landslide.
—Aisha! he yelled, leaping towards the stone barrier.
From the other side, he heard a scraping sound, then a muffled voice.
— Rai!
He placed his hands on the stones, desperately searching for a fault.
— Hold on! I'm going to clear this!
He slammed his fist against the rock, tearing pieces of it away with his bare hands, his fingers scraping against the rough surface.
On the other side, Aïsha did the same.
— I'll join you! she shouted.
—Wait, I'm coming!
Raikuto dug frantically, ignoring the pain, the blood peeking out from under his nails.
He could still help her. He had to.
But suddenly...
He felt something.
A cold shiver ran down his spine.
The air changed.
The atmosphere becomes heavier.
And as he raised his head...
His blood freezes.
On the other side of the rubble, a shadow grew behind Aïsha.
Imposing. Implacable.
A metallic glow reflected the faint light of the torches.
A massive figure slowly emerged from the darkness.
Faculty.
Raikuto opened his mouth to scream.
— AÏSHA !
****
Time seemed to slow down.
Raikuto pounded frantically on the rubble, his fingers bloody and trembling, but the rock wasn't moving fast enough. On the other side, Aisha faced him, panting, her gaze burning with determination.
Then, she felt a presence behind her.
A huge shadow. An icy threat.
His breath caught.
She turned around slowly...
And Karnak was there.
His massive figure stood out in the darkness of the tunnel, his dark armor stained with blood, his sword dragging lightly on the ground, leaving a trail of death behind it.
His gaze pierced hers, implacable.
He tilted his head slightly, his cold smile barely visible beneath his split helmet.
"End of the race," he whispered.
Aisha gritted her teeth, tightening her grip on her dagger. She knew she was no match. She knew he was faster, stronger, more experienced.
But she had no right to hesitate.
She attacked.
A fluid, precise movement, sharp like the desert wind.
His dagger flew straight towards Karnak's neck.
But he was too fast.
He dodged with a single step to the side, pivoting in a perfectly calculated movement.
Then he knocked.
His knee sank brutally into his abdomen.
Aisha gasped, a strangled moan of pain escaping her lips.
His body was thrown backwards, hitting the tunnel wall violently with a dull thud.
Raikuto screamed until his throat was torn:
— Aïsha, back up!
She coughed, catching her breath with difficulty, but her gaze remained fixed on Karnak.
Non.
She wouldn't back down.
She dug her feet into the ground, clenching her fists despite the searing pain that radiated throughout her body.
She had never run away. She wouldn't start today.
She spat blood onto the dusty ground and looked up.
— I'm not going back.
Karnak raised an eyebrow slightly.
A predatory smile stretched his lips.
- It's good.
Then he attacked.
His sword cut through the air in a flash of metal.
Aïsha tried to raise her dagger, to intercept the blow, to deflect the deadly trajectory.
But she wasn't fast enough.
Not strong enough.
The impact was devastating.
The steel pierced his flesh, piercing his side with disconcerting ease.
A dull noise.
A breath taken away.
His eyes widened in shock.
Raikuto felt something inside him break.
— AÏSHA !
His cry echoed through the tunnel like a clap of thunder.
She wavered, her fingers clenching on Karnak's wrist, as if refusing to accept fate.
She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
Her own blood flowed slowly down her torn dress, falling in scarlet drops to the floor.
Karnak looked at him for a moment, indifferent.
Then, with a sharp gesture, he withdrew his blade.
Aïsha approves.
She staggered, staggering backwards, a trembling hand pressed against her gaping wound, her breathing short and ragged.
Blood flowed in dark rivulets, soaking the dust beneath his feet.
But she didn't fall right away.
Non.
She forced her body to move.
One step.
Another.
She had to move forward.
She had to join Raikuto.
She had to…
One last step.
Then she collapsed.
****
Raikuto finally broke the rubble, his fingers bloody from hitting the stone. When he managed to cross, his gaze immediately fell on her.
Aisha.
Lying on the ground, her blood slowly soaking into the cold earth.
A gasp passed his lips as he rushed to her side, lifting her gently against him.
— Aïsha… don't, don't, don't…
His breathing was ragged. His eyelids fluttered. Her body was light, too light in his arms, as if life was already fading from her.
She slowly opened her eyes, her gaze shining with a flickering light.
"I succeeded…" she whispered in a barely audible breath. I managed… to join you…
Raikuto felt an unbearable burn pierce his chest.
— Don't talk... keep your strength.
He pressed his hands to his wound, desperately trying to stop the bleeding. But the blood continued to flow, hot, sticky, relentless.
A deep laughter echoed through the tunnel.
Raikuto stiffened.
Karnak watched them.
His sword still dripping with Aisha's blood, his immense shadow projected on the wall by the flickering light of the torches.
"It's always fascinating," he breathed, amused, "to see how the weakest cling to life.
Raikuto looked up at him with a murderous look, but his hands were shaking too much to act.
Karnak seemed neither rushed nor worried. He turned his sword slowly, then wiped it with the back of his glove, never taking his eyes away from Raikuto.
— Do you think your crying will change anything? That your supplications will hold back death?
He knelt slightly, his merciless gaze boring into Raikuto's.
—I have seen kings fall, heroes beg, warriors like you howl their rage in the face of the inevitable.
He held out an open hand toward him, like a preacher offering irrefutable truth.
—And every time, they understand the same thing: no matter how much you fight, no matter how much you scream...
He paused, savoring the moment.
—...you never had control.
Raikuto felt his heart break.
He didn't want to listen.
But the words seeped into his mind, like shards of glass sinking beneath his skin.
Aïsha shivered against him.
His breathing was shorter, weaker.
"You want to save her, don't you? Karnak murmured, an almost compassionate smile on his lips.
Raikuto opened his mouth, but no sound came out. His clenched fingers trembled against Aisha's body as he tried to anchor her to him, to hold her, to keep her there.
— Of course you want to. Karnak shook his head with a sneer. Like all those who cling to the illusion of choice. Like Ghadib before you. Like so many others before him.
Raikuto didn't look down.
He refused to look at the truth.
— Watch her die.
Karnak's words sounded like a sentence.
Aïsha raised a trembling hand and gently touched Raikuto's cheek.
His skin was cold.
- You... seem worried... she breathed with a fragile smile.
Raikuto felt a wave of panic wash over him.
—Of course I'm worried, stupid!
She laughed softly, but her laughter quickly turned into a painful cough. A trickle of blood ran down his chin.
- Sorry…
His breathing was light, like a breeze that gradually died away.
Karnak observed the scene with a cold smile.
— This is how everything always ends. Not in glory. Not in victory.
He slowly stood up, twirling his sword nonchalantly.
—Only in the dust, in the blood, in oblivion.
Raikuto felt his body tense, frozen in a mixture of rage and terror.
Aisha was still struggling to keep her eyes open.
She blinked one last time, and a shiver ran through her body.
— I'm cold...
Raikuto tightened his grip, shaking his head violently.
- No ! Open your eyes!
But she didn't answer.
His fingers, still resting against his cheek, slid slowly, falling limply to the ground.
His breathing stopped.
Raikuto froze.
— Aïsha... ?
Silence was his only response.
Karnak sighed, shaking his head.
— There you go. Another soul dying.
Raikuto felt something inside him break.
A chasm opened beneath his feet.
He couldn't see anything anymore.
He couldn't hear anything anymore.
All he felt was this weight in his arms. This emptiness in his heart.
And Karnak slowly sheathed his sword... then, after a moment of hesitation, slowly took it out again.
"Maybe I should do you a favor, boy.
Raikuto, frozen in shock, did not immediately understand.
Karnak mouse.
— You should follow her.
He raised his sword.
The world slows down.
Raikuto didn't move. He couldn't move.
The black metal was about to fall.
And then—
A shard of steel.
Karnak's sword stopped abruptly, blocked by a blade that appeared out of nowhere.
Karnak raised an eyebrow and took a step back. Steel grinded against steel.
In front of him, a man had just appeared in the shadows of the tunnel, a dark sword across his path.
The shock vibrated in the air.
—That's enough.
Karnak observed his opponent, an intrigued smile on his lips.
— Finally an opponent.
He spun around and attacked in one quick motion. The stranger parried effortlessly, returning fire with surgical precision.
The two blades clashed violently, sending sparks into the darkness of the tunnel.
Karnak stepped back, analyzing the opponent in front of him.
"Interesting…" he murmured.
One last quick exchange.
A flash of steel.
Then the stranger took a step back and placed himself between Karnak and Raikuto.
"This boy is not yours.
Karnak observed the scene, before smiling slightly.
— I don't like being deprived of my trophies.
The stranger did not answer.
After a long silence, Karnak sheathed his sword.
"Remember my name, boy.
Raikuto slowly looked up.
—Karnak, the Breaker of Wishes.
Karnak mouse.
— The next time we see each other... it will be to finish what started this evening.
Then he turned around and disappeared into the darkness of the tunnel.
The stranger remained motionless for a moment, his gaze fixed on Raikuto's trembling body.
Then he knelt down and placed a hand on her shoulder.
—It's not your time yet.
Raikuto, with a blank look, almost didn't hear the words.
His world had just collapsed.