Luneth
I watched from the upper rows of the arena, concealed by shadows and a dark hood. The fight had drawn a crowd, the air thick with excitement and something darker, anticipation.
I had seen many Assignments before. Too many. They always carried the same weight, the same unspoken rule: One walks away, the other does not.
The moment it began, I knew Riven was outmatched.
Rynin was quicker and smoother. He moved with precision. Every strike he made was powerful, but it was also efficient. He was not even wasting one breath, one movement. He knew his body in ways few others did.
And Riven, he fought well, but it wasn't enough. He dodged and countered when he could, but he was just surviving. It wasn't long before he started to falter. I could feel it in the rhythm of the fight, in the way the air shifted with every blow.
Despite this, I still believed in Riven.
I exhaled sharply as Rynin slammed him into the ground.
It was over.
I had witnessed this very moment countless times. The body lying on the ground, the winner still standing, and the finishing move. How the audience would hold their breath to witness the end that was to come.
And then-
Something changed.
The rain slowed.
Not in reality, but in my perspective. It was my second ability that picked up the disturbance before my mind had time to figure out what exactly it was: a ripple, a shift, a bright presence, something from within him.
Then I noticed it.
His eyes and the nape of his neck.
It wasn't a trick of the light or some kind of illusion from the storm. It was glowing a pale, eerie luminance that contrasted against the dim, rain-soaked air. It was subtle, yet unmistakable, something that only I could see.
And when he moved-
He wasn't just reacting. Somehow, he knew.
Every step, every motion, every attack Rynin threw, he knew it before it happened. He wasn't dodging; he was like water flowing around Rynin's attacks.
The fight had turned.
I watched as Rynin's control slipped, as he lashed out in desperation. Riven was relentless. His hits landed with pinpoint precision, not just powerful, but ruthless. Strike after strike, he tore Rynin down, piece by piece.
And then, one final kick.
The shock of Rynin's body striking the stone reverberated with a harsh, cracking sound that echoed loudly within the arena. He slid back against the wall, looking dazed and quite disbelieving.
I had watched every type of fight, seen every kind of ability. But this?
This was different.
I pressed my palm against my chest, trying to steady the strange yet warm feeling blooming inside me. My ability still buzzed, still clung to him. It wouldn't stop focusing on him. I was truly… proud of Riven.
By the time he turned, I was already gone.
***
The memory of his neck and eyes was burned into my mind, that eerie pale glow.
I let my breath out quickly, my footsteps quickening down the twisting roads. The chill in the air clung to my skin, but I barely noticed it. My head was back in that arena, my mind caught in the moment he turned, searching.
He didn't see me. But for that instant, it was almost as if he could have.
I gritted my teeth. That wasn't supposed to happen.
I forced myself to keep moving. The road stretched ahead, dimly lit and winding, but I knew every turn by heart. I had walked this path a thousand times. It should have felt routine. It should have felt safe. But my thoughts kept replaying the fight, the way the air shifted around him.
I let my breath out in a sharp sigh and shook my head, turning down a quieter alley between buildings. The noise of the arena was distant, now, replaced by the steady drip of water off the rooftops.
***
The feeling hadn't left me by the time I climbed onto the weathered stone steps that led into my house. After resting my hand against the door for just one moment, it creaked open.
Immediate warmth, the low, flickering lantern light and the savory smell of tonight's dinner.
A voice came from the kitchen. It was soft, yet firm. "Luneth?"
I closed the door behind me. "I'm back."
There was a sound of steps, and then my mother appeared in the doorway, cleaning her hands with a piece of cloth. She wasn't my real mother, but she had taken me in when my parents… went missing.
She had long brown hair that fell to the middle of her back and dark, intelligent eyes.
She cast a critical glance at me, taking in the wet threads of my attire, and the lingering tension in my shoulders.
She frowned. "You visited the arena again. How many times…. do I have to tell you that's dangerous? Especially for you."
I didn't respond. I didn't need to.
She sighed, shaking her head, but didn't press further. Instead, she stepped forward and reached for my face, brushing my damp black strands of hair from my forehead. "At least dry off before you get sick."
I nodded, stepping past her toward my small room. The moment the door shut behind me, I let out a slow breath and pressed my back against it.
Then, that same weight. That same pull.
I froze, and then I approached the window cautiously, peering through the fogged glass. The street was deserted and the slick road shimmered beneath the dull light of lanterns. And then I saw someone.
A figure in a hood, moving with practiced caution. He kept his head low and hunched his shoulders, as though trying to disappear into the shadows. But no matter how he tried to hide, I felt him.
My heart did one hard, sharp jerk. He didn't have a reason to be here. No reason to walk down this street unless…
Unless something was pulling him too.
I didn't think. I just moved.
I carefully opened the window and pushed myself out into the night air, my shoes touching softly upon the dampness below. Wrapping my cloak tight about me, I followed, moving in the shadow of the walls.
Ahead of me, he pressed with purpose as he walked, his hood pulled deep. He kept to the shadows of the trail.
He was leaving.
I didn't know why that realization settled uncomfortably in my chest. It wasn't really my concern. I really ought to have turned back already.
But I didn't.
Then, he stopped.
I stilled instantly, pressing back against a stone wall. My heartbeat was steady and controlled, but my mind burned. He knew.
Slowly, he turned his head, just slightly, just enough for me to see his jaw beneath the hood. His posture shifted, not aggressive. Just… aware.
I knew he couldn't see me. I was too far, too concealed in the darkness.
But still, for the second time that night...
It was like he could.
Slowly, he turned. Not just his head, but his whole body pivoting with slow precision. The shadows of the hood still disguised the majority of his face.
Then his gaze lifted.
And locked with mine.
He shouldn't have been able to see me. The darkness, the distance. Everything should have kept me hidden. But the weight of his stare settled on me like he had known I was there the whole time.
A chill ran through me. Not fear. Not quite.
Something deeper.
I gripped the window ledge behind me, steadying myself. My ability hummed in my bones, recognizing something in him that I still couldn't name.
His hood shifted as he exhaled, slow and measured. He didn't move toward me. Didn't say a word.
I hesitated for one moment and then stepped forward.
Only the occasional flicker of lanterns lit the streets in the distance. But here, on the outskirts of the town, there was only silence.
I moved slowly, my feet barely making a sound against the damp earth. My breath was steady, controlled, though my pulse betrayed me, thrumming against my ribs.
The hooded figure remained still, as if he was waiting. His head stayed slightly turned in my direction, but he didn't shift, didn't make a move to acknowledge my approach.
Closer.
The space between us thinned, and with it, the hum beneath my skin intensified. The same pull I'd felt in the arena, the same awareness that refused to let go. He felt different. He was different.
I stopped only a few steps away, near enough to make out the slight rise and fall of his shoulders. Near enough to make out the faint gleam of his glittering green eyes below the shadow of the hood.
I said nothing.
Neither did he.
I watched him carefully, waiting for something. But he gave me nothing. Just that steady, unnerving stillness, like he was measuring something unseen.
I shifted my weight slightly, my fingers curling at my sides. "Riven," I finally said quietly.
His head tilted just a fraction beneath the hood. The air between us tensed, though not with hostility.
Riven exhaled slowly, his eyes narrowing. "You know who I am?"
Something in the tone in which he said it made my skin tingle.
I studied him, my ability still humming, still reaching for something in him that I couldn't quite grasp. He… didn't know who I was.
His jaw tightened slightly. Not anger. Just a flicker of something unreadable. "You… aren't going to answer."
And without another word, he turned.
I tensed up, my body going on high alert.
I didn't want to let him disappear. It was the closest we'd been in a long, long time.
"Wait," I said.
He didn't turn around, but he paused, listening.
A weight built up in my chest.
Before I could think, before hesitation could creep in, I moved.
My hand shot forward, fingers wrapping around his wrist.
The moment my skin met his-
Light.
A blinding luminescence erupted from his skin, flooding the darkness between us. It wasn't just a glow. It was radiance. Raw, overwhelming, unnatural. His skin burned like a star, pulsing with something alive, something I could feel vibrating through my bones.
A tidal wave crashed into my mind.
Shadows stretching across stone. A figure crumpling to the ground, the weight of something unbearable pressing into my chest. Cold air. A heartbeat, loud and frantic. An indescribable pain flooding my mind.
My breath hitched, the vision snapping away as suddenly as it had come.
I stumbled back, my grip releasing.
I swallowed hard, my heartbeat slamming against my ribs. My hand that had grabbed Riven's wrist still tingled.
He had gone rigid.
He didn't pull away, didn't move at all. But I could feel it. The tension coiled in him like he was barely holding something back.
Slowly, he turned his head, and this time, I saw his eyes fully.
Something haunted. Something wary. Tears began to spill out of his eyes as he fell to his knees and gazed at a small ring on his left hand.
Riven slid his eyes up to my face. "L-Luneth..?"