Some dances end with music. Others end with a body.
The thing stepped into the light between toppled stalls, its stone skin catching the market's haze. Two heads. Two sets of eyes. No mouths. The left head turned faster than the right, movements jittery. The right tracked Kade in a slow, steady arc like it was reading his pulse.
It didn't speak. Didn't need to.
The ground under his boots vibrated as it moved—one long stride, then another, closing the distance with predator efficiency.
Duskveil stirred against his ribs. Threads flexed, hungry.
Kade rolled his shoulders. "Fine. Let's dance."
It came in with both heads leading—two overlapping strikes that didn't make sense together. The left arm chopped low, the right arm speared high. Kade dropped under the first and pivoted sideways from the second, letting the threads snap out in a tight coil. They bit the stone hide, found a seam, and tore.
Not deep enough. Not yet.
The left head jerked toward him, eyes flaring. A pulse of heat rippled from its body, and the sand at Kade's feet hissed. He shifted back, keeping his weight light.
Gluttony brushed the edge of his senses—faint, strange. Not human. Not food. Loyalty. This thing wasn't alive the way people were, but something inside it was dedicated to keeping him from what lay ahead.
He ignored it. Pulled a dagger free.
The market's walls turned the fight into a trap. No space for long arcs, no room for clean retreats. The creature knew it—kept crowding, trying to pin him against stacked stone.
It almost managed. Almost.
Kade let it commit, then stepped inside the left head's blind spot. Dagger in low, twist, rip. Stone gave way to something darker—fluid like molten tar, sizzling against the blade.
The right head snapped toward the wound, like protecting it. Mistake.
Duskveil's threads plunged in, locking tight. Kade pulled, yanking the right arm off balance. He slid under, drove the second dagger up under the shoulder joint.
A crack. The right head went still.
The left didn't stop. Its eyes burned brighter, heat spiking. Kade braced for a last rush.
Didn't come.
Instead, it stepped back once. Twice. Then collapsed to one knee, the remaining head lowering—not in surrender, but in acknowledgment.
He didn't return it.
One clean slash across the neck, and the glow went out.
No corpse. No loot. The body crumbled to fine black grit that vanished in the air. In its place, a flat grey pane blinked open.
[HUNTER'S LEDGER — ZONE: SUNKEN MARKET]
Target Count: 51/5 Eliminated. Reward: 1 Portal Coordinate Fragment.
Additional Rewards for full clearance.
Kade read it twice. Then smiled faintly. "A shopping list."
The Mist Horse stepped from the shadow of a collapsed arch, vapor trailing its flanks. It lowered its head until its empty socket caught the shard-light.
"Come on," Kade said. "We've got names to cross off."
The haze deepened ahead. Shapes moved in it—too many for the empty stalls to hold.
Far down the market's spine, a human silhouette broke into a run… and Kade recognized the gait before the face—Vox.
Lists are only fun if someone ends up crossed out.
The Ledger pane stayed open in his peripheral.
Target #2: [Human] — Unknown Name — Coordinates: Updating.
The update pulsed with each of Kade's steps, leading him between skeletal colonnades and broken mosaic floors. The Mist Horse paced silent beside him, hooves leaving no sound in the dust.
Target moved fast. Not fleeing—circling. Setting ground.
Kade adjusted grip on his daggers. "Smart," he murmured. "But not enough."
The market narrowed into a split—two parallel lanes, both ending in the same plaza. Kade took the left. The Mist Horse took the right, slipping through vapor like a blade between ribs.
The plaza opened around them at the same time.
The target stood dead center—a man in piecemeal armor, scar line splitting his face from temple to jaw. In his hand, a hooked spear that hummed low, the way charged metal does.
"You're quick," the man said. His voice carried like it didn't care about walls. "Most Ledger hunters aren't."
Kade shrugged. "Most targets aren't worth the ink."
The man smiled—not kind, not mocking. Just real. "Then make this worth yours."
The first exchange was all reach. Spear whipping wide arcs, Kade slipping just inside or far out, letting Duskveil probe angles. The Mist Horse cut from the other side, forcing the man to pivot—always a half-second too slow to catch Kade's center.
Still, he was good. The spear's hum grew sharper with each swing, the air pulling toward its blade.
Then another sound—steps. Heavy. Familiar.
"Going to steal my kill?" Vox's voice, lazy as ever.
Kade didn't look. "If you wanted it, you'd be here sooner."
Vox stepped into the plaza, axe riding his shoulder. "Maybe I just wanted to see if you got better."
The fight tilted. The target kept both in view, never letting one flank him. Kade used it—angled the man toward Vox, letting the axe's weight drive him back a step too far. One opening. Duskveil threaded in, locking the spear-arm.
Kade's dagger slid under the ribs. Quick. Clean.
The man exhaled once—no curse, no plea. Just gone.
[HUNTER'S LEDGER — 2/5 Eliminated]Reward: +1 Portal Coordinate Fragment.
Vox watched the body fade. "You're better," he said finally.
Kade wiped the blade. "You're slow."
Vox grinned. "See you at the next name."
He left the plaza without looking back.
A shiver ran through the market air. Fine ash began to drift—not from above, but rising from the ground. Figures took shape in it—tall, gaunt, faces hidden in cowl-like folds. Each cradled a limp human form in its arms.