The street had emptied, but the air was still thick with danger. Every shadow seemed to twitch, every distant echo carrying a warning. The clash with Iron Fang had left more than bruises and blood; it had left a pulse of adrenaline that refused to fade.
Ryn crouched low, scanning the alleyways. "He won't be the last. Dareth doesn't send one without lining up five more."
I wiped blood from my cheek, letting the mana simmer in my blade. "Then we make sure the next five regret it."
Loran muttered something under his breath—half curse, half prayer—and tightened his grip on his sword. "You really think Dareth's going to play fair after this?"
I didn't answer. Fairness was a concept for the weak. For those who weren't walking through a storm with a target painted on their back.
We moved deeper into the twisting streets, sticking to the shadows. The glow of distant lanterns reflected off wet cobblestones, and the faint hum of residual mana reminded me that the city itself had begun to sense my presence. Valenport was alive—and watching.
Ahead, a narrow bridge arched over a dark canal. I paused, senses straining. There—a shimmer at the far end, a ripple in the mana field. Not Iron Fang. Something… else.
Ryn whispered, "Traps."
I nodded, stepping forward cautiously. Each footfall carried the weight of intent, each breath measured. My blade pulsed with Soul Resonance, ready. The air seemed to thicken, a prelude to violence.
Then it hit.
A series of precise, invisible strikes raked through the air, cutting narrowly past my head and shoulders. Loran cursed as he blocked one with a steel spark. Shadows peeled away from the walls like living things, converging on us in a coordinated wave.
"They know we're coming," I said, voice low, eyes scanning. "Stay tight. Don't give them an opening."
The first attacker dropped from the bridge—a lithe figure with dual daggers that glowed faintly with mana. I met him head-on, blade meeting steel in a shower of sparks. Ryn engaged another, her movements a blur of speed and precision, while Loran struggled to keep a group of four at bay.
I slashed, parried, and rolled, letting mana surge through every strike. The air around my blade crackled, fire and lightning mingling in lethal arcs. Every movement was a dance of death, a rhythm I had learned in the alleys of Valenport.
Amid the chaos, a familiar voice called from above: cold, deliberate. "Kael Veylan."
I froze for the fraction of a heartbeat that could mean death. Sylara.
Her presence was unmistakable—power coiled around her like a living thing. She dropped into the fray, striking with the precision of a seasoned hunter. Two attackers went down before I could even react, and the remaining few hesitated, eyes wide with fear.
I seized the moment, channeling Soul Resonance into a sweeping strike that knocked two more back against the canal's edge. Ryn followed, finishing the last with a quick, clean cut. Loran grunted but remained upright.
The street fell silent again. Only the faint drip of water from the bridge and the heavy breaths of my companions remained.
Sylara stepped forward, hood back now, eyes scanning the scene. "This is only the beginning," she said. "Dareth is already mobilizing. He knows you're more than a problem—he knows you're a threat."
I nodded, chest heaving, mana still thrumming in my veins. "Then let him come. We'll be ready. Every step he takes… we'll meet him head-on."
Ryn glanced at me, smirk faint but dangerous. "You've got that storm look again, Kael."
I let a small smile creep onto my face, though it was sharper than friendly. "The storm's just getting started."
Sylara studied me for a moment, eyes cold but calculating. "You'll need more than skill and rage. Dareth's power runs deep. You'll need allies… and information. The kind you don't find in the streets."
I met her gaze, unwavering. "Then we get what we need. By any means necessary."
The night pressed in around us, thick and heavy. But for the first time in months, I felt the tide turning. The pieces were moving. The fractures in the city, in Dareth's network… they were my advantage now.
And when the storm broke, Kael Veylan would be waiting at its center.