Rick woke up gasping for air.
His reflection stared back at him from the cracked mirror across the room — same face, same eyes… but the expression wasn't his. The man in the reflection smiled faintly, almost mockingly.
"You're getting stronger," the reflection said.
Rick froze. "Saren?"
The voice was smooth, cold, echoing in the back of his skull.
> "Don't be afraid. I'm part of you now. You opened the Veil, remember?"
Rick gripped the edge of the sink. His pulse hammered. "I didn't open anything. You forced your way in."
> "And yet, here you stand — breathing magic that wasn't meant for humans."
He punched the mirror. It shattered, but the reflection didn't fade. The pieces all reflected the same smirking face.
Rick stumbled backward, breath shallow. He could still feel the phantom heat from the mirror as if Saren's voice had burned through it.
Then a knock came at the door.
"Rick? You okay?" Lira's voice.
He wiped his face and tried to steady himself. "Yeah… just needed air."
When he opened the door, Lira studied him quietly. "You look pale."
"Didn't sleep much."
She didn't believe him, but she didn't press. Instead, she handed him a tablet. "Marrek wants you in the briefing room. Another breach. And… there's something strange about this one."
Rick followed her down the metal hallway. The safehouse buzzed with low tension — screens flickering with energy readings, agents moving fast, whispers about shadows that could talk.
Inside the briefing room, Marrek pointed at a live feed. "Sector Six. A Shadow creature was sighted near the old train tunnels."
Rick frowned. "Another attack?"
Marrek shook his head. "No bodies. No fight. But it spoke to one of our agents before vanishing."
"What did it say?"
Marrek hesitated. "It asked for you."
---
They rode out again that night, just like before — only this time, the fear wasn't outside. It was in Rick. Every streetlight flicker made him wonder if Saren was peeking through his eyes.
Lira drove. Marrek sat in the back, silent, loading his silver-edged gun. Rain hit the windshield like whispers from the dark.
As they neared the tunnels, the city grew quieter. Too quiet.
They entered through a rusted gate, the smell of iron thick in the air. Graffiti covered the walls — warnings, sigils, messages from people who knew too much.
Rick raised a flashlight. "Marrek, this place gives me—"
A voice interrupted him. "—goosebumps?"
It came from everywhere.
Rick spun around. "Who's there?"
The voice chuckled. "You've felt me before, Veil-Born. But you've forgotten what you really are."
A shadow took shape near the tunnel wall — tall, cloaked, its eyes glowing faint gold. It wasn't one of the beasts. It was human-shaped. And it smiled.
Lira whispered, "That's not possible…"
Rick took a step forward. "You wanted me. I'm here."
The figure tilted its head. "You wear his mark. That makes you both hunter and prey."
"Whose mark?" Rick demanded.
The figure raised a hand — and light flared in its palm, showing the same sigil burned into Rick's wrist.
> "The Fae Lord of Shadows, Saren. The one who fell… but was never gone."
Before Rick could speak, the figure vanished into smoke. But something dropped where it stood — a piece of obsidian carved with runes.
Rick bent to pick it up. The instant his fingers touched the stone, whispers filled his head. Thousands of them.
He dropped it, heart pounding. "What the hell was that?"
Marrek crouched beside him. "A memory stone. They used to belong to the Shadow Court."
Lira's eyes were wide. "And if it's still active, it means the Court isn't gone. They're rebuilding."
Rick looked down the dark tunnel, the whispers still echoing faintly in his mind.
Somewhere, deep beneath Greyhaven, something ancient was stirring — something that had waited centuries for a voice to return.
And Saren, the voice in his mirror, whispered one last thing before fading into silence:
> "The hunt has just begun."