Tae's Arc

Chapter 5 of 5

The portal closed behind Tae and left him standing on gray stone. The new realm was empty and quiet. No towers. No people. Just a flat plain under a dim sky. He almost smiled. Then the ground shook. A hole opened near his feet, and a dark creature climbed out. He had killed one before. Now they knew his face in every realm. He could not rest here either. Tae ran. He crossed the plain and found a shallow cave. He sat down and closed his eyes. For one breath, there was silence. Then claws scraped the rock behind him. Another creature had followed. He stood, tired and angry. Every quiet place broke the moment he found it. The silver and gold core burned warm in his pocket, waiting. The golden-haired Seer stepped out of the air beside him. White marks glowed across her arms and face. Her dark robe carried lines of pale light. The creature froze when it saw her. Even the shaking ground went still. "You run, and they follow," she said. "You cannot hide from a thing that smells your power." "Then tell me how to sleep," Tae said. "Stop running." She pointed at the creature. "Use the core. Kill this one. Kill them until none dare come near you. That is the only quiet you will ever have." Tae hated the answer. He wanted a couch, not a war. But the creature was already moving toward him, and he was done fleeing. He took the core from his pocket. It flared white in his palm. The creature lunged. Tae did not step back. He drove the core forward into its chest. Light burst from the point of contact. The creature screamed and broke apart into black dust. The core did not crack this time. It stayed whole, humming in his hand. Tae looked at the dust settling on the stone. He had killed it, and the weapon had survived. Something in him shifted. He was tired of hiding in holes that always failed. "It held," he said. "Because the core matches your strength," the Seer said. "Blue would shatter. This will not." She watched him with cold eyes. "Now the dark will send more. Many more. They have your scent and your location." Tae closed his fist around the core. The warmth spread up his arm. He had chased a quiet corner across two realms, and no corner held. So he would stop looking for one. "Fine," he said. "Let them come to me. I'll clear every one." The Seer nodded. "Then you need to understand what you are hunting. Follow me." She raised a hand and tore the air open. Beyond the light, Tae saw a city of ruins and a sky full of cracks. He did not want it. But he wanted sleep more, and this was the only road to it. He stepped through after her, core burning in his hand.