Leo followed silently, his steps uneven behind the poised, almost ghostlike movements of Aerin as she weaved through the dying forest. Her cloak barely made a sound, even when brushing against brittle branches or drifting mist. She didn't speak, and neither did he.
The air grew colder as they moved. The trees here leaned in unnaturally, trunks warped, their roots coiled like frozen serpents. It was as if the land itself had flinched away from something long ago — something that never truly left.
After a while, Aerin finally broke the silence.
"You used Shadow Step back there."
Leo hesitated. "Yeah. First time. I didn't really think, it just… happened."
"That's how it begins," she replied. "Skills tied to your soul always know when they're needed — even before you do."
He frowned. "That's not exactly comforting."
She almost smiled. "It shouldn't be."
They came upon a shallow ridge, overlooking a half-collapsed watchtower smothered in moss and vine. Its stones were dark with age and something more recent — black streaks like burn marks, or blood dried into stone.
"This was one of ours," Aerin said, her voice low. "Abandoned during the last surge. We use it for shelter now, when it's quiet."
Leo scanned the area warily. "And it's quiet now?"
She didn't answer immediately. Instead, she moved toward the base of the tower and drew a small circle in the dirt using a stone tipped in silver. Runes flickered to life around the foundation — faint green lines, pulsing softly.
"Wards are holding," she murmured. "That's quiet enough."
They stepped inside. The interior was cold but dry. Crates and salvaged supplies were stacked neatly along the wall. A faded map covered one corner of a broken table, weighed down by a carved stone figurine of a tree with half its branches rotted away.
Aerin motioned for Leo to sit. "We'll rest here until sunset. Then I'll take you the rest of the way."
Leo sat carefully, flexing his fingers. His whole body ached — but not from the wound. From the constant pressure of existing in a world that wanted him dead.
"I need answers," he said, not looking at her. "What is this place? What exactly is a Soulbound? And why do people like you keep looking at me like I'm a question with too many wrong answers?"
Aerin didn't respond immediately. She knelt beside the table, unrolling a scroll made of bark-paper. Her voice was quiet when she finally spoke.
"This world — Nimrune — is unraveling. The corruption you saw in that creature, it's spreading faster than we can contain it. Whole forests are turning hollow. Cities fall silent in a day."
She met his eyes.
"Soulbound are rare. Born not from this land, but tied to it. You're a fracture in the system — someone summoned by accident… or desperation."
Leo absorbed that slowly. "So… I was pulled here to fight this corruption?"
"Or die trying," she said bluntly.
A beat of silence passed.
Then the system pulsed again:
"⟪Quest Updated: Echoes of the Hollow⟫
Objective: Reach the Verdant Watchpost
Status: In Progress
Secondary Objective: Survive the Second Night
Warning: Hostile surge expected at nightfall.⟫"
Leo stared at the message, then looked out through the cracked stone toward the forest — which now seemed to be breathing.
He turned back to Aerin. "How bad is it when the system gives me a warning?"
She stood. "Bad enough that we won't be sleeping."
Leo's fingers twitched involuntarily, a ripple of shadow dancing across his knuckles.
He wasn't ready for what came next.
But the night wouldn't wait.