"Rebel Ray, we know you're here!" Hexa's scream cut through the morning stillness like a blade. Both Priya and I leapt to our feet. I rushed to the nearest window and leaned out. There she was—Hexa, flanked by her clan, standing in a loose formation just beyond the village line.
I counted them and let out a low curse. There were a dozen or so with her. All of them looked ready to fight; some of them seemed to salivate.
Priya pushed in beside me and leaned out as far as it was possible.
"Rebel's gone!" Priya cried, panic rising in her voice.
Hexa shifted her weight from one foot to the other, clearly thinking.
I pushed Priya behind me and faced Hexa Quell.
"Well, if it isn't the little stray," Hexa sneered, blades glinting in her hands. She licked her lips. "Once I'm done with Rebel, I'll run you through next."
"We don't have what you've come for," I said flatly, forcing any fear from my voice. "You're wasting your time."
Hexa stepped forward, nudging a stone with the toe of her boot. "Wasting my time, am I? Maybe we'll do a little raiding while we're here. A bit of payback—for that stolen code."
Her sneer was a stark contrast to all the grief we'd been feeling. It snapped me out of being sad. Now I was boiling over.
"That code killed Rebel," I snapped, my voice rising with the power of sudden anger.
Hexa froze for half a second. Then she threw her head back and laughed, sharp and cruel. "I don't think I believe you… We'll tear this village apart brick by brick until we find Rebel—and that code."
Behind me, I heard Priya gasp. She pushed me aside and I watched as she looked down on Hexa. Hexa smiled, grotesque delight curling across her face.
"Little wifey, Priya Ray, isn't it... Your husband took something I care very much about. I think I will pay him back the favour." She looked to her people. "Bring me that girl," Hexa ordered, her voice oozing confidence. "I want her alive."
Priya stumbled backward in fear. I saw her clutch her belly instinctively. They couldn't take her too… I wasn't going to stand for this.
I didn't hesitate. I climbed out the window and scrambled onto the nearest rooftop. Below me, the village had begun to stir—people were awake now, panicked voices rising with the sun.
"It's the Quell Clan!"
"They'll destroy the village!"
"Everyone run!"
I heard a storm of voices shouting. I found a ledge to stand on and cupped my face with my hands. "Can anyone here fight?" I called out.
Everyone froze, their masks of fear temporarily becoming confusion.
"I said," I repeated myself, "can any of you fight?"
A few hands shot up.
I sighed a big sigh of relief. "Good. Grab your weapons. We'll have to defend ourselves."
"Defend ourselves," I heard a few people say fearfully.
"This is our home. We're not giving up so easily," I said grimly. "Now come on."
I crouched low, my hands empty. I had no real weapons. My heart thudded. I listened carefully as Hexa barked commands to her clan.
"Grab the girl. Smash those pathetic huts. And bring me that little Codewright. I doubt they have anything of value… But take the food and medicine anyway."
I grimaced. She planned to starve us. Hexa Quell was the living reason I had hated Rotcastors. All she wanted was to hurt us.
"Pst," I heard someone say. Across the rooftops, a small band of defenders began to gather. I spotted Lyric fiddling with a bow.
"Can you shoot?" I asked.
She hesitated. "I could—when I could see properly. But—"
"I know all the clock faces!" The voice came from a boy I hadn't seen before. He looked young—too young. Rebel said there were no children here.
An idea popped into my head like a firework going off. The pieces of a plan fell into place.
"Lyric," I said, "take the boy. He'll be your eyes."
"Name's Corrin Gig!" the boy grinned, bouncing on his heels.
"Good. Lyric and Corrin—you're a team. Guard Priya's home."
I scanned the growing group and raised my voice. "Anyone who knows how to fight—find a partner. Be each other's eyes and ears."
For a heartbeat, the villagers just looked at each other. Then, in a flurry of motion, they began to pair off. A man with one arm flanked another with a bad leg. Archers grouped together, covering the rooftops. Lyric took position with Corrin beside her.
Hexa didn't notice the shift. She stood lazily among her clan, smug and certain the village would fall. She seemed to be drawing it out, like a cat playing with a bird.
"Hexa Quell!" I shouted. "This is your final warning. We don't want to hurt your people—but we will if you leave us no choice. Leave now, or face the consequences."
Hexa only laughed—and waved her warriors forward. They all moved the same way as she did and I shuddered despite myself.
I took a breath in. It was time to be brave.
I leapt from the roof, landing hard on the ground. My hands were still empty.
"Here!" A villager shoved a knife into my palm. I barely had time to thank them before the battle began. Our ragtag fighters surged forward as arrows whizzed through the air, startling the first wave of Rotcastors.
I caught a glimpse of Hexa through the chaos. Her expression twisted with rage as she spotted me. She charged and slammed me to the ground.
My fingers fumbled for the dagger, but her boot pinned me, crushing the breath from my lungs.
"You made a fool of me," she growled. "And Hexa doesn't like looking like a fool. Now—you die."
She raised one of her knives and pointed it down at my chest.
I focused on the ground beneath us, forcing it to shift with my mind. The earth buckled, throwing her off balance. She fell—hard—face-first onto me.
Then something wet spread across my chest.
For a moment, I didn't understand. Then I looked down.
Hexa's blood was leaking out so quickly… too quickly for just a scratch. Then I saw it—just the hilt visible. My dagger was buried deep in her chest.
She twitched. Her body glowed red, flickering once... twice. Her mouth opened in a silent scream.
Then she vanished.
I lay there, stunned. The wetness was gone—but I remembered it. I remembered the feeling of her blood.
Something trickled into me. A pulse. A surge of power.
My stats jumped—XP flooding in like wildfire. It was so much that my vision blurred and my head spun like I was in a hurricane. I felt myself leave the ground, rising as the orbs pulled into me.
My body seemed to short out, and I fell into a blackness.
When I opened my eyes again I was standing in a room staring at a toddler version of me. My stats told me all I needed to know: I was in my memory banks—a thing a Codewright can do to protect themselves when they short-circuit or if they are short-circuited.
I took a step forward so I was closer to this younger version of me.
Toddler me was sitting on the floor drawing a scribble of pink and purple. I watched her tiny fists holding the markers as she slashed colour across the paper over and over. She stuck her tongue out in concentration and shook back her white hair.
We both looked up when the door opened.
I already knew what was coming, yet my heart felt like it swelled with the same joy.
"Alis," Father called out. He had a huge smile on his face, something I hadn't seen in what felt like an eternity.
Little Alis threw down the markers and sprang to her feet. She jumped up and down. She ran to Father and jumped into his arms.
"You're a big sister," he ruffled her hair.
I stepped past them so I could see the moment more clearly.
"Big sister?" she asked. Then she peered around his legs to where Mother was standing. In her arms was a bundle of pink blankets.
Mother had deep circles under her eyes, but she was still beaming. She leaned down to expose the tiny face of the pinkish baby inside.
"This is Vivid," Father said, and when little me reached for her he added, "Be gentle, Alis. Be a good girl like we taught you. Now would you like to hold her?"
I stepped even closer still so I was within reach of my toddler self.
She hugged Vivid to her body. "I love you. I'm going to be your big sister. I'll show you how to draw! We are going to have so much fun!"
Mother laughed into her hands.
"It will be a while before she's ready for that," Father said gently.
"I can wait," my voice was so high and jubilant.
I realized I was seeing the happiest moment of my childhood. I must have tapped into the feature that hits the highlights of your life. I wondered how long it would shelter me.
The scene shifted.
Now Vivid was a child and we were racing on our hoverboards down the road. Vivid had pink all over her outfit, like she'd dipped it in a bucket of pink paint.
We rounded a bend and I put the speed on. I was gliding like I never had.
"I can't keep up! Slow down!" Vivid called from behind me.
I turned around on my hoverboard and watched as she tipped sideways. She fell to the ground and let out a yelp of pain. I saw her flash as a few health points trickled out of her.
I glided to her side, jumping down.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah!" She winced but still smiled.
I smiled back and pulled her back up.
"Do you want to ride with me?" I asked.
"Mother said I need to learn on my own," Vivid replied, looking at her feet.
"Fine. I'll ride with you on yours, then you are learning on your own board," I smiled mischievously.
"Take us down the big hills," Vivid said, looking a whole lot happier.
"I'll take us down as many of them as we can in an hour, and I'll show you a few tricks on the way." I climbed on behind her, leaving my own board behind. "Mother will never know."
I watched this slightly older version of me race down the hills screaming with delight, Vivid looking like she had never felt so free. We raced over and over and slowly Vivid took more control. Then abruptly we both got off and tumbled down into the grass laughing.
"Can we do it all again tomorrow?" Vivid asked.
A thought from the outside caused this vision to flicker.
I had just killed someone.
I tried to refocus myself. I wanted to see Vivid smile again.
I had just ended a life.
Reality blinked back into view and it all came crushing down on me.
All of Hexa Quell's XP had seeped into me, making my stats skyrocket. I was no longer a newbie… my strength, endurance, and speed had all increased.
I had killed Hexa Quell and now I was part her, or she was part me.
Hexa Quell had been ruthless. Cruel. Dangerous. But she hadn't deserved to die like that—on top of me, no last words, no mercy.
She was just... gone.
All around me, her warriors began to retreat. The battle was over. I saw her twin daggers lying nearby, along with some food rations and a crumpled map. I scooped them up.
As I turned back toward the village, a cheer rose.
"We did it!" someone cried.
Villagers ran toward me, celebrating. I looked down at my hands—perfectly clean. But I could still feel the blood.
Priya rushed up, eyes wide with relief. "That was brilliant!" She tried to hug me.
I stepped away. "Don't."
The joy didn't reach me. I just wanted to be alone.
I was supposed to be a maker—not a taker.
But now… I would always remember her death mask.
I surveyed the battlefield, eyes lingering on the few scattered piles of possessions—remnants of fallen Rotcastors. Around me, the village had begun to celebrate, but I couldn't bring myself to join them.
Instead, I wandered toward the edge of the houses, searching for somewhere to sit and think. That's when I heard it—a faint, broken groan.
I knew that kind of sound… unmistakably another Runner. Someone in trouble. I bolted upright and ran before anyone could stop me, heart pounding, tracing the sound around the village perimeter.
That's how I found her.