Chapter 20: Part 3 — "Ashes Beneath the Flow"
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The first spear struck the ground inches from Teik's boot — a flare of corrupted Flow erupted outward, scorching the dirt to glass.
Another followed, then three more, forming a deadly ring of molten energy that closed around him and Irene.
The hunters emerged from the haze.
Eight of them. Each clad in Flow-hardened armor engraved with the sigil of Kael's rebellion — the jagged crescent splitting a rising sun.
Their eyes burned like embers. Their power pulsed with wrongness.
"Teik Drayden," one of them hissed. "You shouldn't exist."
Teik's lips twitched in a grim half-smile. "You're not the first to tell me that."
The lead hunter raised his arm, Flow energy spiraling like smoke from his gauntlet. "Kael warned us you'd return. That you'd drag the world back into stagnation."
"Kael always feared balance," Teik said, his tone calm but cutting. "He never understood it wasn't Flow that chained him—it was his greed."
Before the hunter could respond, Teik vanished.
The air folded.
A blink later, a shockwave burst from the ring — one hunter's helmet split in half, Flow armor shattering like glass as Teik's fist connected. The force flung the man a dozen feet into the air before he crashed against the ruins.
The others didn't hesitate. Flow-blades hummed to life.
"Teik—!" Irene called, her spear snapping upward as she intercepted a swing aimed at his back. Sparks of blue Flow burst where metal met Flowsteel, and the impact sent a shockwave through the clearing.
Teik's eyes narrowed. His Histinak pulsed. For a brief second, the lines of the world lit up — every current of Flow, every distortion, every heart beating within range.
He moved.
Three steps. A breath. Then silence.
When he exhaled, two hunters collapsed — their armor disintegrating into dust as Flow unraveled within them.
"You've gotten faster," Irene said, catching her breath.
"Faster isn't enough," Teik replied, turning his gaze toward the last four. They had begun to merge their Flows, their energies coalescing into a single glowing network.
"Combined technique," Irene muttered. "Kael's new training method."
Teik's expression hardened. "Then I'll unmake it."
He lifted his hand.
Histinak flared — deep crimson entwined with blue Flow. The world rippled as the two energies entwined, creating an unstable field that made even the air waver. The hunters hesitated, eyes widening.
"That power—" one of them whispered.
Teik's eyes glowed faintly. "This is what happens when you take the Flow's truth and stop lying to yourself."
He struck the ground with his palm.
A shockwave of dual resonance exploded outward, tearing through their formation. Flow constructs shattered, armor disintegrated, and the merged hunters screamed as their borrowed power collapsed in on itself.
When the dust settled, silence returned. Only the crackle of fading Flow filled the air.
Irene lowered her spear, staring at him. "You've changed more than I realized."
Teik straightened, breathing steady but his eyes distant. "I had to. The Flow isn't what it was. It remembers pain now. It remembers… me."
Irene frowned. "What do you mean?"
Before he could answer, Teik's gaze drifted beyond the battlefield — toward the horizon. The Histinak in his chest pulsed irregularly, whispering fragments he couldn't decipher.
Then — a voice.
Soft, almost lost in the hum of the Flow.
"You still walk, Teik? Even after breaking me?"
He froze. Irene noticed his expression shift.
"Teik?"
He didn't answer. The world around him blurred, replaced by a sudden rush of images — a vision forced through the bond of Flow itself.
He saw Lyra.
Her face half-hidden in shadow, standing in a cathedral of shifting glass. Flow danced around her fingertips, darker and heavier than he remembered. She turned as if hearing his thoughts, her eyes gleaming with something sorrowful… and something dangerous.
Then the vision broke.
Teik gasped, clutching his chest. The Flow inside him screamed in protest before calming once more.
Irene reached for him. "What did you see?"
He hesitated. "…An old mistake."
Her eyes softened, but her tone remained sharp. "Lyra."
He nodded faintly, gaze distant. "She's still alive. And she's closer than I thought."
Irene tightened her grip on her spear. "Then we're not ready to face her yet."
"No," Teik said, his voice low and calm. "But she's moving. And every step she takes draws us closer to whatever Kael's building."
He looked over the ruins, the wind carrying the ashes of the fallen. The Flow beneath his feet trembled — not with fear, but recognition.
"War is coming again," Irene said quietly.
Teik's expression darkened, his silhouette stark against the faint red horizon.
"It never stopped," he whispered. "We just forgot we were still in it."
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End of Chapter 20: Part 3 — "Ashes Beneath the Flow."