The thing made of broken memory moved toward Kael.
It didn't walk.
It shifted, like pages being turned too fast.
Kael stepped back, his heart racing. He didn't know how to fight. He didn't even know what he was. But something inside him refused to let him disappear.
"Stay away from me," he whispered.
The air trembled.
The creature paused.
Kael didn't understand why, but he felt it — invisible lines in the air, pulling and pushing against each other. His body reacted before his mind did.
The street around him cracked.
A force burst outward and slammed into the creature, throwing it against a wall. Stone shattered.
Kael stared at his hands in shock.
"I… did that?"
Before the creature could rise again, a voice shouted from the other side of the street.
"Hey!"
Two figures ran toward him.
A man with tired eyes and a woman with sharp, focused steps.
Elias and Mira.
"Get away from it!" Elias called.
Mira raised her hand. "Stello kinesis.[1]"
The air hardened around the creature, locking it in place. It struggled, its form twisting in pain.
Kael felt it too.
A strange echo inside his chest, like he was connected to the thing.
Mira looked at him sharply. "You can feel it, can't you?"
Kael nodded slowly.
"What's your name?" Elias asked.
"…Kael."
Elias glanced at Mira. "His name is Kael."
Elias swallowed.
The black book in his bag began to grow warm.
The three of them stood there, surrounded by a world that was slowly breaking its own rules.
And far away, something ancient had just noticed them.
[1] Stello Kinesis is a binding spell that locks movement by forcing reality itself to deny motion. Instead of freezing time or matter, it makes the world refuse every attempt the target makes to move, trapping them in a single position and form.