Ethan forced his breathing to steady as his boots found purchase on something that resembled ground.

  The Shadow Realm pressed in from all directions, an endless expanse of darkness. Sound was muted. He could hear muffles from people back in the real world, likely wondering where the hell he just went. But he couldn’t actually make out what they were saying.

  Beside him stood a lean woman, her hand still resting against his shoulder. He understood instinctively that if she let go, he would be expelled from this place like a foreign object and returned to reality. He wondered if he should do just that, but he stopped himself.

  Her breathing was ragged. He did not need to see her face to know she was struggling. He had been here before. Once. And that time had nearly torn the user apart. That person had dragged hundreds with them through this layer of reality, and the cost had been catastrophic. This woman had only brought one passenger, but that did not make it trivial.

  In fact, that was the reason he didn’t return to the real world straight away. Whoever this was, they were powerful.

  So, Ethan did not move. Instead, he extended what perception he could. In this place, [Keen Sense] did not function properly. It felt blunted, muffled as if submerged underwater. He could see lighter patches of shade in the endless black. He searched for movement, for distortion, for the subtle ripple that indicated a predator native to this layer.

  Skill leveled [Keen Sense Lv.4]

  He brushed it aside, though he was happy to see it level up. He had more immediate concerns. Like making sure a creature of shadow didn’t attack.

  The woman’s grip tightened fractionally. Her mana pulsed around him in uneven waves. She was concentrating, likely searching for a seam back into the physical world. If she failed and lost track of reality, she would drift, lost in this realm with the other shadow inhabitants. Luckily for Ethan, he didn’t belong here. So he would be expelled.

  For a solid two seconds, nothing happened. Until finally something shifted.

  He only noticed a slight pull. Just enough that he knew they were moving. The darkness began to peel away in strips, like ink diluted in water. Sound rushed in a wave, followed by light.

  The world reassembled itself around him. Solid ground materialized under his boots. Beside him, the woman collapsed.

  Ethan reacted instantly, stepping aside to maintain balance while expanding his senses. [Keen Sense] surged outward as he gathered himself and took in where he had been dumped. There was no one nearby. They were just in a small room, likely still inside the settlement.

  Satisfied for the moment, he looked down at the stranger who had just risked their life to escape with him.

  She was on her hands and knees, hood fallen forward, black hair cascading down like a curtain. Her shoulders trembled with the effort of simply remaining upright.

  He did not relax. Just because he sensed nothing did not mean there was nothing. He had just been bypassed entirely once already. Even if he knew there was no true way to track someone when they were in a different realm entirely.

  He rested the flat of his blade against her shoulder.

  “Now why,” he asked evenly, “would you go and do that?”

  She coughed, breath scraping in her throat. The sound was raw. She looked completely spent.

  He tilted the blade, angling the edge toward her neck.

  “Who are you?”

  He pushed the tip just enough to hook beneath the edge of her hood and flick it back.

  At the same time, she lifted her head. Her hair slid aside and fell to her shoulders. Ethan faltered, despite himself. His breath caught before he could stop it.

  What the fuck.

  Hazel eyes met his. Pale skin slick with sweat. Lips parted as she struggled to draw air.

  The Witch of Decay looked up at him.

  For a heartbeat, he did not move. He could tell who she was instantly. Her looks were unmistakable. However, he wasn’t prepared for how young she looked.

  He had seen her standing among titans. Among humanity’s strongest. Surrounded by devastation that followed her like a shadow. He had assumed she was older than him.

  Now he saw the truth.

  She was no older than him. Perhaps younger. The illusion of age had been power. He swallowed, forcing control back into himself. His eyes hardened and he pushed the blade tighter against her throat.

  He should end her.

  He knew exactly who she would become. He knew the devastation tied to her name. The rot that followed in her wake. Entire cities reduced to husks because of choices she made. If the final level had not forced everyone’s attention elsewhere, there would have been a witch hunt. A literal one.

  His grip tightened on the hilt.

  It would be easy. A slight push and his blade would slice through her jugular. The future threat eliminated before it ever formed.

  For a second, he almost did it. His blade cut deep enough to draw blood. But she had just dragged him through the Shadow Realm. She had spent herself to do it.

  He looked at her again and saw how weak she was at the moment. Whatever strength he remembered from the future was not present here. He had assumed she was extremely powerful already. Now he doubted that.

  So before deciding her fate, he wanted answers.

  “Answer me,” he said quietly. “If you want to live. Why did you do that?”

  She shifted slightly, instinctively trying to ease away from the blade. Ethan followed the motion, keeping the edge pressed lightly against her skin.

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  She seemed to understand.

  “You,” she breathed, forcing the words out between shallow breaths. “You would have died.”

  He let out a soft exhale that might have been a laugh.

  “So what? What’s it to you?”

  Internally, he dismissed the claim. He might not have won cleanly, but he would not have died. Worst case, he would have run.

  She closed her eyes briefly, gathering herself.

  “I needed you,” she said at last. “They took my sister. I know where she is, but I can’t reach them alone.”

  Ethan’s thoughts shifted rapidly. He searched his memory for anything about her having a sibling. Nothing surfaced. That did not mean much. His memories were fragmented at best. He could not even remember whether she had been present on the first level when he had first gone through it, though a lot of that was due to the amount of people being brought to the first level. There was far too many to keep track of. Especially when he knew she didn’t make a name for herself until the later levels.

  But the memory loss was beginning to irritate him more and more with each passing day.

  “What makes you think I can help?” he asked.

  She lifted her chin slightly, meeting his eyes again despite the blade.

  “I saw you fight. At the gorge. You destroyed the reanimations like they were nothing. You’re strong. And I need someone who can protect me in order to infiltrate their camp.”

  That made him pause for two different reasons.

  “So you’ve been following me.”

  “I was at the gorge,” she said quickly. “I was scouting the area. I saw what you did. That’s all. I swear.”

  He thought back. The sensation of being watched. The subtle pressure at the back of his mind that he had dismissed as nerves. Perhaps she was telling the truth. It was a big maybe, though.

  “Why would I help you?” he asked.

  Her expression tightened slightly.

  “Because you’d be helping yourself too. I heard you in the bar. You’re looking for the Valkyries. They’re being held in the same place.”

  His focus sharpened. Now she had his attention.

  “And where is that?”

  She let out a breath that was almost a bitter laugh.

  “Like I’d tell you with a sword at my throat.”

  She glanced pointedly at the blade.

  “For whatever reason, you seem pretty keen on killing me. So I think I’ll hold onto that information for now.”

  A flicker of irritation passed through him. But he couldn’t really refute her. He had shown his hand too early.

  He considered his options. He could go back and fight the men in the street. Force information from them. Or he could wander blindly through the dunes again, search the gorge properly. Or he could use the information currently kneeling in front of him.

  Looking at it that way, the answer became obvious. But right now, she was a drained girl asking for help. And their goals aligned.

  He stood there a moment longer, weighing futures only he remembered. It was a gamble. By all rights, the Witch of Decay had never been someone to trust. But he didn’t need to trust her. He just needed her to guide the way. And perhaps he could change her future, if she didn’t go down a dark path this time around, it would be a massive boon for humanity.

  He stepped back and removed the blade from her throat before sheathing it in one smooth motion.

  “Alright,” he said. “We can work together.”

  “So where did you exit?” Ethan asked as he swept his gaze across the room.

  It was small and run down. Sunlight filtered in through thin cracks and a narrow window slit, painting uneven lines across the floor. The floor was messy. A thin mattress lay shoved into one corner with a blanket half dragged off it. Clothing was piled near the foot of the bed in a heap, some folded, most not. A canteen sat uncapped beside a small pouch, and what looked like dried herbs were scattered across a low crate that had been repurposed as a table.

  She straightened, rolling her shoulders as if trying to force life back into her limbs. She looked better than she had a minute ago. Less like she might collapse. Ethan couldn’t tell if she’d recovered a sliver of mana or if the improvement came from no longer having steel pressed to her throat.

  “At my place,” she said.

  Ethan’s brow furrowed. He looked around again, taking in the mess, the thin mattress, the personal items.

  “Wait,” he said slowly. “You live here?”

  She followed his gaze and her face tightened. “Ye-yes. What of it?”

  There was a faint flush at her cheeks that made her look younger than she probably wanted to. Ethan almost missed it because he was wondering how anyone could live in such a state.

  “I didn’t have enough time to take you anywhere else,” she added quickly. “It was all I could do to bring us here.”

  Ethan let the tension drain from his shoulders by a fraction. “Ah. Okay.”

  She huffed and blew a strand of fringe out of her face.

  “If we’re going to be working together,” she said, “then introductions are in order. I’m Bella, and you are?”

  She held out a hand.

  Ethan watched it for a moment, then shook it. Her grip was soft. Cold to the touch, colder than it had any right to be in this heat.

  He withdrew his hand quickly.

  “Ethan.”

  Bella nodded, then glanced toward the narrow window slit that looked out over Arrow Town.

  “It doesn’t even matter,” she muttered, looking at the room. “We’ll be leaving soon anyway. Just let the commotion you caused die down first.”

  Ethan gave her a look. “I was perfectly fine.”

  She lifted her hands slightly. “Yeah, okay. Well, you’re here now.”

  He didn’t insist.

  Bella moved toward the corner where her things were loosely gathered and checked a small pouch.

  Ethan tried to find somewhere to sit and failed at first. The stool looked unstable, and the mattress was half buried under clothes. So, he remained standing for a moment, then leaned his back against the wall and exhaled.

  That was when it hit him.

  His pack.

  He straightened slightly. “Fuck.”

  Bella looked over. “What?”

  “My pack is still at the bar,” he said. “I dropped it.”

  Bella’s expression sharpened instantly. “So? Just get a new one.”

  Ethan’s eyes narrowed. “No. You don’t understand. I need that bag.”

  “No, it’s a stupid idea going back there.”

  “That pack has everything,” Ethan said, irritation bleeding through despite himself. “Food. Water. Copper. My—.” He almost said journal but stopped himself.

  Bella’s gaze flicked up and down him. “Then you should have thought about that before you turned their tavern into a brawl.”

  Ethan didn’t respond immediately. His thoughts were racing. He needed that journal, if nothing else.

  “I can get it,” he said. “We’re not leaving without it.”

  “You don’t understand,” Bella replied, tone flattening. “You made noise. You asked questions. You drew them out. They won’t ignore that.”

  Ethan pushed off the wall. “Then explain.”

  “The moment you mentioned Valkyries,” she said, stepping closer, “you became a problem. The moment you called them out, you became a threat. People like that don’t just shrug and forget. They’ll be watching, and when you show up, they will kill you.”

  Ethan’s jaw tightened. “You don’t understand. I’m not asking permission. And you’re not in charge. I’m getting my pack no matter what.”

  Bella paused for a moment, watching him closely with squinted eyes. “I’ll go.”

  Ethan paused, not expecting that. “No.”

  “Yes.”

  “You just teleported us here. It obviously took it out of you,” he said. “You’re too weak.”

  “I’m fine,” she snapped too quickly. “And I can get in and out without being seen. You’re just going to cause a mess, and I need you.”

  Ethan studied her.

  “You don’t even know what you’re looking for,” he said.

  “Then describe it.”

  He hesitated. Then did.

  Bella nodded as if committing it to memory. “Anything else?”

  “If you’re not back soon, I’ll come get it.”

  “Jeez, such faith. If you follow me,” she said, moving toward the door, “you’ll ruin it.”

  “I’m not following you.” At least not yet.

  “Good.”

  She stepped outside, sunlight flooding the room for a moment before the door shut behind her.

  Ethan stood there alone. He waited. He didn’t like the idea of someone else doing what he should be doing himself, but to be honest she was far more suited for the job.

  Minutes passed.

  He cleared a small patch of floor with his boot and sat down. He drew his sword and rested it across his knees. Small chips were beginning to appear along the edge. Evidence of its use. He needed to get it repaired but lacked the money and the time.

  He ran his thumb along the flat of the blade and watched light catch the imperfections. It had served him well. But it wouldn’t forever.

  He’d been putting his spare point into Strength for a reason. This beginner sword was good and had done its job. But it was no greatsword.

  Once this was over. Once Leah was safe. Once this mess with Arrow Town and the false Broken Dawns was untangled.

  He would upgrade. Ethan exhaled slowly and let the image settle in his mind. He kept his eyes on the chipped edge and waited for the sound of the door opening again, already thinking about new sword options.

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