The valley was a battlefield carved into the earth, a scar left by the clash of magic and steel. Craters and scorched ground stretched as far as the eye could see, the remnants of powerful spells still flickering in the air. The air was thick with the scent of burnt grass and blood, the silence that followed the chaos pressing down like a weight.
Minus stood in the aftermath, her staff dimly glowing in her grip. She wasn't breathing heavily—she had won.
But they were still watching.
The Special Forces, those elite soldiers of the Empire, were scattered across the battlefield. Some knelt in the dirt, gripping their wounds. Others sat hunched over, their faces buried in their hands. They weren't just resting. They were on the brink of despair.
They had thrown everything at her. Trapped her. Worn her down. Fought with precision and strategy, certain of their victory.
And yet, she was the one still standing.
But not all of them were broken.
Her senses flared, locking onto the one presence that remained steady among the fallen.
The hunter.
Unlike the others, he had not slumped to the ground. He had not sunk into exhaustion or defeat. He stood apart, quiet, calculating. Watching.
He wasn't afraid of her.
Not like the rest.
He had tested her, studied her, learned from their battle in a way that sent a quiet warning through her instincts. He wasn't like the others who had come before him. He was patient.
But even patience had its limits.
The glow of her staff pulsed once before vanishing. The capital was close, its towering spires visible in the distance. She could disappear into the wilderness, return to the depths of the world where the Empire's reach would struggle to follow.
But that wasn't enough.
She had been hunted for too long. It was time to remind them why they feared her.
Without a sound, she turned and stepped away, her form vanishing into the shadows of the valley. The hunter tensed—she felt it, the instinct to pursue, the shift of his weight as if he might act.
But he didn't. Not yet.
He would come for her.
But when they met again, it wouldn't be her who was trapped.
The storm was coming.
And this time, she would not run.