Chapter 22 When it. Hunts Back

Chapter 22 When it. Hunts Back

I didn’t get the chance to figure it out as the ground suddenly trembled beneath us. It wasn’t like the fracture that had torn through space with chaos, but this seemed more dangerous, and the moment it happened, every instinct in me flared at once immediately.

Everything about it was wrong.

Valerius’s hand tightened around mine instantly, his body going rigid as his gaze snapped toward the window, while Aeris stilled beside us, not panicked,… alert in a way that made my chest tighten even more because she recognized it too.

“You feel that?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer.

“Yes,” Valerius responded immediately, his voice low and controlled.

Aeris didn’t say anything; she just started moving.

I followed without thinking, stepping forward and pushing the window open. The air outside was very cold as it brushed against my skin, while my eyes scanned the city below, and then…I saw it.

It wasn’t like the fractures. It was a tear.

A clean, unnatural split in the air itself, like reality had been cut open, and the space around it was still, too still, like everything near it had been forced into silence.

My chest tightened painfully.

“That’s not like the others,” I whispered.

“No,” Aeris said quietly beside me, her voice sharper now, more focused. “It’s not.”

Valerius stepped forward, already shifting into action.

“Then we don’t wait.” He says sharply with a deep frown, and no one argues against it.

We moved faster than we ever had because the urgency of the situation was pressing down on all of us equally as we made our way through the empire and towards the disturbance. By the time we reached it, the streets were already cleared and abandoned by fear.

People at a distance stared with wide eyes, frozen in place as they stared at the tear, as if looking away might somehow make it worse.

Maybe it would.

I stepped forward quickly because letting someone else take that step felt impossible when I could already feel it pulling at me.

The moment I got close, the pressure hit.

It pressed against my mind like something that wasn’t just reacting but observing and learning, my breath caught slightly as the realization settled deeper than I wanted it to.

“It’s different,” I murmured, staring hard at it.

“I told you,” Aeris said beside me.

Valerius didn’t speak, but I could feel him behind me, ready, close enough that I wasn’t alone even if this felt like something only I could face.

I took another step, and the tear suddenly moved inward, as if adjusting and reacting specifically to me, and before I could fully process it, something stepped through.

I froze, not because I couldn’t move, but because I didn’t understand what I was looking at.

It had a shape, something close to human, but it didn’t hold it, its form shifting constantly like it couldn’t settle, like it didn’t belong in one state, its edges flickering in ways that made my eyes strain just trying to follow it.

And then its gaze locked onto me, and it smiled. Instantly, my stomach dropped.

“It knows you,” Aeris said quietly, and there was something in her voice now that hadn’t been there before.

“I can feel that,” I whispered, my pulse quickening despite myself.

Valerius stepped forward slightly, his voice firm, “Lyra, step back.”

“No.” The word left me before I could stop it, sharp and immediate, because something inside me refused to move, refused to give it that, refused to show fear even though it was already crawling under my skin.

The thing tilted its head, studying me, like it was trying to understand something it had already decided mattered.

And then it moved fast.

I barely had time to react before it was right in front of me, the air cracking violently as I threw my power up instinctively, the force colliding between us in a burst that shook the ground beneath my feet, sending sharp vibrations up my legs as I struggled to hold my position.

Pain shot through my arms as the impact pushed back against me, stronger than I expected, in fact, stronger than anything I had faced so far, and I gritted my teeth as I forced myself to stay standing.

But it was stronger…Way stronger.

“Lyra!” Valerius called out, already moving, his power rising.

But the thing didn’t even look at him; instead, it stayed focused on me. And that terrified me more than the attack itself.

“Don’t interfere!” I snapped, even as I struggled to hold it back.

“You’re not handling this alone!” He snaps.

“I’m not alone!” I yelled back.

The words came out sharp, defensive, and for a moment, I felt Aeris right beside me, her presence steady, her power cutting cleanly into the clash between me and the thing. It wasn’t overwhelming; it was redirecting it just enough to keep it from breaking through completely.

“Focus,” she said, her voice steady despite everything. “It’s not attacking randomly.” She explains.

“I can tell!”

The thing moved again, shifting its force, adjusting to mine, adapting faster than anything should have been able to, and my breath hitched as I realized what it was doing.

“…it’s copying me,” I said, the words leaving me before I could stop them.

Aeris’s expression hardened, “Then stop giving it something to copy.”

I tried.

I pulled back slightly, forcing myself to adjust, to think instead of react, to change the way my power moved, but the moment I did, it struck again, faster and sharper, hitting me before I could fully stabilize.

The force slammed into me, breaking through just enough to send me stumbling back as pain flared through my chest, my control slipping at the edges.

“No…” I called out breathlessly.

My power surged in response, too fast and too much, spiraling outward as the ground cracked violently beneath me, energy lashing out in unstable bursts.

“Lyra, stop!” Aeris shouted, but I couldn’t not, not when everything in me was reacting instead of thinking.

And the thing…fed on it, I saw it and felt it

The moment my control slipped, its power surged, growing stronger and more stable, as if it were pulling from me, taking every ounce of instability and turning it into something solid.

My breathing turned uneven.

“It’s using me,” I whispered, panic creeping in despite everything.

Aeris moved instantly, her hand gripping my wrist firmly, grounding me, but desperately needed.

“Then stop feeding it,” she said sharply.

“I’m trying!” I yelled back.

“No, you’re reacting.” She corrected sharply.

Her grip tightened slightly.

“Match it.” She instructs.

The words hit me hard, echoing from before, forcing their way through the panic, through the instinct to fight harder, to push more and overpower it.

So I repeated the words in my head like a mantra, Match it, Not dominate, Not crush.”

I exhaled shakily, forcing myself to pull back, to adjust, to let my power align instead of collide, and for a moment, just a moment, it worked.

The pressure eased as The thing paused and tilted its head, seeking confusion.

Good.

But then it smiled, and everything went wrong instantly.

The tear behind it widened violently, ripping open instead of stretching, and something inside me dropped as more figures stepped through.

Not one or two but three

Each one shifting, unstable but aware, each one watching me the same way the first had.

My heart dropped instantly.

“No,” I breathed.

“Lyra,” Valerius said, his voice low and tense. “This isn’t a fight anymore.”

And i knew it.

I felt it in the way the air changed, the way the pressure multiplied, the way my control started slipping again, not because I was pushing too hard this time, but because it wasn’t enough.

“We can’t handle all of them,” I admitted, my voice tight.

Aeris didn’t answer immediately, her gaze moving between them, calculating something I couldn’t see.

Then she spoke.

“We’re not supposed to.” She says softly

And my chest tightened.

“What does that mean?” I ask.

She looked at me, and for the first time, I saw it clearly.

Fear.

“They’re not here to fight us,” she said quietly, and my stomach dropped.

“Then why are they here?”

The first one stepped forward again, slower this time, and when it spoke, the world seemed to hold its breath.

“You.”

The word was clear, and as all three of them began to move toward me, perfectly in sync, one realization settled deep in my chest, heavier than anything I had felt before.

This wasn’t random or just another fracture. This was something hunting.

And I…Was the target.