## Liam''s Perspective


    The hotel room stank of mildew. I sat cross-legged on the bed, staring at myptop screen. The video footage showed Isabelle strapped to a metal table, needles piercing her arms as her blood drained into collection tubes.


    Her screams made my hands shake with rage.


    "This ends today," I muttered, preparing to upload the video.


    The Ashworth approach had failed. Violence wouldn''t work against them. But public pressure might. If the world saw what the Veridia City Martial Guild was doing to Isabelle Ashworth—their renowned "princess"—maybe they couldn''t ignore it.


    I clicked "upload" and watched the progress bar slowly fill. Three minutes topletion.


    A cold sensation crawled up my spine.


    Someone wasing.


    I shut theptop and moved to the window. The street below appeared empty, but my senses screamed danger. The air had changed, bing charged with martial energy.


    Julian Radford had found me.


    I grabbed my backpack and shoved theptop inside. The video needed just one more minute to finish uploading. I couldn''t leave yet.


    Footsteps sounded in the hallway—multiple sets, moving with practiced silence. They were trying to be stealthy, but my enhanced senses caught their movements.


    Theptop chimed. Uploadplete.


    I slung the backpack over my shoulder and kicked out the bathroom window. As I squeezed through the opening, the door to my room burst open.


    "He''s escaping!" a voice shouted.


    I dropped two stories, channeling energy to cushion mynding. Pain still shot up my legs, but nothing broke. I sprinted toward the alley behind the hotel.


    No time to look back. I knew they''d follow.


    The narrow streets of Eldoria became my refuge as I weaved through the morning crowd. I blended with workers heading to their jobs, keeping my head down and pace steady.


    Three blockster, I ducked into a public restroom and locked myself in a stall. My phone showed the video was already gaining views. Thousands in just minutes.


    Then my screen went ck.


    ount suspended.


    "Damn it!" I mmed my fist against the stall door, denting the metal.


    The Guild''s influence reached everywhere. Of course they''d take it down immediately.


    I needed a new n. Maybe I could—


    My thoughts froze as I sensed a presence approaching. Someone had entered the bathroom.


    I held my breath, lifting my feet so they wouldn''t be visible under the stall door.


    Silence.


    Then a voice, calm and measured. "I know you''re here, Liam Knight."


    Julian Radford. The Guild''s elite hunter.


    I remained silent, calcting my options. The bathroom had one entrance, one exit. Julian stood between me and freedom.


    "Impressive evasion tactics," he continued. "But futile." <samp ss="phantom-imprint">The fu!ll s^e#rie@s is h&o!sted+ on My V.i%r$tu%a-l# Lib*ra!r-y& Em@pi@re!, k.n@o&wn* as *.#</samp>


    I heard him moving closer to my stall.


    "Do you know how I found you?" He sounded almost conversational. "A single strand of hair from the hotel room. Your DNA carries a unique energy signature. Once I have that..."


    His hand mmed against my stall door, the impact shaking the entire wall.


    "I can track you anywhere."


    I kicked the door outward with all my strength. It tore off its hinges, mming into Julian and sending him stumbling backward.


    I didn''t wait to see if I''d hurt him. I charged past, shoulder-checking another Guild operative who''d entered behind Julian.


    Back on the street, I ran without direction, letting instinct guide me. If Julian could track my energy signature, distance was my only temporary advantage.


    Two hourster, I sat in the back of a moving bus, heading east toward the rendezvous point the Lord of the Celestial Apothecary Guild had mentioned.


    My phone buzzed with a message from an encrypted number:


    "Video taken down. Three mirror sites up. Spreading now. -M"


    Mariana Valerius. Even in hiding, she was still helping me.


    I allowed myself a small smile. The Guild might control official channels, but they couldn''t plug every leak. People would see what they were doing to Isabelle.


    The bus lurched over a pothole, jogging me from my thoughts. Through the window, I saw mountains rising in the distance. The eastern border wasn''t far.


    Just two more days until the meeting of the Five Great Powers. If I could stay alive until then...


    The hair on my neck stood up again.


    I looked around the bus. Normal passengers. Nothing suspicious.


    But the feeling persisted.


    I got off at the next stop, a small roadside diner. As I stepped down from the bus, I saw them—four figures in casual clothes, watching me from different positions around the parking lot.


    Guild operatives. They''d found me again.


    I entered the diner, ordered coffee, and sat at a table with a view of all entrances. The operatives didn''t follow immediately. They were coordinating, setting up a perimeter.


    How had they found me so quickly? Julian''s tracking ability was powerful, but I''d taken precautions, using techniques to mask my energy signature.


    Unless...


    I checked my backpack and clothing, searching for tracking devices. Nothing.


    Then it hit me.


    The strand of hair.


    Julian didn''t just use it once for tracking. He''d somehow maintained the connection, like a hunter following a scent trail.


    I downed my coffee and left cash on the table. The eastern mountains offered my best chance—terrain I could use to my advantage.


    I slipped out through the diner''s back exit, sprinting toward the tree line behind the building. The forest would provide cover, and the mountains beyond would force my pursuers to follow on foot.


    For hours I pushed deeper into the wilderness, using every technique I knew to mask my trail. I crossed streams, doubled back, andid false tracks.


    Night fell. I made camp in a small valley, hidden beneath an overhang of rock. No fire. Cold rations from my pack. Every sense alert for danger.


    Sleep came in short bursts—twenty minutes at a time, never deep enough to leave me vulnerable.


    Dawn broke with a heavy mist shrouding the valley. Perfect conditions to continue my journey east.


    I packed quickly and moved out, staying low and using the fog as cover.


    Two milester, the mist began to thin. Sunlight filtered through the trees ahead, revealing a clearing I needed to cross.


    I paused at the tree line, scanning the open space for any sign of threat. Nothing moved. No unusual sounds.


    Too quiet.


    Birds should be singing. Small animals should be stirring.


    I took a step back, ready to find another route.


    Toote.


    Four figures materialized from the trees on the opposite side of the clearing. Not just Guild operatives—Martial Marquises, each radiating enough power to level a building.


    They''d set a trap, and I''d walked right into it.


    "Liam Knight," called one of them, a woman with silver streaks in her dark hair. "By order of the Veridia City Martial Guild, you are to surrender yourself immediately."


    I dropped my backpack and shifted into a fighting stance. "Not happening."


    The four spread out, moving with fluid precision to surround me.


    "Your choice makes little difference," said another, a broad-shouldered man with a scar across his face. "You leave here either conscious or unconscious."


    I gathered my energy, preparing for what would likely be the hardest fight of my life.


    Then I felt it—another presence. More powerful than the four Marquisesbined. A presence that had somehow approached without triggering my senses.


    "Impressive posturing," came a voice from behind me. "But ultimately pointless."


    I turned slowly.


    Julian Radford stood ten paces away, his expression neutral, almost bored. He wore a simple gray tunic and ck pants—practical clothing that belied the deadly power he contained.


    "How did you mask your approach?" I demanded.


    A slight smile touched his lips. "Trade secret."


    The four Marquises closed in, forming a perfect circle around me.


    "Surrender now," Julian said calmly, "and I''ll ensure your punishment is merely of the flesh. Continue to resist, and I cannot promise the same mercy."


    I spat on the ground between us. "Go fuck yourself. I''ll punish your mother''s flesh."