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"Drop it."
The voice came from behind me. Female. Close enough I could hear the bow creak.
I froze. The shard pulsed hot against my palm. The warriors in front of me stopped mid-step, eyes snapping past my shoulder.
"Drop the stone," she said again, "or I put this through your spine."
"Hey," I said, hands still up, "I don't even know what this thing is."
"Liar." The word came with a shift in the air. She'd moved. Now she was to my left, just outside my peripheral. "You bonded it. I saw the light."
One of the warriors—older, scarred jaw, bronze torc around his neck—spat something guttural. Not English. Not any language I recognized. But the tone was clear: *back off, this is ours.*
The girl answered in the same language. Sharper. Meaner. The kind of tone that said *try me.*
The warriors didn't move. But they didn't lower their weapons either.
"Okay," I said, "I'm going to turn around. Slowly. Nobody shoot."
"Don't," the girl said.
"I need to see who I'm talking to."
"You don't."
"I really do."
I turned. Slow. Hands high.
She was maybe twenty. Lean, wiry, dressed in stitched hides and a cloak that looked like it'd been grey once but was mostly mud now. Dark hair pulled back tight. Bow drawn, arrow nocked, string kissed to her cheek. Aim didn't waver.
But her eyes—jesus. Pale grey, sharp enough to cut. And angry. Not the hot kind. The cold kind. The kind that'd already decided.
"You with them?" I asked, nodding at the warriors.
"No."
"Then why are you pointing that at me?"
"Because you're holding something that doesn't belong to you."
"Join the club," I said. "They think the same thing."
The lead warrior barked something. She didn't look at him. Answered without breaking eye contact with me. He barked again, louder. She told him something short and vicious.
He took a step forward.
She pivoted, bow swinging to him. "Touch him and you lose the shard forever."
That stopped him.
"What did you just say?" I asked.
"Shut up."
"Did you just tell him I'd destroy it?"
"I said if they kill you, the bond breaks and the stone goes inert for a hundred years. Now shut up."
The warriors exchanged looks. The lead one growled something low. She answered. He didn't like it. But he stepped back.
"Right," she said, bow swinging back to me. "Walk."
"Where?"
"Away from them. Now."
I glanced at the warriors. They hadn't moved. But their eyes tracked me like wolves.
"They're going to follow," I said.
"Let them try."
She jerked her chin toward the rocks behind her. A narrow gap between two slabs of black stone. Barely wide enough to squeeze through.
"Go."
I went.
---
The crevasse was tighter than it looked. I had to turn sideways, shoulders scraping stone. The shard still burned in my hand. The progress bar flickered at the edge of my vision.
*Quest update: Survive first pursuit. Reward pending.*
"Faster," the girl said behind me.
I heard shouting. The warriors, trying to figure out if they'd fit. One of them did—I heard the scrape of leather and bronze on rock.
"How far does this go?" I asked.
"Far enough. Move."
The gap angled down. Darker. Colder. The walls pressed in. My chest tightened. I'm not claustrophobic, but I'm also not a fan of being buried alive in an Icelandic fissure.
"This better not be a dead end," I said.
"It's not."
"You sure?"
"I've used it before."
The gap widened. Suddenly I was in a pocket—maybe ten feet across, open to the sky above but surrounded by sheer walls. Moss on the rocks. A trickle of water down one side. Cold enough my breath fogged.
I turned. She slipped through behind me, bow still in hand, arrow still nocked.
"They can't follow," she said. "Too big. The one that tried is stuck."
I heard cursing echo down the stone. Faint. Muffled.
"Great," I said. "So now what?"
"Now you give me the stone."
I looked at her. She looked at me. Bow still up.
"Yeah," I said, "that's not happening."
"It belonged to my people."
"Your people?"
"Clan Ironthorn. Those men killed them. Burned our hall. Took the stone. I've been tracking it for two weeks."
I glanced at the shard. Still hot. Still glowing faintly. The progress bar pulsed.
"Look," I said, "I don't know what this thing is. I picked it up and now it's stuck to me. Literally. I can't let go."
"Try."
"I did. It won't—"
"Try again."
I tried. Opened my hand. The shard stayed put. Like it was glued. Or fused. I shook my hand. Nothing.
"See?" I said.
Her jaw tightened. "Then we have a problem."
"We?"
"You bonded my clan's sacred relic. That makes you either a thief or a fool."
"I vote fool," I said. "I didn't even know what it was."
"Doesn't matter. You touched it. Now you carry it. And every clan on this side of the range will hunt you for it."
"Fantastic."
She lowered the bow. Finally. But her hand stayed on the string.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"Aiden."
"Where are you from?"
I hesitated. "You wouldn't believe me."
"Try me."
"San Francisco."
She frowned. "I don't know that clan."
"It's not a clan. It's a city. On the other side of the world. I was on a trip in Iceland and I woke up here holding this thing."
She stared at me. Long enough I thought she might call me a liar again. But she didn't.
"You're telling me you're not from the tribes," she said.
"I'm telling you I'm not from this century."
Her eyes narrowed. "The stone brought you."
"I don't know. Maybe. I don't know how any of this works."
She looked at the shard. Then at me. Then back at the shard.
"What does it say?" she asked.
"What?"
"The stone. What does it tell you?"
I blinked. "You can't see the progress bar?"
"No."
I looked at the UI floating in my vision. Still there. Still blinking.
"It says I have a quest," I said. "Survive first pursuit. Reward pending."
She exhaled. Slow. Like she was processing.
"My name is Liv," she said. "Liv Ironthorn. Last of my clan. And if you want to survive the next hour, you're going to do exactly what I say."
"Why would I trust you?"
"Because those men out there will gut you and take the stone off your corpse. And because I'm the only one who knows how to get out of this valley before nightfall."
"What happens at nightfall?"
She looked at me like I was an idiot. "The remnants wake up."
---
We moved fast. She led, I followed. The crevasse twisted deeper into the rock, then spat us out onto a slope of loose scree. Below, the valley spread out—grey stone, patchy snow, a thin line of smoke in the distance.
"That's their camp," Liv said, pointing. "Clan Grayclaw. They'll have sentries."
"So we go around."
"No. We go through."
I stared at her. "Through the camp full of people who want to kill me."
"They don't know you yet. The ones at the pillar do. But word hasn't spread."
"And when it does?"
"Then we're already gone."
She started down the slope. I followed, feet sliding on the loose rock. The shard pulsed again. Hotter.
*Warning: Hostile entity approaching. Threat level: high.*
I stopped. "Liv."
She turned. "What?"
"Something's coming."
"What?"
"I don't know. The stone just—"
The growl came from above. Low. Deep. The kind that rattles your ribs.
We both looked up.
It stood on the ridge. Massive. Quadruped. Shoulders thick as boulders. Fur matted and dark, streaked with something that looked like old blood. Eyes glowed faint yellow. Teeth like knives.
Liv's face went pale.
"Run," she said.
"What is that?"
"Remnant. Run."
She bolted. I ran.
The thing howled. The sound punched through my chest. Behind us, rocks tumbled. It was coming.
"Faster!" Liv shouted.
I pushed. Legs burning. The slope leveled out into a dry streambed. Boulders on both sides. Nowhere to go but forward.
Liv veered left, dove behind a rock. I followed. We pressed flat.
The remnant hit the streambed. I heard its claws on stone. Heard it breathing. Wet. Rattling.
Liv pulled a knife from her belt. Stone blade. Leather-wrapped handle. She pressed it into my hand.
"What are you doing?" I whispered.
"If it gets past me, go for the throat."
"What about you?"
She nocked an arrow. "I'm going to slow it down."
"That's not a plan."
"It's the only one we have."
She stepped out from behind the rock. Drew. Loosed.
The arrow hit. The remnant screamed. But it didn't stop.
It charged.
Liv ran. Drew again. Fired. Another hit. It stumbled. Kept coming.
I looked at the knife. Looked at the shard in my other hand. Still glowing.
*New quest available. Unlock skill: Shardstrike. Cost: 10% current health.*
"Shit," I said.
The remnant was ten feet from Liv.
I dropped the knife. Raised the shard. "Okay. Do it."
The shard flared. Heat shot up my arm. My vision whited out. Pain—sharp, immediate, like a blade through my ribs. I gasped.
The remnant lunged.
Liv dove.
I thrust the shard forward.
Light erupted. A crack like thunder. The remnant hit the ground mid-leap, skidding, claws gouging stone. It didn't get up.
I collapsed. Breathing hard. The shard cooled. The progress bar blinked.
*Skill unlocked: Shardstrike. Cooldown: 24 hours.*
Liv scrambled over. Grabbed my shoulder. "Are you hurt?"
"I don't know," I said. "Maybe. What just happened?"
She looked at the remnant. Still smoking. Then at me. Then at the shard.
"You used it," she said.
"I didn't know I could."
She pulled me up. "We need to move. That light—everyone saw it."
"Everyone?"
"Everyone."
She dragged me forward. My legs barely worked. Blood roared in my ears.
Behind us, I heard shouting. Distant. Getting closer.
The shard pulsed again.
*Warning: Beacon activated. All factions notified. Current location marked.*
"Liv," I said.
"I know."
"They're coming."
"I know."
She pulled me into a narrow cleft between two rocks. Pressed me flat. Her hand on my chest. Her face inches from mine. I could feel her breathing. Fast. Shallow.
"Listen," she said. "We have one chance. There's a trader. Greta Graycrow. She moves between clans. If we can find her, she can get us out."
"Where?"
"Two days south. Maybe three."
"I don't have three days."
"Then you better start walking."
Footsteps. Close. Voices.
Liv's hand tightened on my chest. Her eyes locked on mine. "Do not move. Do not breathe loud. Do not let go of that stone."
I nodded.
The voices passed. Faded.
She exhaled. Pulled back. "Come on."
We slipped out. Headed south. The valley opened up ahead. Wider. Darker. The smoke from the camp was gone.
Behind us, the sky lit up. Another beacon.
Liv cursed.
"What now?" I asked.
"Someone else just activated a shard," she said.
"There's more than one?"
"Four."
I stopped. "Four."
She turned. Looked at me. "You really don't know anything, do you?"
"No."
She grabbed my arm. Pulled me forward. "Then I'll explain on the way. Move."
We ran.
And behind us, the second beacon pulsed.
And the hunt began.