CHAPTER FOUR: THE HUNTER IN BLACK

The night the shadows came, the wind stopped breathing.

Anna felt it before she saw anything.

A shift.

A wrongness that crawled beneath her skin like cold fingers.

She was standing near the edge of the forest when the silence fell. No insects. No rustling leaves. Even the distant chatter from the village faded into nothing.

Anna narrowed her eyes.

“Alright,” she muttered. “Something’s about to try something stupid.”

A scream cut through the darkness.

Anna moved instantly.

She sprinted toward the sound without hesitation, her body reacting faster than thought. Branches snapped beneath her boots as she cut through the trees.

Another scream.

Closer.

A child.

Anna burst into a clearing—and stopped.

Three creatures surrounded a small boy, their forms twisting like smoke made solid. Their bodies were black and jagged, with glowing hollow eyes and claws that dragged across the ground with a scraping hiss.

Shadow creatures.

The name surfaced in her mind uninvited.

The boy stumbled backward, crying.

The creatures advanced.

Anna stepped forward.

“Hey,” she called lazily. “Pick on someone your own size.”

The shadows turned toward her.

For a split second, everything went still.

Then they lunged.

Anna didn’t run.

She grabbed a fallen branch, snapped it against a rock to sharpen one end, and met them head-on.

The first creature swiped—fast.

Anna ducked under the strike and drove the makeshift spear straight through its chest.

It dissolved instantly.

The second came from the side.

She twisted, letting its claws graze her sleeve, and slammed her elbow into where its jaw should have been. It staggered—if shadows could stagger.

“Too slow,” she muttered.

The third one leapt for her throat.

Anna stepped back—

And fire exploded across the clearing.

Silver flames.

Bright.

Blinding.

Terrifying.

The shadow creature shrieked as the fire consumed it, burning it out of existence.

Anna froze.

That wasn’t her.

The remaining creature tried to flee.

A figure dropped from the trees above—silent, precise.

A blade flashed.

Silver fire followed.

The creature was gone before it hit the ground.

Silence returned.

Anna slowly turned.

The man standing behind her looked like he didn’t belong in this world.

Tall.

Broad-shouldered.

Dressed in black armor that seemed to absorb the night itself.

Dark hair fell across his forehead, and his eyes—sharp, golden, and ancient—were fixed entirely on her.

Not the boy.

Her.

Anna exhaled.

“Well,” she said, brushing dirt off her sleeve,

“you took your time.”

The man blinked.

Once.

As if surprised.

“Most people would say thank you,” he replied.

Anna tilted her head.

“For what? Interrupting my fight?”

A faint spark of something—amusement, maybe—flickered in his eyes.

You were outnumbered.”

“I was bored,” she corrected.

The boy suddenly ran to her side, clutching her arm.

“Anna!” he cried. “You saved me!”

She glanced down at him briefly.

“You’re fine,” she said. “Try not to wander off next time.”

The boy nodded quickly.

The man watched the interaction closely.

Studying her.

Measuring something.

Anna noticed.

Of course she did.

She looked back at him, unimpressed.

“You planning to keep staring,” she said, “or do you actually have a reason for being here?”

He stepped forward slightly.

“My name is Steven.”

Anna shrugged.

“Good for you.”

Another pause.

Then—

“You’re not human.”

The words were calm.

Certain.

Anna’s eyes sharpened instantly.

“Neither are those things,” she replied.

“What’s your point?”

Steven didn’t react to the deflection.

Instead, he lifted his hand.

A small flame ignited above his palm.

Silver.

Alive.

Powerful.

“I’m not human either,” he said.

Anna stared at the flame.

Something deep inside her stirred.

Recognition.

Danger.

Something older than memory.

She pushed it down immediately.

“Congratulations,” she said flatly. “Do you want applause?”

This time, he almost smiled.

Almost.

The creatures tonight weren’t random,” Steven continued. “They’ve been appearing across different regions. Something is drawing them here.”

Anna crossed her arms.

“And you think that has something to do with me?”

“Yes.”

No hesitation.

No doubt.

Anna let out a short laugh.

“Then you’re either very confident,” she said, “or very wrong.”

Steven stepped closer.

Close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from him—not ordinary heat.

Something deeper.

Ancient.

“Your eyes,” he said quietly. “Your fighting style. The way those creatures reacted to you.”

His gaze locked onto hers.

“You’re connected to this.”

Anna didn’t move.

Didn’t blink.

For a moment, the air between them tightened.

Then she smiled.

Sharp.

Dangerous.

“Then I guess you should stay out of my way,” she said. “Things connected to me don’t usually end well.”

Instead of backing off—

Steven’s expression hardened.

“I don’t intend to.”

Anna raised an eyebrow.

“Of course you don’t.”

The boy tugged her sleeve again.

“Anna… who is he?”

She didn’t take her eyes off Steven.

“Trouble,” she said simply.

Steven’s gaze didn’t waver.

“No,” he replied.

“You are.”

A faint wind stirred the clearing.

The kind that comes before a storm.

And though neither of them said it out loud—

Something had just begun.

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