The masochists

Elara's pulse still pounded as she stared at the empty space where the stranger had stood moments ago. The clash had been brief, but it had left its mark—not just on the cracked pavement beneath her feet, but in her mind. For the first time, she understood that she wasn't just a survivor in this world.

She was prey.

Rael's grip on her shoulder tightened slightly, then released. "You did well."

Elara scoffed, rolling her shoulders. "He got away."

Rael's gaze remained fixed on the darkness beyond the alley. "He wasn't here to kill you."

Elara turned to him, frowning. "Then what did he want?"

"To test you." Rael's crimson eyes flickered in the dim light. "And to mark you."

A cold feeling slithered down her spine. "Mark me?"

Rael nodded. "Now they know your scent. They'll come for you."

Elara swallowed the uneasy lump in her throat, her fingers unconsciously brushing against the dark tattoos coiled around her arms. "Who are they?"

Rael exhaled. "The Eclipse Syndicate."

She had never heard the name before, but something in the way he said it sent a shiver through her. It wasn't just a group. It was something bigger—something dangerous.

"They're not just other Soul Bonders," Rael continued. "They are the strongest. They rule the hidden world that exists beneath Varos. And now, they've set their eyes on you."

Elara tightened her fists. "Then I'll be ready."

Rael smirked. "Confidence is good. But survival is better."

The city had never felt as vast as it did now. Every alley, every shadowed corner, felt like it was watching her. She was different now. And in a world where the strong hunted the weak, she had just stepped into a battlefield she hadn't known existed.

Rael led her through the lower districts of Varos, where the lights didn't reach and the air was thick with something more than just pollution. Desperation. Fear. Anger. The emotions hung in the air like mist, and Elara had to force herself not to drink them all in.

"You need information," Rael said as they walked. "You need to know what you're up against."

Elara glanced at him. "And where do we get that?"

Rael stopped outside a rundown bar wedged between two crumbling buildings. The sign above it flickered weakly, the name barely legible: The Hollow Veil.

"We start here."

Elara raised an eyebrow. "A bar?"

Rael smirked. "Not just any bar. The Hollow Veil is neutral ground. Information flows through here like blood in a vein."

Elara took a breath, stepping toward the entrance. The moment she pushed the door open, she felt it—the shift in the air, the way conversations dipped for a split second as new eyes turned toward her.

The people inside weren't ordinary.

Some of them felt like her.

Rael followed her in, nodding toward the bartender, a lean woman with piercing silver eyes. She didn't say a word, but the look she gave Rael spoke volumes.

He turned to Elara. "Stay close."

Elara scanned the room, her senses sharpening. If the Eclipse Syndicate was coming for her, she needed to be ready.

And the hunt for answers had just begun.