Aeron's pulse pounded in his ears. The Harbinger was smiling.
Not in pain. Not in fear. In amusement.
Kael's blade had struck true, but the enemy barely seemed fazed. Dark mist bled from their wounds, and instead of faltering, they stood taller, as if they had only now begun to take the fight seriously.
"Ah… You are interesting," the Harbinger murmured, brushing a hand over their wound. The mist recoiled, then pulled back into their body, the injury closing with unnatural speed.
Aeron gritted his teeth. Regeneration.
The Harbinger flexed their fingers. "You felt it too, didn't you?" Their void-blades pulsed with a deep, abyssal glow. "The Abyss calling to you."
Aeron didn't respond. But deep inside, he knew they weren't wrong.
The Abyss within him stirred.
Ever since Nyxus had granted him this power, he had felt its pull. But facing this enemy, someone who seemed to be born of the void itself, made it stronger and louder.
Kael took a step forward, his grip tightening on his sword. "Whatever you are, you bleed just the same."
The Harbinger chuckled. "I like you. But you, Aeron…" They tilted their head. "You might be more than you think."
Without warning, they vanished.
Aeron's instincts screamed.
He spun, raising his dagger just in time—the Harbinger had blinked behind him. Their blade crashed against his own, sparks of dark energy scattering through the air.
Aeron twisted, using Umbral Reversal.
His shadow split once more, moving independently—one copy countered the Harbinger's attack, another struck at their exposed side.
But this time, the Harbinger was ready.
Their own shadow moved mimicking his ability, canceling it out.
Aeron's breath hitched. They could do it too.
"Good," the Harbinger murmured, their tone excited. "This is what I wanted to see."
They lunged again, faster, sharper. Their movements were adapting.
They were learning.
Kael intercepted them, his greatsword swinging with crushing force. The Harbinger evaded, but not fast enough this time. The edge of Kael's blade clipped their side, sending them sliding back.
For a moment, they just stood there, staring at Aeron.
Then they smiled again. "I'll be back."
Before either of them could react, the Harbinger melted into the darkness.
Vanished.
The battlefield fell into silence.
Aeron exhaled, the tension in his muscles slow to fade. He had faced strong enemies before, but this…
This was different.
Kael let out a slow breath, sheathing his sword. "What the hell was that thing?"
Aeron didn't answer right away. His hands trembled slightly,not from fear, but from something else.
Excitement.
The Abyss had recognized the Harbinger. Had reached for them.
And worse, the Harbinger had reached back.
Aeron clenched his fists. This wasn't over.
Not even close.
---
Aeron's breath was steady, but his mind wasn't.
The Harbinger had disappeared, but their presence still lingered, A shadow crawling at the edges of his thoughts.
Kael glanced at him. "You knew something about them." It wasn't a question.
Aeron didn't answer immediately. His fingers curled unconsciously, feeling the faint hum of Abyssal energy running beneath his skin.
Finally, he spoke. "They weren't human."
Kael scoffed. "No kidding." He wiped the blood from his sword, eyes dark with thought. "You fought like them, though. Same techniques. Same tricks."
Aeron exhaled through his nose. He knew Kael wasn't accusing him, but… the implication was there.
The Harbinger had mimicked him.
No.
They had mirrored him.
It wasn't just adaptation,it was recognition.
Aeron tightened his grip. Nyxus had warned him before. The Abyss watches those who dare to wield it. But he had never thought it would be like this,like something watching him from the other side of a mirror.
Kael sheathed his sword and motioned for them to move. "We shouldn't linger. If that thing comes back, I don't want to be standing here like an idiot."
Aeron nodded, but his thoughts stayed fixed on the Harbinger.
Who were they?
And more importantly…
What did they want with him?
Hours Later – A Hidden Shelter
They had taken refuge in an abandoned outpost carved into the rocky cliffs, a forgotten ruin left behind by some long-dead faction. The stone walls were cracked, half-swallowed by creeping vines, but the structure still stood strong against the wind howling outside.
Kael sat by the fire, his sword resting within arm's reach, while Aeron stood near the edge of the cavernous space, staring out into the darkness.
The Abyss whispered.
It had been quiet since Nyxus first granted him power, only speaking in moments of desperation. But now, after that fight, after that encounter
It felt… closer.
Like something was pressing against the edges of his soul.
Nyxus had said the Abyss was endless. That even gods had been lost within its depths.
Aeron closed his eyes, trying to still his mind.
A flicker of something surged through him—a presence, cold and ancient.
"You felt it, didn't you?"
Aeron's eyes snapped open.
The voice wasn't Nyxus.
It was something else.
Something watching from beyond the veil.
Aeron's heartbeat quickened.
The Harbinger had called to him.
And now, the Abyss was answering.
---
The whisper curled around Aeron's mind like a wraith, slithering through the cracks of his thoughts. It wasn't Nyxus.
It wasn't anything he had encountered before.
"You felt it, didn't you?"
Aeron's muscles tensed as he scanned the darkness beyond the cavern's entrance. The fire behind him crackled, but the warmth did nothing to ease the chill creeping up his spine.
Kael noticed the shift in his posture. "Something wrong?"
Aeron didn't answer right away. He wasn't sure how to explain it ,this creeping awareness that something was watching.
Listening.
"Stay on guard," he muttered instead.
Kael didn't question it. He had seen enough to trust Aeron's instincts. He shifted slightly, fingers resting on the hilt of his sword.
Aeron turned his gaze back toward the abyss stretching outside the ruins. His own reflection stared back at him from the jagged glass of a broken window.
But then
The reflection moved.
Aeron stilled.
The flickering light distorted his features, but for a brief moment, he swore he saw something else staring back at him.
A hollow grin.
A flash of silver eyes.
Then it was gone.
He stepped forward, pressing his palm against the cool, broken glass.
"It knows you now."
A sharp pain stabbed through his skull.
Aeron staggered back, pressing his fingers to his temple.
Kael was instantly on his feet. "What the hell is going on?"
Aeron's breath was ragged. "It's not done with me."
Kael narrowed his eyes. "It?"
Aeron clenched his jaw. "The Harbinger."
For a moment, silence stretched between them. The fire crackled. The wind howled.
Then Kael spoke, voice grim.
"It's hunting you, isn't it?"
Aeron didn't answer. He didn't have to.
Kael cursed under his breath and ran a hand through his hair. "Great. Because we weren't dealing with enough already."
Aeron's gaze remained fixed on the darkness outside.
The Harbinger wasn't just an enemy.
It was something more.
And if it had truly marked him…
Then this fight was far from over.
---
The cold night air coiled around Aeron as he stood at the edge of the ruins, his gaze locked on the abyss beyond. The presence lingered, unseen but suffocating, as if the darkness itself had grown sentient and was watching him with unblinking eyes.
Kael shifted beside him, his stance tense. "We need to move."
Aeron exhaled slowly, dragging a gloved hand down his face. The headache from the Harbinger's presence had dulled to a slow throb, but the unease in his chest remained.
"We're being toyed with," he muttered. "This thing—whatever it is wants me to know it's watching."
Kael's grip tightened on his sword. "Then we send a message back."
Aeron almost smirked. It was Kael's way, when faced with fear, he met it with a blade. But this was something beyond steel and flesh.
"No," Aeron said. "Not yet."
Kael frowned. "You can't keep running from this."
"I'm not running." His voice was quiet but firm. "I'm waiting."
Waiting for the right moment. The right opportunity.
Because whatever had marked him, whatever force had reached out through the abyss, it was playing its own game. And Aeron had learned long ago the patient hunter always wins.
The wind howled through the ruins, whispering secrets only the dead could hear.
Aeron turned away, stepping back toward the fire. "Let's rest. Tomorrow, we find out what the abyss is hiding."
Kael hesitated, then gave a short nod. "Fine. But if something comes for us"
Aeron's gaze flickered back toward the shadows.
"It already has."