CHAPTER 9: Followed

The path they were on wasn't really a path at all. Just some cracked stretch of dirt cutting through trees that looked half-dead. Twisted trunks. Leaves like dried-out fingers. The kind of place where you wouldn't be surprised to see a body hanging from a branch, swinging in the wind.

If there was wind.

Because there wasn't.

Just stillness. And heat.

"Where are you taking me?" he muttered, for like the tenth time.

Beside him, the mutt—Koro, apparently—let out a loud sigh. The kind of sigh that made Liu Xian feel stupid just hearing it

"Inland," Koro said without looking back.

"That's… not helpful." Liu Xian pulled a stray leaf out of his hair and glared at the back of the dog's head. "What does that even mean? What's inland? Where are we? What just happened back there? Who were those guys? What is this 'academy' thing?!"

"You really don't stop, do you?"

"I think it's a fair reaction when a dog starts talking and teleports me into a forest."

"Yeah, yeah. You humans always get dramatic when shit hits the fan." Koro hopped over a fallen log with surprising grace for a mutt. "Fine. Story time. But you better keep walking. I don't feel like getting eaten tonight."

"Eaten?" Liu Xian echoed nervously, glancing over his shoulder at the pitch-black trees.

But Koro had already started talking.

"Alright, listen up. You ever hear of the Great Tearing?"

"No?"

"Of course not. No one down there remembers anything useful anymore." Koro grumbled, ears twitching. "Okay, short version: A few centuries ago, there was an event—a rupture in the fabric of reality. The barrier that separated our world from... others, it got torn. Mana, a kind of energy, started seeping through. It's the life force that permeates everything, the essence of magic."

Liu Xian's brow furrowed. "Magic? Like spells and wizards?"

Koro let out a short, barking laugh. "Not exactly. Mana isn't about waving wands and chanting gibberish. It's power. Raw and untamed. Some people, for reasons we still don't fully understand, can tap into it. They're called Awakeneds."

Liu Xian narrowed his eyes. "This is starting to sound like some comic book backstory."

"Because comic books are based on real awakeneds, you dipshit," Koro barked. "They just made it flashy. Put on tights and capes and forgot to mention how most of us died in the early years."

Liu Xian shut up real quick at that.

"Anyway," Koro went on, "when the veil tore, it brought in the mana."

"So, what does being an Awakened mean?"

"It means you're different," Koro said simply. "Stronger, faster, more attuned to the energies around you. But it also means you're a target."

"Target? For what?"

Koro's ears perked up, and he glanced around, his body tensing. "The organization that hunt people like you."

A chill ran down Liu Xian's spine. "Like those men back at my house?"

Koro nodded. "Them, and others. They all work for the government."

They resumed walking, the weight of the conversation pressing down on Liu Xian. The forest seemed to close in around them, the darkness becoming more oppressive.

"So, this academy you mentioned," Liu Xian ventured, trying to distract himself from the creeping fear, "it's a school for Awakeneds?"

"More or less," Koro replied. "It's a place where you can learn to control your abilities, to harness mana properly. Without training, an Awakened is as much a danger to themselves as they are to others."

"And they… what? Just let random kids in?"

"Hell no," Koro snorted. "You have to pass a test. Most don't even know they took it. You did."

Liu Xian blinked. "That thing with the stray dog—"

"Yup," Koro said.

"But I didn't even do anything."

"You didn't run," Koro replied simply, glancing at him. "That's enough."

"And you work for the academy?"

"No. I work for me. But I'm stuck doing their recruiting bullshit until I complete my quota."

"So I'm just... a quota?"

"Yup."

That stung more than it should have.

Liu Xian looked down at his worn-out shoes. One sole was peeling. The other had a hole near the toe. He could feel every rock they stepped on. Every broken twig. His legs were sore. His brain was fried. And his stomach was making these awful, hollow noises.

He didn't know how long they'd been walking. Time didn't feel real anymore.

"You said there were powers," he mumbled. "What kind?"

"Depends on the person. Some get fire. Some get ice. Some can mess with minds. Others just blow shit up. Yours—" Koro paused, looking over his shoulder with a weird expression in his glowing eyes. "—yours hasn't surfaced yet. But it's likely lightning. I can feel it in your aura."

"Aura?" Liu Xian wrinkled his nose. "Like... colors?"

Koro sighed again. "Forget it. Point is, you've got something. Something strong enough that the dogs are hunting you. Which means I need to get you safe before they sniff us out."

They walked a little more. The forest started to thicken. The trees pressed in closer, like they were watching. Liu Xian scratched at his neck. Something felt off. He looked over his shoulder.

Nothing there.

But the feeling didn't leave.

"Are we... being followed?" he asked.

Koro froze mid-step.

His ears perked.

"Fuck."

"What?! What do you mean 'fuck'?!"

"Shut up!" Koro hissed. He sniffed the air. His fur bristled. "Damn it. They found us faster than I thought."

Liu Xian's heart dropped somewhere near his knees. His breath caught in his throat.

From behind the trees, something shifted. A shape. No—a shadow. Big. Fast.

"What do we do?" Liu Xian whispered.

Koro didn't answer. He was crouched low, growling. His teeth bared, eyes glowing brighter.

"Run," he finally said.

"What?!"

"RUUUUN!"

Liu Xian didn't wait to ask more. His legs moved before his brain could. He crashed through the trees, twigs smacking his face, branches grabbing at his clothes.

He could hear Koro barking. Snarling. And then—

A loud boom.

The ground shook.

Liu Xian tripped, slammed into the dirt, rolled once, twice, then lay there, gasping, dirt in his mouth, blood in his nose.

"Koro?!" he called out, voice cracking.

Nothing.

Silence.

Then—

"Get up!" Koro barked, darting toward him, fur singed, eyes wild. "Move your ass, kid!"

"I thought you said you didn't have enough mana—"

"I don't, okay?! Move!"

They ran again.