Chapter 5: Beneath the Mask

Nightblade moved through the tunnels beneath Arcadia with silent steps. This section had been abandoned for decades, a leftover artery from a time when the city ran on old wires and steam pipes. Now, it smelled of rust and damp earth. Faint echoes followed him, though he made no sound. His cape trailed behind him, blacker than the shadows around him.

He didn't like being underground. Too many exits, too many chances to be boxed in. But the location matched the coordinates Embershade had given him. And so far, the mysterious new ally had been right about everything.

At the end of the passage, a metal door stood half-open. Behind it, faint light flickered. Nightblade stepped inside and let his eyes adjust. The chamber was round, walls lined with old consoles and cracked monitors. Symbols had been carved into the floor, glowing faintly with red light. And in the center stood Embershade, kneeling beside a map spread across the floor.

"You came alone," Embershade said without looking up.

"I work better that way," Nightblade replied. "Starflare's following a lead across the river. A vanishing pattern of stolen tech."

"That's connected," Embershade said. "They're building something. Or more likely, rebuilding something ancient."

Nightblade crossed his arms. "You're going to need to start explaining more clearly."

Embershade stood, the runes on his armor pulsing faintly. "What do you know about the House of Silent Flame?"

"Old cult. Dead. Or that's what I heard."

"They never died. They just stopped being loud. Revenant was one of them. He broke from the group, but he kept their knowledge. Their texts, their rituals, even their relics. He doesn't want to bring a monster through the veil. He wants to become one."

Nightblade stepped closer. "Why?"

"Because power is never enough. He was the mind behind Black Vale's experiments. When science hit its limits, he turned to something darker."

Nightblade stared at the map. "And what are we looking at here?"

Embershade tapped one corner of the parchment. "These five points form a pentacle. Each one corresponds to a location of spiritual decay in the city. The old asylum. The north docks. The scorched weapons lab. Two more we haven't identified yet. When the fifth is activated, the veil will fully open. Revenant will be able to walk between worlds."

"And he'll be unstoppable."

Embershade nodded once. "Unless we beat him to it."

The masked vigilante turned to him. "Why are you really helping us? This isn't your fight."

Embershade met his gaze. "It was once. And I failed. Someone I loved died because I didn't act fast enough. That won't happen again."

Nightblade hesitated. The tension in his jaw eased just slightly. "Who did you lose?"

Embershade's eyes flickered. "Her name was Lira. She had light in her even the darkness couldn't touch. I let her walk into a trap, thinking I could save her in time. I was wrong."

A long silence stretched between them. Then Nightblade spoke. "I know what that's like. I used to believe emotion got in the way of clarity. That if you felt too much, you'd make mistakes. But if you don't feel at all, you don't fight hard enough when it matters."

Embershade gave a soft, knowing nod. "You've loved someone too."

Nightblade didn't answer. But the look in his eyes said enough.

They worked in silence for the next hour, copying parts of the map, tracing sigils into reinforced paper, organizing what they could carry. Then, just as they prepared to leave, a faint click echoed through the chamber.

Both men froze.

From the ceiling, tiny drones dropped in a silent swarm. Red eyes blinked. Lasers pulsed to life.

"Move!" Nightblade shouted.

They split, weapons drawn. Nightblade threw twin blades in a clean arc, slicing through two drones. Embershade raised his gauntlet and sent a wave of flame outward, catching three more in a burst of smoke and static.

But the drones weren't attacking blindly. They moved in formation, circling, driving them toward the far wall.

"This isn't a trap," Embershade said. "It's surveillance. He's watching us."

Nightblade slashed another drone and gritted his teeth. "Then let's give him something to remember."

Together, they burst through the side corridor, tearing through the remaining machines. Sparks lit the air. One of the drones exploded near a support beam. Concrete cracked.

The ceiling trembled.

"Go!" Embershade shouted.

They leaped through the crumbling hallway as the roof behind them collapsed. Debris slammed into the floor. Darkness swallowed the chamber they had just fled.

They emerged into a different tunnel, lungs burning. Behind them, nothing but rubble.

"Think he got what he wanted?" Nightblade asked, dusting off his coat.

"He was testing us. Watching our limits. And now he knows we're working together."

Nightblade pulled a comm from his belt. "I'm calling Starflare. We regroup in the old clocktower. We'll plan from there."

Embershade paused before following. "You trust her?"

"With my life."

"She trusts you?"

Nightblade gave a tired smile. "She's still deciding."

Later that night, the three of them met again. The clocktower stood forgotten in the heart of Arcadia, its bell frozen at 3:03, hands rusted into place. It had once been part of a courthouse. Now it was a safe house few even remembered existed.

Starflare paced near the cracked stained glass. "Those drones weren't ordinary. They had enchantments woven into the circuitry. We're not just fighting tech anymore."

"Revenant is merging arcane and machine," Embershade said. "Which means his reach is expanding faster than we thought."

Nightblade unrolled the partial map they'd salvaged. "We need to find the last two ritual points. If we stop those, we stall his entire plan."

Starflare leaned over the map. "I've seen this symbol before." She tapped a rune near the bottom. "It matches carvings found in an old cathedral uptown. The place was closed after a fire five years ago. No one rebuilt it."

"That's one of them," Embershade confirmed. "Good work."

Starflare's glow flickered warmer, pride tempered by exhaustion. She looked at him. "You still haven't told us what you are."

He tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"You fight like a soldier. Speak like a scholar. Burn like something not entirely human."

Nightblade watched him, silent.

Embershade finally removed the lower half of his mask.

Beneath it, a scar traced down from his cheek to his jaw. His skin had a faint shimmer, as if touched by ember dust.

"I was a man once," he said softly. "Now I carry the fire inside me. A curse. A gift. Depends who you ask."

Starflare met his gaze. "Then let's make it a weapon."

Nightblade spoke, his voice firm. "Tomorrow, we strike the cathedral. All of us. We do this together. No more half-truths. No more shadows."

Embershade nodded slowly.

Outside, thunder rolled once again, louder this time.

The storm hadn't passed. It had only begun.