Chapter 4: The Arrival of Embershade

The rain hadn't stopped since nightfall, and Arcadia wore the storm like a second skin. Cold water streaked the glass towers and coiled into steam against the neon signs that buzzed tirelessly above empty alleys. In the silence between thunder, Nightblade stood on the edge of a rooftop, staring at the charred remains of what used to be a weapons lab run by the rogue agency called Black Vale.

Starflare joined him minutes later, landing without a sound. Her glow dimmed in respect for the dead. The wind tossed her damp hair across her cheek. Her lips were tight. "Twenty-two bodies. No survivors. No known threat detected. It's like something erased them from the inside."

Nightblade didn't answer immediately. He crouched beside a patch of melted floor plating. His gloved fingers brushed the twisted edge of scorched titanium. "Not fire. Not plasma. Something darker. This wasn't just destruction. It was precision."

"Maybe we're not the only ones playing hero anymore," she muttered.

"Or someone pretending to be."

A voice echoed behind them. "You talk like I'm not standing right here."

They both turned sharply. From the rising smoke, a figure stepped forward, bathed in flickering red. His armor was blackened chrome, etched with glowing runes. A jagged cape whipped behind him, soaked through from the rain. A mask covered the lower half of his face, but his eyes blazed red-orange like dying embers.

"Who the hell are you?" Starflare asked, igniting her fists.

"I'm Embershade," the man said simply. "And I didn't kill those people. But I did find out who did."

Nightblade took a step forward, analyzing every inch of this stranger's gear. "You've been hiding. For how long?"

"Long enough to know you're both over your heads." Embershade's voice was deep and steady, but it had an edge. "Black Vale has splintered. What you saw here wasn't an attack. It was a ritual."

Starflare narrowed her eyes. "A ritual? What kind of ritual turns people into ash without breaking walls or tripping defenses?"

Embershade walked toward the center of the ruins. He knelt and drew a circle in the soot with his gauntlet. "It wasn't meant to breach anything. It was meant to summon something." He looked up. "You two are dealing with a new tier of warfare. One that doesn't respect the rules of physics or diplomacy."

"Magic?" Nightblade asked.

Embershade gave a tight nod. "Dark magic. And before you get any ideas about me being a villain in disguise, I'm here to stop it. I've seen what happens when this power gets loose. I'm trying to make sure it doesn't take this city apart one building at a time."

Starflare's glow pulsed brighter. "You'll need to prove that."

"I expected nothing less."

They stood in uneasy silence. The rain softened. Behind them, distant sirens wailed through the city, too late to mean anything now.

Embershade straightened and adjusted a small disc on his wrist. A holographic projection sparked to life above his forearm. Blue lines formed a rotating map of Arcadia's power grid, and embedded within it, a constellation of glowing red dots clustered near the city's industrial district.

"These are energy spikes. Not just power surges. Arcane pulses. Each one traces back to a point where the veil between dimensions has thinned. Black Vale's experiments cracked that veil. Now something is trying to get through."

Nightblade stared at the map. "How do we stop it?"

Embershade's mouth tightened under his mask. "You can't. Not yet. But you can slow it down. And I can teach you how."

"Why now?" Starflare asked. "Why appear now, after all this destruction?"

"Because the one behind this just moved to Arcadia," Embershade replied. "And he knows who you are."

Their gazes locked in the blue holographic light.

Then the rooftop shook.

The ground cracked at the center of the blast site, a sudden burst of pressure knocking all three back. Smoke poured from the crevice, and a low growl rose from the darkness beneath. Shapes moved inside, twisting, unnatural.

Starflare's energy flared hot and gold. "What is that?"

"Residual spirit energy," Embershade answered grimly. "Whatever ritual was done here didn't just burn the victims. It opened a gate. Now it's hungry."

Nightblade pulled his daggers. "So we fight it?"

"We seal it," Embershade said. "Together."

From the crack in the earth, a creature lunged—a wraith of fire and shadow, its form shifting with every second, like molten glass given shape. Nightblade met it midair, blades slashing through the mass. Starflare struck from the side, radiant beams slicing through its chest. It shrieked, the sound unnatural, a chorus of agony and laughter.

Embershade moved differently. He knelt at the edge of the portal, tracing runes into the steel with his gauntlet. Words spilled from him in a low chant, each syllable vibrating in the air. The creature writhed, limbs reaching, claws catching on concrete and flashing steel.

"Hold it back," Embershade shouted. "Give me time!"

Nightblade fought like a shadow come alive, his movements smooth, efficient, brutal. Starflare's glow burned hot, dancing between flame and light. Together they kept the wraith away from the summoner, though every second strained their strength.

Finally, Embershade slammed both palms to the ground. A ring of red light exploded outward, engulfing the crack and the creature within. It screamed again, louder this time, as its form twisted and then snapped inward, like a flame sucked into a vacuum.

Silence fell.

Only rain remained.

The three of them stood around the sealed portal, breathing hard.

Starflare collapsed to one knee, her glow flickering. "What the hell was that?"

"An echo," Embershade said quietly. "A fragment of something older than this city. It's only a piece of what's coming."

Nightblade sheathed his blades. "Then we need answers. You said someone is behind this. Who?"

Embershade turned his gaze north, toward the untouched spires of Arcadia's political district. "His name is Revenant. He was one of Black Vale's founders. Now he's trying to bring something through. Something that doesn't belong in this world."

Starflare stood, wiping her brow. "And you think we can stop him?"

"You're going to have to," Embershade said. "Because you're already part of the game. And he knows it."

Nightblade's voice dropped to a low growl. "Then let's make him regret it."

The three figures stood in the rain, shadows blending into shadows, bound not by trust, but by purpose. They had no illusions of victory. Only resolve. Only fire.

Above them, lightning cracked through the clouds.

The war for Arcadia had begun.