The man in grey had a name.
Aarif didn't know it.
He didn't know about the balcony, or the compass, or the quiet smile aimed in his direction from across the city.
He only knew one thing when he woke—
He was being followed.
⸻
It started small.
A face at the end of an alley that vanished when he looked directly at it.
A conversation at the east pier that stopped just a moment too late.
A boy sitting near Dolav's stall with nothing to sell, watching too carefully.
By midmorning, Aarif had counted three.
By noon—
Five.
"You see them," Kael said.
Not a question.
"Hard not to," Aarif muttered, adjusting a crate. "Who are they?"
"The grey robes."
Aarif frowned. "That supposed to mean something?"
"It will," Kael said. "Soon."
Aarif set the crate down harder than needed. Dolav shot him a look. He ignored it.
"You knew this would happen."
"I suspected."
"When were you going to tell me?"
"I'm telling you now."
Aarif exhaled sharply. The boy from the stall stood up and walked away.
Reporting.
"Start talking," Aarif said. "Now."
⸻
He went to the Ashfield again.
Same broken stone. Same dead land.
Different problem.
"The Order of Reclamation," Kael began. "They were created to deal with people like me."
"Including you."
"Especially me."
Aarif stayed quiet.
"They study shadow corruption," Kael continued. "Track it. Contain it."
"That sounds… useful."
"It was," Kael said. "Once."
A pause.
"Now they extract."
Aarif's jaw tightened. "Extract?"
"They remove the shadow from the host."
"And the host lives?"
"Yes."
"And the shadow?"
Silence.
Aarif didn't need the answer.
"They're hunting you," he said.
"They've been hunting me for centuries," Kael replied. "The difference is… this time they're early."
Aarif looked down at his shadow.
Six feet.
Crown at the edge.
"How long?"
"Hours."
Aarif let out a slow breath.
"If they take you… I live."
"Yes."
"And if I run?"
"You might live longer."
Aarif almost smiled at that.
"You're not making a strong case."
"I am giving you the truth."
⸻
Silence settled between them.
Then—
"You still haven't answered me," Aarif said. "How long have you been watching?"
A long pause.
"Four years," Kael said.
Aarif closed his eyes.
"Four years."
"You were different," Kael said. "Even then."
"Empty," Aarif muttered.
"Patient," Kael corrected. "There's a difference."
Aarif opened his eyes again.
The dead field stretched endlessly ahead.
Except—
At the far edge, something small and stubborn grew.
A weed.
Alive where nothing else was.
"Why now?" Aarif asked.
"Because before, you would have wanted the power," Kael said. "And I've seen what that does."
"And now?"
"You've had it for two days," Kael said quietly. "And you still don't want it."
Aarif stood.
"Yeah," he said. "That sounds right."
He turned toward the city.
"Now tell me how many are coming."
⸻
By evening, Aarif had his answer.
Seven watchers.
Two rooftops.
Three rotating the streets.
Two he couldn't place.
Those were the dangerous ones.
"Tonight," Aarif said.
"Yes," Kael replied. "Second bell after midnight. That's when they move."
"How do you know?"
"I've been extracted before."
Aarif didn't react.
"Which host?"
"The thirty-first. Serev."
A pause.
"She fought," Kael added. "Longer than most."
"And?"
"She lost."
Silence.
Aarif stared out over the water.
"I'm not fighting three Extractors," he said.
"No," Kael agreed. "You're not."
"Then what?"
"You run."
Aarif huffed. "That's the plan?"
"Strategic relocation," Kael said dryly.
"Where?"
"East. Past the Ashfield. Into the Thornwood. A village called Duskmare."
"And if they follow?"
"They will," Kael said. "The question is how long it takes."
Aarif nodded slowly.
Time.
That's what this was about.
⸻
He moved through the market at dusk, collecting what little he could.
A few owed coins.
A bit of food.
Nothing worth stealing.
Nothing worth keeping.
He had just turned into a side alley when he stopped.
The boy was there.
The same one from earlier.
Sitting against the wall, eating slowly.
Not enough.
Never enough.
Aarif stepped closer.
"They pay you well?" he asked.
The boy shrugged.
"Enough."
"How long?"
"Two years."
Aarif looked at him.
Really looked.
Then he took out a coin and placed it on the ground.
The boy didn't move.
"Don't tell them where I went," Aarif said. "That's all."
He turned and walked away.
Behind him—
A pause.
Then the quiet sound of a coin being picked up.
"That was your food money," Kael said.
"I know."
"Sentimental."
"Probably."
A beat.
"It was also," Kael added quietly, "what Serev would have done."
Aarif didn't answer.
But something settled inside him.
Quiet.
Certain.
⸻
The first bell was two hours away.
The Thornwood was three hours east.
And somewhere far above—
A man in grey closed his compass.
"There you are," he murmured.
Then he turned.
"Find him."
"Tonight."