I felt the tension in my body fade away as a wet thud resounded throughout the clearing. The noises of people clambering to their feet screaming in terror was drowned out completely by that one sound. Blood painted the ground in darkness, the dusky light coloring the liquid black on the ground.

I watched as the body fell next, a barely audible thump compared to the sickening sound from a second prior. Looking down, I saw an expression of shock and terror displayed on the small woman’s face. Her shoulder-length brown hair was slick with blood, and her natural highlights were becoming corrupted by the dark fluid.

“Nora,” I started before fully realizing what had happened. Ever since having her memories rewritten, the woman had seemed antisocial. Whenever I inspected her source, I only found a profound fear controlling all of her actions.

Whether or not this fear was there from the beginning, and I was only able to see it after improving, I would never know. All I could think about was that the woman who had approached me with genuine kindness had died in confusion, consumed by fear.

With my spirit sight still active, I could see the remnant energies lighting her from within, her body’s natural obfuscation gone. Without a will to control her remnant spirit, the energy dissipated from her corpse on its own, dissolving into the atmosphere.

I was given no time to consider my emotions when my passive perception informed me of movement to my side. I tried to move but felt like I was wading through water rather than air. I felt like I was in a dream, my thoughts scrambled and disorganized.

My eyes moved casually to watch the thin thread of spirit whip towards me with blinding speed. Barely processing the threat to my life, I moved instinctually, throwing myself backwards with reckless abandon.

Power shot through my legs as I unintentionally circulated some spirit into them, sending me flying back. My thoughts caught up to my movements as I watched the glowing thread pass centimeters from my face. As my back struck the ground, I came to realize how close to death I had really been.

Snapping out of my daze, I began to tune in to my surroundings, hearing the solemn silence transition into a cacophony of fear and confusion. Remembering where I was and what I was doing, I placed my hands on the slick grassy earth, digging trenches with my fingertips.

A deep growl emerged from my throat as I gritted my teeth in anger. Suddenly, I was on my feet, adrenaline coursing through my veins as I stood up fully. My eyes locked onto the string and followed its winding course back to where it began within the woods. My eyes narrowed as I tried to pierce the dark canopy for the source of the string.

Unable to detect the origin, I refocused on the string itself. It was still moving toward me, but I had built some distance between us with my jump, so I knew I had a second before it reached me. I watched the tip dance in the air, its movements chaotic and unpredictable.

“One clean cut and I’m done for,” I thought, as I couldn’t help but recall how easily it had beheaded Nora. Clenching my teeth, I put the thought to the side as I prepared for the string’s arrival.

I let the energy saturate my legs with power and I moved once again right as the string cut through the air where I had been standing. Instead of flying backwards, though, I found myself careening back towards the tree Nora had been hiding behind.

I knew that at this rate, this stalemate I had with the strings would end with me running out of energy or making a mistake that led to my death. Feeling how much energy I used with each enhanced leap, I felt that the latter was much more likely. My larger source seemed to give me more spirit to work with, and my reserves felt inexhaustible at this current rate.

Despite this, however, I knew that I needed to go on the offensive to win. Hurting the strings wouldn’t kill the beast controlling them, so I needed to attack the user to win. Unfortunately for me, though, I dropped my spear during my fall, which left me completely unarmed.

“No, I’m not completely unarmed,” I thought as a new idea sprang to mind. I drew back the energy from my legs and I ran with only the strength of my body. I felt sluggish and heavy compared to before, but I couldn’t help it if I wanted a fighting chance.

As I had done earlier that day, I began to circulate the energy from my body at high speeds. Using my source as a fulcrum for the rotation, I pulled the energy from my limbs and began to speed up the flow of spirit.

My change of direction didn’t mix up the ethereal string as the middle portion descended toward my head like a guillotine blade. Cursing under my breath, I stopped accelerating and energy and returned it once again to my legs. I did a quick sidestep to dodge the blade, going a bit further than I intended.

Letting the power drain from my legs, I continued forward as I sped up the flow of spirit once more. I could feel from the currents of ambient spirit that the tip of the string had turned around and was now pursuing me back toward the tree. Based on how fast it had been before, I knew I wouldn’t be able to outrun it with my raw physicality.

I ran, standing tall as I focused on speeding up the energy to the maximum. Another shift in the environment sent shivers down my spine as I realized how quickly the thin wire was catching up. Deciding to stick to the plan, I didn’t turn around and instead kept running as fast as I could towards the forest.

Directing my attention inwardly, I could tell that I was straining my will to move this much spirit so quickly. A searing pain spread through my chest and down my back as a pounding headache threatened to split my skull before the string could. Trying my hardest to focus, I pushed the pain to the side as I only focused on moving the spirit faster and faster.

Unfortunately, I was out of time, as I felt the string less than two meters from my head. My feet kept pounding away at the ground, each step like thunder as I felt my heartrate quicken.

Right as the string whipped toward my head, I made my move. Instead of planting my foot to keep running, I tucked them in as I crouched down low. I could practically feel the energy humming off of the weapon’s surface as it passed dangerously close to my head.

Having successfully avoided the killing blow, I took my opportunity to strike. Twisting my body in the air, I moved my arm out from beside me, raising it to meet the ethereal blade. At the same time, a pulse of spirit shot out from the vortex circulating within my body. It travelled up my arm, through my hand, and into my fingertips.

Time seemed to slow as I watched and felt the path of the energy, hoping it would move as I needed. Right before leaving my body, I mobilized my will to latch onto the energy. It took all of my will to control the powerful surge of energy, leaving nothing to spare for my spirit sight.

The bolt of spirit was powerful, but it was my spirit, so it was simple to keep a hold on it. Using all of my focus, I pushed as hard as I could to move the energy outside of my body. I felt like every blood vessel in my body was about to burst, but I didn’t care so long as I achieved my goal: Destroy the string.

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There was an audible crack as a small, but blinding light appeared at the end of my finger. The second it entered the open air, I felt a monstrous weight fight against my will’s control, threatening to release the energy from my grasp.

I twisted my will, guiding the bolt of spirit to point toward the string. Feeling I was nearly at my limit, I decided to let go of the pulsing energy before it overwhelmed my will. The small light source grew even brighter as it moved, the chains of my will no longer containing it.

With incredible speed, it flew from my hand and collided with the string. The thin line of spirit held for just a moment before splitting with ease. The bolt of spirit continued along its upward trajectory, flying high into the tree canopy over the forest floor.

My back hit the ground just a moment later, as I had sacrificed my future positioning to get that one attack off. I skidded along the ground for only a moment before stopping, my momentum much lower than before.

The second I gathered my bearings, I looked up in panic, expecting the string to come bearing down on me at any moment. I was surprised when I saw the string frozen in the air, like a spiderweb caught in a breeze. Just before I moved to evade again, I saw the split portion of the string fade away into thin wisps of light.

The string began to dissolve, starting at the end and working its way down the full length. I sat up slightly, my lungs heaving for air as I watched the deadly weapon dissolve into nothing. A small smile crept onto my face as I saw my effort pay off.

I released control over the flow of spirit, letting my will take a break after pushing so hard. I felt a warmth running down my lip, which I checked with the back of my hand. A crimson smudge was resting on the back of my hand, and I realized my nose was bleeding.

The sight of the dark liquid reminded me of what had been lost during the fight, as I looked behind me to see a dark silhouette lying motionless on the ground.

Wincing, I rolled onto my side and got to one knee, wincing at the burning pain in my chest. Getting rid of the first string was a major win, but I knew it was just the beginning. I looked back up into the forest as I readied myself for round two.

I stood up, trying hard to keep myself standing upright. I heard footsteps coming from behind me but ignored them and instead kept my eye on the forest in front of me. My spirit sight fell from my eyes when I used all of my will to control the bolt, which meant I couldn’t actually see what was going on in there.

Just thinking about pushing spirit to my eyes would bring the ability back, along with a searing pain in the back of my head, but I decided to hold off for now. The string was thin and moved erratically, making it hard to track. Passively tracking the ambient spirit was much more effective than physically watching it anyways.

The footsteps from behind me got even louder as I heard a group of people approach. Without turning around, I stuck my arm out to the side and yelled, “Stop,” as loud as I could. The noise of people moving around become quieter as they all came to a sudden stop a few meters behind me.

To no one’s surprise, Quentin was there, the first to speak, who said, “What the hell happened here? I thought we had a deal, Olivia!” I wasn’t facing him, but I could practically feel the anger and betrayal written on his face.

My shoulders slumped as I realized how bad this looked from an outside perspective. Still, I did my best to remain calm and not lash out at the man who was only trying to help.

“Calm down, Quentin, this wasn’t me who did this.” As I spoke, my head turned slightly to the side in the direction of Nora’s corpse. I didn’t see it happen, but I knew they had seen the woman’s sorry state when cries of terror and fear emerged from the group behind me.

I continued, “We’re being attacked by a predator of some kind, one with abilities like mine. It attacks using invisible strings that can cut through flesh and bone easily. I destroyed one of the strings, but this won’t end until we kill whatever is producing them.” My words were quiet, but they pierced the noise easily, silencing the group once again.

Quentin spoke up once again, his voice more scared than angry as he said, “That’s… unbelievable! It’s a bit too convenient that we’re attacked by an invisible creature, and you just so happen to be right there when it all begins.”

“I wasn’t there to begin with, I joined in midway through,” I said condescendingly, as if his words were the more unbelievable of the two of us. “Ask Levi, I was with her before all of this started.

Levi was apparently with the group, as she spoke up quickly, saying, “It’s true, we were together up until a minute ago. We were talking when she suddenly left without saying anything.”

“Try to make me sound a little less suspicious please,” I thought as I sighed outwardly.

“That’s not a very convincing argument for her innocence,” Quentin said, disapproval plain in his tone of voice. “Even if she’s not lying about the invisible strings, who’s to say she’s not the one responsible? We don’t yet know the full scope of her abilities.”

My shoulders sagged upon hearing that, my frustration becoming evident when I said, “This isn’t accomplishing anything, damnit! Look, I could spend all night answering your interrogation questions again, but that’s not going to get rid of the issue at hand.”

I took a deep breath then continued, “The fact of the matter is that I need you all to help me kill this fucker. I’m not immortal, and I’m not in the best shape right now to fight.”

Suddenly, a man who’s voice I didn’t recognize spoke up, saying, “If you’re really telling the truth, why isn’t the Altum doing something about it? Wouldn’t he be best to handle this situation?” A cold shiver went up my spine upon hearing those simple words. It was a good question, and one that had dire implications.

Earlier in the night, Scalisth made a point of showing the group how weak they were and how much they needed to rely on him for safety. In that time, Scalisth swore that he would keep the group safe from all harm. The Altum were famous for many things, but chief among them was their trustworthiness to keep a promise.

Altum never violated an oath they took, as it went against their very being to do so. The Union agreement between Earth and Altus was a good example of this, as the Altum have never once failed to hold up their end of the agreement. This meant that when Scalisth said he would protect them, the people knew they could trust him.

What the group didn’t know was that, prior to the mass memory wipe, Scalisth had made an exception to this rule. When the first murders became known, the group became outraged at Scalisth for his aloof treatment of the entire situation.

When we cited his agreement to protect the group, he said he only promised to defend us from domestic threats, not foreign ones. The group now didn’t know this, as they had lost their memories since then.

“I was so caught up in the attack that I didn’t even wonder why Scalisth wasn’t helping, but it all makes sense now.” My words got caught in my throat as the realization came crashing down upon me.

“It’s… it’s a person,” I said, my voice so quiet I could barely hear myself.

“What was that?” the man said, his tone accusatory as if he expected to catch me in a lie with his previous question.

I clenched my fist and yelled, “For fuck’s sake, it’s a person! A human did all of this!”

I heard murmurs of confusion as the group debated on what I meant, but I turned around to face them before any misunderstandings were made. I felt tears welling in my eyes but pushed them down as I looked up at Quentin’s confused expression.

“Scalisth, the Altum told me that he would protect us from the wildlife, but not from each other. He doesn’t care if we kill each other, not one bit. In fact, he encouraged it with a smile,” I said, looking into his brown eyes, which were black in the dying light.

Quentin stopped himself from speaking, took a deep breath, and then asked, “Are you serious? You think one of us killed that woman?”

I shook my head. “No, it wasn’t one of us, but I know who it was.” Turning back to face the forest, I reactivated my spirit sight.

The forest was practically pitch black, so I couldn’t see through it with my normal vision. Focusing all of my remaining will to push spirit toward my eyes, I began to pierce through the darkness. Only after straining my eyes past the comfort zone did I see it: a small form high in the trees.

Focusing even harder, I began to see the flow of the ambient spirit form an ethereal silhouette around the figure. Before me, high in the trees, was the figure of a young woman, resting on one knee. One hand was out to her side, a thin glowing string wrapped around her wrist.

From deep within the woods, a soft, yet booming voice echoed throughout the clearing. “Smart girl,” the voice said, the sound floating like a leaf on the wind. I flinched upon hearing it, the voice unmistakably Amaya’s.

I clenched my fist as I ground my teeth in frustration. Before I process the implications of hearing her voice, Amaya spoke again.

“Smart… but not very perceptive, it seems.” Her tone was full of mirth, like she had just heard a joke. At that moment, I felt the ambient spirit shift ever so slightly.

My eyes snapped to the string hanging from Amaya’s wrist, following its trajectory toward the ground. The thin string was hard to see, but I could make out its form running along the ground to my side, casting a wide arc along the ground.

I vaguely heard noises coming from behind me but tuned them out after I realized what had happened. My whole body tensed up as I looked down at the ground and saw a thin glowing wire hovering loosely around my wrist.

I tried to pull my hand back, but I was too late. The cord tightened around my wrist like a noose, cleaving straight through the flesh and bone like it wasn’t even there. I watched in horror as my hand fell to the ground with a wet thud, my fist still clenched tightly.