After they passed into the castle garden, Elzem sat down on the stone bench. Sonsuz remained standing beside her, checking whether she was all right, then turned to Kylie.

  “How long has the Wall of Void been like this?”

  Kylie stopped drifting in the air and settled in front of Sonsuz.

  “We had already expected something like this ever since it collapsed. But the fact that you were cursed by the hunting grounds activated the wall all at once. It’s impossible to predict when or where it will erupt. Yet if there is one thing that’s certain, it’s that you don’t have much time.”

  While Sonsuz searched for an answer in Elzem’s eyes, Abbey stood beside her, focused intently on him.

  Elzem said plainly, “It seems the wall’s power will affect me more than the others.”

  Although Sonsuz knew the reason, he believed they were strong enough to overcome it.

  “There can be no enemy we cannot defeat,” he said with conviction.

  Kylie cut in.

  “It’s time we spoke openly about some things. As you just saw, the wall is a major threat for you—but for Elzem, it is twice the threat.”

  Sonsuz asked seriously, “What do you mean by that?”

  Kylie looked at them both.

  “It means this: Elzem is alive thanks to Abbey. She breathes together with her. That means a half-breath. And a half-breath, to the wall, is half a victory already won. In other words, the wall considers Elzem half defeated. But you, Sonsuz—you are still an unclaimed opponent, an unwon victory. You are harder to conquer. Elzem, however, is now a far easier adversary. That is why the wall affects her more. With each passing day it will hurt her more, even draw her closer to death. You must act quickly to prevent that.”

  Sonsuz looked increasingly furious, while Elzem said,

  “And what about Dipsiz? We may not know exactly what he is, but we are certain he isn’t dead. After all, he is an Orderbreaker. And escaping him will hardly be easy.”

  Kylie understood what she meant.

  “Dipsiz may already be aware of some things,” she said uneasily.

  Sonsuz asked, “Could he learn about Elzem’s condition?”

  Looking troubled, Kylie lowered her gaze.

  “It is possible he could learn that Elzem is left with half a breath—that half of her is dead.”

  Sonsuz grew angrier still.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “I don’t understand how you cannot prevent this,” he snapped.

  Though she acknowledged his anger, Kylie replied,

  “We—the Female Breakers, and even the pack—are, as you know, the embodiments of life and death. Dipsiz works with the Patternbreakers. Death is a state of existence whose scent both sides can easily detect. That’s why it cannot be hidden. Sooner or later, they will find out.”

  Elzem thought for a moment.

  “If we strike so suddenly that they won’t have time to wait for the hunt, we can turn the situation around. Then it will be up to us.”

  Sonsuz considered this briefly.

  “If we bring the hunt forward, everything afterward will be between us and the wall. But it will be difficult without fully gauging the wall’s strength.”

  Kylie warned,

  “The wall can be both an enemy and an ally to either side.”

  Sonsuz frowned.

  “How could it possibly benefit Dipsiz?”

  “You buried him in a place almost impossible to escape—the hunting grounds. He will want to use the wall to get out,” Kylie said, drifting toward Elzem.

  Elzem gazed into Kylie’s large, round eyes as though reading them.

  “But if we win, we take a loss,” she said suddenly, with a vast hope stirring inside her.

  Kylie glided back beside Sonsuz.

  “What the wall gives—or what it takes—depends on whether you can defeat it.”

  As Sonsuz felt that same hope rising within him, he said softly,

  “Before anything else, I would want to restore you to what you once were, Elzem—without losing anything.”

  Abbey looked hurt.

  “What? Don’t you want Elzem to breathe with me?”

  “Breathing with you isn’t the problem,” Gina said. “The problem is that half of Elzem is dead.”

  At that moment, Kylie recalled a forgotten detail. She looked directly at Abbey.

  “Abbey, during the hunt—you were Sonsuz’s sword.”

  Abbey froze in horror.

  Sonsuz knew exactly what that meant. Elzem could guess, but she still asked to understand fully.

  “What is it that binds Abbey and me, Sonsuz?”

  Looking at her, he answered,

  “Patternbreaker blood was spilled upon Abbey. That makes both you and Abbey appear stronger—because it is the blood of the hunt. But once you become a single breath, what you will turn into can only be revealed during the hunt itself. That’s why we must be careful,” he said, blaming himself.

  Elzem rose and took his hand.

  “You did it to protect me—to keep from losing me. And I’m sure it will be so. I have no doubt I won’t be harmed. Remember, no one could have predicted that Abbey and I would become a single breath,” she said with a smile.

  “Abbey was my only option. She was the one beside me.”

  At that moment, a thin black mist slipped out of the castle garden and passed through the forest. Twisting like a strand of thread, it seemed to set off on a long journey, gliding beyond the mountains. At last it halted above a scorched stretch of land. Crossing a road slick with sludge, it plunged into a pond black as pitch. Then, like a whistle clinging to the ground, it slid forward, licked the face of a bloody, veined Patternbreaker—and vanished.

  With a repulsive appearance, the Patternbreaker listened to the mist, then growled and crossed the sludge-filled pool. Reaching a passage carved into the rocks, it called out into the darkness beyond.

  “My lord, I have received news that will please you greatly.”

  The silhouette within the darkness lifted its head.

  “And what might that be?”

  “One of the Reborn is now half dead!” came the delighted rumbling reply.

  The silhouette asked in a voice that could scarcely believe what it heard,

  “Are you certain?”

  “I am, my lord. One is half a breath—kept alive even with the aid of a Female Breaker.”

  “And the other?”

  “The other still has a full breath. It has lost none of its strength.”

  The silhouette rose to its feet.

  “Learn at once which one is half dead. The other may have wounds as well. They do not easily separate from one another.”

  The Patternbreaker bowed toward the ground.

  “As you command, my lord.”

  The silhouette called after it,

  “If this is true, then it means only one hunter remains for me to defeat. Only one hunter,” it said, settling back with satisfaction.

  As the foul chamber of sludge and black hollows filled with the movement of the Patternbreakers, the scent of the hunt was already turning into the smell of blood.