CHAPTER 23 — First Guild Patrol
Aiden kept moving until the forest thinned into a stretch of uneven terrain—low shrubs, scattered trees, and patches of exposed dirt where old construction equipment had once carved through the land. The sun was dipping lower now, staining the sky orange through the canopy.
He slowed his pace.
Something felt off.
Not danger.
Not Forceborn.
Human.
Aiden crouched behind a cluster of rocks, letting his breathing settle. His Perception—newly awakened—picked up faint vibrations through the ground. Footsteps. Several of them. Moving in formation.
Voices followed.
“Sector sweep complete. No anomalies yet.”
“Keep scanning. Command wants this entire zone cleared.”
Aiden’s pulse tightened.
A Hunter Guild patrol.
He shifted lighter and slipped deeper behind the rocks, peering through a gap.
Four hunters emerged from the trees, armored in light tactical gear. Their visors glowed faint blue, scanners humming softly as they swept the area. The devices flickered with static, glitching the same way they had near the ruined district.
One hunter smacked his scanner.
“Still busted. Ever since the Titan incident, these things are reading phantom spikes.”
Another shook his head.
“Guild tech swears it’s interference from the Rift collapse. I’m not buying it.”
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Aiden stayed perfectly still.
He didn’t want a fight.
He didn’t want attention.
He didn’t want to be scanned.
But Perception warned him a second before it happened.
A hunter turned toward his hiding spot.
“Hold up. I’ve got movement.”
Aiden’s muscles tensed.
The hunter approached cautiously, weapon lowered but ready. He stepped around the rocks—
—and froze when he saw Aiden.
“Whoa—hey. Civilian?”
Aiden blinked, feigning confusion.
The hunter lowered his weapon fully.
“What the hell are you doing out here? This zone isn’t safe.”
Aiden kept his voice steady. “I got lost. I was trying to get around the blockade.”
The hunter sighed and waved the others over.
“Found a stray. Probably trying to skirt the city lockdown.”
Another hunter approached, scanning Aiden with a flickering device. The scanner buzzed, glitched, then spat out a distorted error tone.
“Device malfunction,” the hunter muttered. “Again.”
Aiden kept his expression blank.
The squad leader shook his head.
“Whatever. Doesn’t matter. We’ll escort you to the nearest Safe Zone checkpoint. Stay close and don’t wander.”
Aiden nodded.
He walked with them for several minutes, keeping his steps light, his breathing calm, his presence small. The hunters chatted among themselves—complaints about broken scanners, rumors about the Titan anomaly, speculation about guild politics.
None of them paid him much attention.
But Aiden watched everything.
Their formation.
Their equipment.
Their scanning patterns.
Their blind spots.
Useful information.
When the terrain shifted into a narrow path between two ridges, Aiden felt the opportunity before it appeared. The hunters spread out slightly, their visors angled forward, not back.
Aiden slowed his steps.
One hunter glanced over his shoulder.
“You good back there?”
Aiden nodded. “Just tired.”
“Yeah, well—almost there. Just keep—”
The hunter turned forward again.
Aiden vanished.
He shifted lighter, stepped off the path, and slid silently down the ridge into a shadowed pocket of brush. Gravity softened his landing. Sound dampened his movement. Perception guided him through the quiet gaps between their attention.
The hunters kept walking for several seconds before one finally noticed.
“…Wait. Where’d the civilian go?”
Aiden was already gone.
He moved deeper into the forest, letting the trees swallow him again. The hunters’ confused voices faded behind him.
He exhaled slowly.
That was close.
Too close.
He tightened his grip on the rebar and continued forward, deeper into the Wild Zone.
The city was behind him.
The hunters were behind him.
But the world was still searching.
And he needed to stay ahead of it.
