Veiled falls

Dion's breath caught in his throat. The Harrow sat there, hidden in the darkness, a perfect predator waiting for its moment.

Of course his instincts screamed—move, run, dodge, do anything. But what was the point? The moment he took a single step, the Harrow would reach him before his foot even hit the ground.

His legs trembled, the old fear clawing at his chest, threatening to paralyze him. It was the same kind of fear that had kept him alive all these years. The kind that told him when to retreat, when to fight, when to disappear. But there was nowhere to go this time.

Even with the fear and tension in his body, his heart bumping blood harder into his body. He still have a little bit of clarity to think.

It's was then he noticed. the Harrow have not yet move since it saw him.

Seconds passed. Then more. Dion's pulse still pounded, his muscles still tense, but the attack never came.

Why?. He should have been dead before he notice the dreadspawn because he was sure it notice him first.

Breathing heavily, he forced himself to stand a little straighter, his fear slowly fading into confusion. It should have attacked. It should have buried itself into his flesh, tearing through him with monstrous precision. Instead, it remained there, as still as stone, as if frozen in time.

Dion narrowed his eyes. What's going on?

His mind worked quickly, searching for an answer. There had to be a reason—something stopping it from lunging forward.

A hidden force? A suppressed ability?

Had he suddenly unlocked his Aspect without knowing? No. That was wishful thinking. Even though he hadn't checked his status since yesterday, he knew nothing had changed. If he had awakened, he would have felt it. The Oracle should have told him.

That left another possibility:

The Harrow was dead.

Some abominations perished without warning, their bodies failing without any external cause. Maybe this one had died standing, its corpse locked in a hunting stance, tricking him into thinking it was still alive. It was rare—one in a thousand, maybe—but it happened.

But… Dion had seen that before. And those bodies? They weren't like this.

No… not dead. Alive.

Dion squinted. It was breathing.

Barely. Just the faintest movement, almost unnoticeable, but it was there.

The Harrow was alive. It just wasn't attacking.

Dion's skin prickled. He wasn't sure what was worse—a dead abomination or a living one that refused to act.

Was it waiting? Did it know something he didn't? Could it see something in the darkness that he was blind to?

Dion's heartbeat slowed as his fear transformed into pure focus. He had been scared, yes, but now? Now he wanted to understand.

Carefully, he shifted his stance, his feet barely making a sound against the cracked ground. The Harrow didn't react. It remained frozen, unmoving, its body half-hidden in the shadows.

What are you waiting for? Attack, you fool.

He'd rather face a Dreadspawn behaving as expected than deal with this. In battle, not knowing your enemy's thoughts was worse than facing a stronger opponent.

Dion tilted his head slightly, studying it from another angle.

And then he saw it.

For just a split second, a faint glint caught his eye. It wasn't just a trick of the light.

There is definitely something under the belly of the Harrow.

Is that what I think it is?

If it was, then Dion was sure—the Harrow wouldn't move an inch, even if he turned his back and dance away.

His fingers twitched.

A Dreamer Egg.

Priceless to most. Not even in RidgeFort would anyone dare trade one. Who in their right mind would try to sell a Dreamer Egg?

[Dreamer Eggs]

A Dreamer Egg is an incredibly rare phenomenon that occurs when a Gateway—a rift that spews Dreadspawn into the world—closes. On extremely rare occasions, instead of sealing shut without consequence, a single egg emerges from the remnants of the portal.

These eggs are highly unstable. Most of the time, they are destroyed by abominations before they fully form. If one survives and a Dreadspawn manages to secure it, nurture it, and consume it, the creature can evolve rapidly, jumping ranks in mere weeks.

But that's if an abomination gets it.

If a human were to obtain and absorb a Dreamer Egg, they wouldn't gain power in the same way. Instead, they would unlock a second Aspect, something unique to them, separate from their original abilities.

However, securing a Dreamer Egg was almost impossible. In the rare cases where one survived the chaos, abominations would fight each other to the death over it. Their battles alone would often destroy the fragile egg before anyone could claim it.

In history, only a handful of people had ever successfully taken a Dreamer Egg for themselves.

Back to the Present.

Dion swallowed hard.

He wasn't just staring at an abomination acting strange.

He was staring at a Harrow guarding something it would kill for.

And now that he was sure, something stirred in his chest.

That emotion humans feel sometimes.

Greed.

Dion chuckled.

He must be crazy.

Because for a split second, he actually thought he could take that egg from the Harrow.