It was already late at night. Riven had been running for days after running away from the order, and the order didn't take strongly to that. After a while, Riven got to somewhere that once looked like the outskirts of an abandoned city, in ruins. On his neck was a mask. The mask was carved from something that looked like black stone, sharp and uneven like broken glass. Pale light pulsed through thin cracks, tracing lines across its surface.
Riven was tired. He fled the order not just because they wanted him to, but because he couldn't take it anymore—the incident at the Nethra. Riven was a byproduct of the order trying to create a being that surpasses all imagination, and creating something like that is impossible. And even if it was possible, the one who is being transformed into this so-called perfect being... their mind will be broken.
And Riven couldn't take it anymore.
After a while of running, Riven got to somewhere that looked like a massive bell. He stood close to it. It was stuck in the ground, and through its reflection, he noticed something.
It was him.
A boy with pale black hair and bags under his eyes.
It was evident that Riven needed rest.
In that moment, Riven noticed three figures behind him. They stepped out of the shadows, and they looked at Riven with an unreadable expression. Riven knew of the people who chased him. People called them Soul Hunters. They were people with masks who worked under the order.
One of the Soul Hunters said to Riven:
"Why did you run, Riven?"
Riven stared at him and said,
"Why? That's a foolish question. I had to run. I'm a Hollowborn. Someone who doesn't have any connections to the walking world. That's why they used me for those barbaric experiments."
One of the Soul Hunters replied to him, saying,
"It was all for the greater good."
Riven looked at him and started laughing.
"Greater good? Screw you all. Greater good my ass. Those bastards are trying to combine every mask type in one. How many people have died because of their stupid expectations? Yes, I understand that everyone who died had no family or loved one or any connections to the world. But we are human also, ain't we?"
One of the Soul Hunters looked at him and said,
"I see you don't want to come back easily. If you follow us without any resistance, you won't be punished."
Riven looked at him and said,
"Fuck off."
Riven placed the mask that was on his neck onto his face. Then his senses got better. He could sense everything around him, and the boost to his physical ability was massive. Riven could beat three mundane men in an instant. Masks were strange objects that find the user. Either it just randomly appears to you, or it comes when you're at your lowest moment.
The mask can't be destroyed unless its user dies. And you can't get rid of it, also. It's bound to you by fate. But what made Riven's mask different was that he didn't get his the normal way. His mask was a creation. It was something created by human hands, so it had its flaws.
Riven didn't have a weapon with him. It was only his fist. But it should be enough.
After Riven put on his mask, the Soul Hunters couldn't react in time to place theirs on. So, in that brief moment, Riven attacked one with a punch to his face. It was the one at the front. They didn't put on their masks yet, so they couldn't react in time. The fact was he was stronger and faster than them.
The Soul Hunter at the front was sent flying with a single punch, but the other two at the back had already put on their masks. The advantage of surprise that Riven had was already long gone.
Riven couldn't beat the two of them at once. But Riven had the edge in speed, because he started running as soon as he sent the first one flying.
He ran to the massive bell that was stuck on the ground and picked up a stone. It was as big as the head of a grown man. He slammed it on the bell.
The bell screamed like a dying abomination. Riven, who was closest to the bell, felt blood come out of his ear. But he couldn't stop. He had to run. He didn't know what that sound could call... other monsters?
Doubt crept in.
The ruins of this long-forgotten city could hold anything.
Riven didn't have time to waste.
He started running with every muscle in his legs and ran like his life depended on it. But it actually did.
After a while of running, Riven started to notice something. It was as if someone was behind him. And when he looked back, he saw a horde of monsters chasing after him.
The monsters had no legs. Just a smooth, tapering torso that dragged along like a slug. It had pale, human-like bodies. Its head was featureless except for a mouth that stretched unnaturally wide, filled with tiny, jagged teeth like a lamprey.
And they were chasing Riven.
There were plenty of them.
It didn't make sense to Riven how they were moving so fast.
He could hear screaming behind him.
The Soul Hunters were being devoured by the horde of abominations.
And Riven was soon to be next.
Riven was tired. He'd been running for fifteen minutes and the horde of monsters didn't want to let up. They just kept following him.
It was in that moment Riven heard a voice in his head.
"You know you can't run forever. You should look for somewhere to hide."
Riven replied,
"I think that's pretty obvious."
After a while, he found a tall pillar that led into the sky and he had to climb it. Riven didn't know how to climb, but there's a first time for everything, I guess.
He started climbing.
He almost fell several times, but he was able to get his footing right.
Riven finally got to a place in the pillar where he could rest.
And he did.
Riven was tired and mentally exhausted.