The port of Grey Wall was teeming with activity: cranes moving crates, workers shouting orders, and military ships unloading men and equipment.
From the imperial vessel, the soldiers of Castel Rock disembarked in force: recruits and veterans, among them Luna and Fasten.
Leading the search team — in the absence of a commander on site — was Special Soldier Jolly Back, a nervous but experienced man, the only one with enough authority to keep the group together.
Jolly Back struck the side of the ship with his fist to get their attention.
“Move!
Start the search.
Direct orders from Captain Sharlok: no one must know why we are here.”
The recruits stepped down in an orderly line, waiting for instructions.
Jolly spoke with a firm voice.
“Teams of five.
Don’t draw attention.
Spread out through the city and check every alley.
Avoid unnecessary contact with civilians.”
The groups dispersed through the crowded streets.
The presence of so many troops did not go unnoticed.
Before long, the Hellington garrison sent several men to investigate.
Luna and Fasten marched with three other soldiers heading toward Grey Wall.
Just past the port, a local patrol blocked their path.
“Stop!
What’s going on here?” snarled a Hellington soldier.
One of the Castel Rock soldiers forced a thin smile.
“Patrol training.
We’re showing the recruits how to secure territory.”
The man didn’t look convinced.
“No official notice reached us.
And we’ve had reports of other groups of yours moving around.”
“Orders from Captain Sharlok,” the squad leader replied coldly.
“If you want clarification, speak with him when he arrives.”
The local soldier crossed his arms.
“Then I want to see the recruits’ IDs.”
A faint sigh.
“You heard him.
Show your badges.”
One by one the soldiers produced their identification.
The Hellington men studied them carefully before nodding.
“Alright.
Go ahead.
But we’ll inform the base.”
“Do as you see fit,” the squad leader replied.
“We’ll continue.”
The patrol stepped aside.
“We’ll wait for the captain.
Move along.”
The groups resumed their advance, slipping into alleys and scanning courtyards and docks.
No trace of the fugitives.
No reliable information.
Only chaos.
Luna stepped closer to Fasten and spoke quietly.
“Do you really think they’re here?”
Fasten glanced around nervously.
He hesitated.
“And if we find them?
Are we really going to arrest them?
Sky is my friend.”
Luna looked at him calmly.
“Follow what you feel.
I promised that, if I can, I will join them.
I don’t know how… but I will help them.”
Fasten went pale.
“They don’t forgive things like that here.
You’ll put yourself in danger.”
She gave a faint but determined smile.
That was enough to silence him.
A soldier called out impatiently.
“You!
Enough talking.
Use your speed and widen the search radius.
I don’t want any civilians injured.
Keep your comm active.”
Fasten touched the earpiece already fixed to his ear and activated it with a light tap.
He swallowed slowly.
Running didn’t scare him… but not in the middle of all those people.
Narrow streets, civilians everywhere, distracted gazes that could turn into an accident in the blink of an eye.
The idea of hitting someone tightened his stomach.
“…Yes, sir.”
Fasten exhaled slowly.
The voices around him became muffled, as if pushed away by the wind.
People, movements, even the dust hanging in the air seemed to slow before his eyes as he bent his knees, focusing every thought into a single point.
One heartbeat.
Then another.
The ground gave way beneath his feet.
Then it vanished.
He launched forward in a flash, and the air bent behind him like an invisible wave, striking the nearby soldiers and forcing them to step back.
Cloaks and hair whipped in the vortex left by his wake.
Luna followed that streak of motion with her eyes, her lips barely moving.
“I’m counting on you, Fasten…”
The city did not crash into him.
He slipped into a world that seemed to slow down.
People moved as if underwater, their gestures stretched, voices distant and deep.
Only at the edges of his vision did colors tremble into unstable trails — a sign he was pushing too far.
The narrow streets opened before him one after another, each step a precise calculation: a shoulder to avoid, a child to slip past, a crate left in the middle of the road to clear with the smallest jump.
Wind lashed his face.
His eyes burned from the effort.
It wasn’t the speed that frightened him.
It was the people.
A man turned his head just as Fasten passed beside him.
Fasten held his breath and adjusted his path slightly, leaving behind only a gust that made the hanging signs tremble.
I can’t make a mistake.
He accelerated again.
Damn it… I can’t see anything like this.
He crossed an open market and the air cracked like a whip.
Confused shouting erupted behind him.
He burst onto a main road.
Horns, engines, chaotic intersections.
A car slammed on its brakes in front of him.
Fasten ducked instinctively and slid beneath the hood as the tires screeched across the asphalt.
A heartbeat later he was already on the other side, his heart racing wildly.
“Damn it… I could hurt someone like this.”
Nausea twisted his stomach.
His legs trembled.
I need to slow down… or I’ll lose control.
After minutes that felt endless, he stopped in a quiet alley, bent forward with his hands on his knees.
His chest heaved without rhythm.
He pulled out his canteen and drank deeply.
The cold water slid down his throat like salvation.
He sank against the damp wall of an old warehouse.
“Nothing… too many people, too many faces… but not them,” he murmured.
“How am I supposed to find Sky and Shark in this jungle?”
He closed his eyes, trying to steady his heart.
Hellington never fell silent: sirens, footsteps, overlapping voices.
A living monster breathing tension.
The earpiece crackled.
“Fasten!
Immediate report!
Have you found anything?”
He cleared his throat, still breathless.
“Negative.
I searched… but among all these people I couldn’t find Sky or Shark.
I need to catch my breath.”
He let the earpiece hang loose and ran a hand through his sweat-soaked hair.
He looked at the street: rushing cars, crowds pushing past one another, flickering lights.
Hellington was swallowing him whole.
Damn it… what am I even doing here?
The question trembled inside him.
Luna wanted to join them.
Sky was his friend.
The Empire had given him an order.
Sharlok was counting on him.
Two opposite directions.
No refuge.
He tightened his grip on the canteen.
“I’m not made for this… I’m not a soldier.
Not really.
I’m just someone who can run fast… that’s all.”
He inhaled slowly.
Then he lifted his head again.
He would run once more.
But not to obey.
To decide.
Next Episode — Before the Name