“Fuck,” Adam cursed as he tripped over a root, turning his sprint into a clumsy somersault. His landing in the dirt was violent enough to shake his vision, and force all air out of his lungs. He suddenly felt incredibly tired, lying on his back and listening to the birds singing while smelling the trees of the thicket mix together with his the taste of blood in his mouth. For a moment, he considered whether it would just be easier to give up and fall asleep. Those thoughts quickly vanished as his hand happened to stumble upon the blood gushing from his chest. Clutching around the knife puncturing his left breast Adam took a deep breath and stood up.

“Don’t give up,” he muttered to himself, “You are still alive,” at least for now. He knew that he must move forward with haste. It was only a matter of time until they realised that his body was missing. Looking around, he managed to find the overgrown forest road he had previously been following, and took off, ignoring the needlessly well-made serpent carved into a tree he jogged by.

“I will get all of you for this,” he swore, fully understanding that there was no way he ever could get any form of revenge even if he were to live. 20 years of bootlicking, obedience, and personal sacrifices. All of that for a dagger in the back. Or rather, in the chest where it currently still was. The only reason he was still even alive was because his heart had been displaced on birth. A condition that brought him no end of issues in the past happened to somehow save his life when he managed to stop his pulse for a couple of seconds, convincing the attackers of his demise. Thankfully the silencers send after a 2nd tier henchman like him were not particularly skilled either.

But eventually they would finish whatever else they left his corpse behind for, when they decided to finally bury him. By then Adam had to disappear without a trace, and pray that the assassins lied about their failure. Adam was well aware that the organisation they served was never about if they could kill someone, but rather whether they wanted someone dead.

What Adam didn’t understand was why his former employers wanted him dead. Although he was pretty good at what he did, that was by standards of someone with ordinary background and talent. The fact that he couldn’t use magic and didn’t dare attempt to advance into the third tier were a clear example of that. He was useful but inconsequential. He just couldn’t wrap his head around what reason would there possibly be to silence someone like him.

“No, that’s not it,” Adam suddenly realised as he recalled something crucial. When he was attacked there was definitely another assailant other than the one who struck the knife through his chest, both wearing similar clothes and weaponry. What nudged Adam in different direction was a vague memory of the other man, watching from the distance as Adam fell down. He was also holding a dagger, just like the one currently stuck in his body. And that dagger was already covered in blood.

A purge? Adam suddenly realised with a tremble of terror going through his body. Since that was the case it made far more sense that the assassins would just leave his corpse unattended as they moved on to their next target. Yet that made the situation far more terrifying. Not just anyone could call for a purge, Adam himself had previously only heard of rumours, of dozens of undercover agents like him dying because they learned something beyond what they should have. But he couldn’t quite recall anything of the sort happening to him or someone from their group.

Perhaps it had something to do with the last mission, Adam wondered. His job was to help manipulate certain volatile elements into being somewhat tame and useful. He was naturally not alone in a group of agents which directed the inextinguishable hazard from within, always in accordance with the orders and whims of their own superiors. The last job was simple enough, Adam originally thought. Probably sending a message or something while they let them restock etc., killing two birds with one stone. Now that he thought about it, Adam did spot something curious during the day: A man in fine long black cloak, the kind lowly scum like Adam himself couldn’t even dream of affording, leaping across the roofs of 2 buildings, passing through Adam’s vision before once again vanishing. He hadn’t paid it much mind, those who asked too many questions generally didn’t last long in his line of work, so he was in the habit of willfully forgetting stuff that appeared to be something he wasn’t supposed to know.

“Damn it,” Adam placed his hand on his chest again, as the throbbing pain got worse. He had to take care of this ASAP, otherwise, he risked infection, and getting tracked by the blood. However, he was not yet far enough to feel comfortable stopping. He had to last at least till the end of the woods, once he got beyond the woods and then the plains the assassins wouldn’t be able to find him with their skills, and with a bit of luck they would be too afraid to take responsibility for their failure, rather opting to dig him a corpseless grave.

Deep in thought, Adam stumbled over yet another root, muttering a curse he managed to not collapse completely this time around. He reminded himself to push on till the end of the forest as he raised his head, expending to see the trees thinning out. Instead, the thicket was just as dense as before.

I should have nearly been out by now, Adam realised as he stopped to catch his breath. Something was definitely off. He had walked down this path many times, and the journey was definitely not much longer. He should’ve been able to see the end by now. Looking around he saw a disturbingly familiar carving of a serpent on a nearby tree.

“Sorry,” before Adam could wrap his head around the meaning of that a voice sound from the side. Jumping away from the source Adam instinctively reached for his throwing knives, only to realise they were looted from his body by the previous attackers.

“I do really pity you,” the speaker was a green-eyed man sitting nearby on a large rock that definitely hadn’t been there a few moments ago. The man’s hairstyle was questionable at best with long dreadlocks of salt and pepper colours, not particularly matching with his vigorous appearance of someone just stepping into their 20ies. He was wearing a long white robe with an unfamiliar sigil sewed into the fabric, appearing a bit like a flame. The man was holding only a single thing, a gilded pocket watch which showing exactly 12 hours and 56 minutes.

That time was absolutelly way off according to what Adam knew. It must have definitely been around dinner time during the attack, so it couldn't be just after the noon, yet he definitely hadn't been running around for hours. The bleeding was too severe to allow such a long period of travel. Just as Adam analyzed the weird time, the clock hand moved, however, contrary to expectation it did not move forward to 57 minutes, instead it turned back to exactly 55.

“You would have made it out of the forest by now,” the man stood up, that made Adam even warier as he considered his options, “Betrayed for your loyalty. A pitiful fate. Yet for the greater good you will not escape today.”

“What the fuck is this greater good?” Adam yelled at the approaching man. His odds of running away were nill. In that case he needed to distract the approaching man and land a quick lethal blow, “The profit of our unquestionably evil employer?”

“I don’t work for those people,” the man shook his head, expressionless, “The events your escape would trigger are far beyond your comprehension. Let’s not make this any harder on neither of us,” he was now relatively close, perhaps a couple meters, as he raised his hand, still not holding a weapon.

Damn it, a caster, Adam wanted to curse as he recognised the posture. Without any further hesitation he dashed forward, reaching for the only weapon on his body: The knife stuck in his chest. The distance was quickly closed, however, the caster did not seem at all disturbed by Adam’s approach as white light shone on his palm.

Just as Adam was losing hope, the calm mage suddenly tensed up and froze in place. That was Adam’s best shot, as he gritted his teeth and pulled the knife out of his chest, increasing the bleeding significantly.

“It’s you!” the white robed man exclaimed with a tremble in his voice, clearly looking over Adam's shoulder. Adam paid whatever was behind him no heed as he was at that moment fully focused on stabbing the mage straight through the chest. He got so close that he could already imagine the edge sinking into muscle when all of a sudden his momentum was suddenly stopped. The blade was deflected and propelled backwards as soon as it touched the robe, taking Adam with it, making him once again fall on his back.

“Just your presence is this frightening. You are even more terrifying in the flesh than what was described,” the man spoke, and Adam did not dilly dally around to find out exactly what he was so scared of. Instead, he took this opportunity to flee as fast as he could.

“Stop!” the still shaken mage yelled, and Adam felt his body simply stop. He was suspended in the middle of a step, unable to move even a single bit. Locking Adam in space through an advanced magic as though it was an afterthought the mage once again spoke to whatever terrified him. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, Adam couldn’t quite see what the caster was staring at, “Why are you even in this place? Have you come to kill me?” the mage asked, his voice cracking slightly.

“Am I so insignificant you won’t even speak to me?” after a couple of seconds of not getting an answer the mage asked another question which was once again left hanging, “I see. This is probably just like a good show to you, right? A bunch of children playing around, ignorant of the world of adults around them,” the mage said, and once again became silent, perhaps expecting a verification of some sort.

“Then by all means watch. I will do everything in my power to set things straight, as long as I am still alive,” he eventually proclaimed. Still, no answer came, “First things first,” Adam felt a chill run down his spine, as the mage’s shaking voice was once again directed at him. Pain passed through his neck for a moment before it once again vanished with a cracking sound as his vision began to change once again. The swift movement made him disoriented, and he could even feel his focus rapidly fading, despite his best efforts Adam could not properly perceive things around him.

There was just a single exception: Adam saw only a pair of azure blue eyes staring down at him as he was swallowed by oblivion.