The screams had stopped.


    The only sounds left were the crackling of fire, the distant roar of something inhuman, and the ragged, uneven breaths of a little boy hiding among the corpses.


    Luka pressed his hands against his ears.


    It didn’t help.


    The thick scent of blood and burning flesh filled his lungs. The street—once filled with merchants, laughter, and the warmth of everyday life—was now a graveyard. Bodies lay sprawled across the cobblestone. Homes smoldered in ruin. And in the distance, shadowy figures stalked the wreckage like specters of death.


    The Onix had come.


    Luka didn’t know why.


    They weren’t supposed to be here. The island was safe. Protected. Hidden from the chaos of the world. So why had these monsters—the creatures from the old war stories—descended upon them like a curse?


    He didn’t understand.


    Why did they tear people apart like they were nothing?


    Why was everything burning?


    Why had his mother told him to run?


    But he had run.


    And now, he was alone.


    Something warm dripped onto his cheek.


    He looked up.


    Sasha.


    His sister crouched over him, her pale face streaked with sweat and soot, her hands gripping his shoulders so tightly her nails dug into his skin. Her lips moved—words spilling out frantically—but Luka couldn’t hear her.


    The world felt distant. Muffled.


    Like he wasn’t really there.


    Then her voice punched through the haze.


    “Luka! We have to move.”


    His thoughts dragged, heavy and slow.


    Move? Go where?


    There was nowhere left. The village was gone. Their house was gone. Mama and Papa were—


    A deafening screech tore through the air.


    Sasha flinched—and Luka felt it before he saw it.


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    A presence. Cold. Predatory.


    Something emerged from the smoke.


    Tall. Slender. Unnatural.


    A creature wrapped in obsidian-black sinew, its limbs impossibly long, fingers twitching as if savoring the hunt. Its white mask, smooth and expressionless, turned toward them—two empty holes where eyes should be.


    An Onix.


    Luka’s chest locked.


    The monster didn’t move. It just stood there, watching.


    But somehow, Luka knew—it could reach them in seconds.


    His breath hitched.


    Sasha’s grip tightened.


    Then she grabbed his wrist. “Run—RUN!”


    She didn’t wait for him to react. She dragged him, feet pounding against the shattered streets, lungs burning as they weaved through ruins, tripping over fallen beams and bodies.


    Behind them—


    The Onix let out a guttural shriek.


    And dropped onto all fours.


    It charged.


    Luka couldn’t breathe.


    Couldn’t think.


    Couldn’t—


    A shockwave of air and dust erupted behind them.


    Luka stumbled forward, hitting the ground hard as the street cracked apart.


    Then a shadow passed over him.


    Chains.


    Glowing silver chains lashed through the smoke, striking the Onix and sending it skidding backward.


    A figure stood between them and the monster.


    Tall. Fierce. Familiar.


    “Mom—”


    Agata.


    Her silver chains coiled around her like living serpents, their metallic glow flickering against the firelit ruins. She stood unwavering, despite the blood trailing down her temple.


    Her eyes flicked to her children—sharp, assessing, relieved.


    Then she turned back to the Onix.


    Her voice was calm. Cold.


    “You picked the wrong children.”


    The Onix screeched. And lunged.


    Agata moved like a storm.


    The chains struck first.


    They coiled around the creature’s limbs, tightening like steel vices. The Onix thrashed, its unnatural body twisting and convulsing, but Agata’s grip didn’t falter.


    She clenched her fist.


    The chains crushed inward.


    A sickening crack echoed through the ruins.


    The Onix shouldn’t have been here.


    Sasha’s breath came in ragged gasps. She stood in front of Luka, legs shaking, hands trembling at her sides.


    But she didn’t move.


    The creature was twice her size. Its blackened limbs twitched, its hollow white eyes fixed on Luka.


    Sasha clenched her fists.


    “Stay behind me,” she whispered.


    Luka didn’t respond.


    He just stared—silent, blank-faced, unmoving.


    The Onix lunged.


    Sasha shoved Luka aside—and then it happened.


    A burning, twisting heat erupted inside her.


    Something ignited.


    Jōki.


    It flooded through her veins, an explosion of raw, untamed power. The world around her turned blue.


    The Onix froze.


    For the first time in her life—


    Sasha could see it.


    Feel it.


    Her body moved on instinct.


    One second—she was standing.


    The next—she was tearing through the Onix.


    She slammed her fists into its mask—**once, twice, a third time—**until cracks splintered through the bone-white surface.


    The creature shrieked.


    She didn’t stop.


    Her hands dug into its flesh. A surge of power rippled through her arms.


    Then—


    She crushed its skull.


    The Onix collapsed, its body twitching once before going still.


    Sasha stood over it, panting, her hands dripping in black blood.


    She had won.


    She had killed it.


    But she wasn’t happy.


    Something was wrong.


    The power inside her didn’t settle.


    It wanted more.


    It wanted to keep going.


    Then—


    “Sasha.”


    Luka’s voice.


    She turned.


    Luka was still on the ground, staring at her.


    Not in awe. Not in fear. Just… staring.


    His face was blank.


    Like he didn’t understand.


    Like he felt nothing.


    Sasha clenched her fists.


    “Luka… I—”


    Then—


    A shift in the air.


    A pressure so heavy it stole her breath.


    Her stomach dropped.


    She snapped her head toward the village.


    And her heart stopped.


    “Mama.”


    They ran.


    Through the fire. Through the ruins. Through the death.


    The village was burning.


    And in the center of it all—


    Agata.


    Her silver chains coiled around four Onix at once. Sparks of Jōki crackled in the air, her body a blur of motion.


    Sasha had never seen her like this.


    Mama had always been strong. But this—


    This was different.


    She was fighting like she was ready to die.


    Luka didn’t understand it.


    Why was she smiling?


    She should be angry. She should be scared.


    But instead—


    She looked relieved.


    Like she had been waiting for this.


    Then she saw them.


    “Sasha! Luka!”


    Her eyes widened.


    For just a second—


    Her focus slipped.


    An Onix broke free.


    It lunged. Fast. Too fast.


    Agata barely turned before its claws ripped through her chest.


    “NOOOO!”


    Sasha screamed.


    Luka didn’t.


    He just watched.


    Agata’s body jerked.


    Her Jōki flickered.


    Her silver chains snapped like thread.


    Blood dripped from her lips.


    And still—


    She smiled.


    “Run.”


    Then—


    Her body broke apart.


    Not like a normal person.


    Not like someone dying.


    Her entire form—


    turned to glowing ash.


    And scattered into the wind.