"Dad?" The word slipped out before I could believe what I was seeing.
He turned toward me, eyes wide, disbelief etched across his face. "Kaleb?"
For a heartbeat, the world went still—until movement behind him caught my eye."Dad, watch out!" I shouted.
Vesper lunged from the smoke like a living nightmare, tackling him with enough force to send both crashing across the sand. Their collision tore trenches through the beach, each impact sending up bursts of grit and light.
I ran after them, weaving between shattered dunes and swirling debris, but they were blurs—streaks of flame and shadow twisting around each other at speeds I couldn't follow. Every clash thundered through my chest like artillery.
Dad rose into the air, his aura igniting gold, and blasted Vesper upward with a roar of energy. The sky lit up as he followed, slamming a beam of incandescent fire down into him. The explosion painted the clouds orange and white.
Vesper crashed into the shoreline, a crater forming where he landed. His scream cut through the wind—raw, hateful. Dark tendrils of energy coiled around him, and he hurled a mass of shadow straight at Dad. The blast struck, flinging him into a distant water tower with a metallic howl.
The structure groaned under the impact. Vesper leapt after him, landing on the bent steel and perching over him like a predator savoring the end.
He raised a finger to the sky, and everything dimmed. Clouds folded inward, light dying until the world looked drained of color. Then the darkness moved—twisting, alive—and formed a colossal dragon of living shadow that filled the air above us.
"Die!" Vesper screamed.
The dragon dove, its roar like thunder grinding against itself.
Dad's voice rose to meet it—steady, fierce."Ignis Overload!"
The sky erupted.
A blinding wave of light burst from him, swallowing the dragon whole. The brilliance was so pure it burned through my closed eyes. I threw an arm up, but the radiance still seared through the cracks of my fingers. The ground trembled under the sheer force.
When the glare finally faded, I opened my eyes to chaos turned calm.
Vesper—now engulfed in flames—shot across the horizon, a blazing comet vanishing into the distance like one of those cartoon villains sent flying after their defeat.
Dad descended from the air, the glow around him fading into soft embers. I stood there, barely able to breathe.
"You're… Ignis Rex?" I asked, voice breaking somewhere between awe and disbelief.
He looked back at me, guilt and exhaustion mixing behind his eyes. "What are you doing here?"
Before I could answer, the low hum of engines filled the air. A convoy rolled in—Sentinel Solutions. Trucks, aircraft, and agents swarmed the beach like ants on sugar—searchlights cut through the haze.
"Not them," I muttered, my shoulders sinking.
"You know them?" Dad asked, wary.
I sighed. "No… unfortunately."
From one of the armored vehicles, two figures emerged—Joe and Cecelia—flanked by their metahuman guards.
"Well, well," Joe said, his voice carrying that same smug sting I hated. "Kaleb, is that you?"
Cecelia turned to him, confused. "You know this child, Joe?"
"Sort of," he said with a half-smirk. "Depends on when you're asking." Then, walking right up to my dad, he added, "Well, Ignis, good job. Shame he got away, though."
I stared, my chest tightening. They knew each other. "You work for them!?" I snapped.
Cecelia frowned. "Joe, who is this kid? If he's not part of the operation, have him removed."
Dad straightened, his voice sharp. "Actually, you cannot."
Cecelia folded her arms. "And why's that?"
He didn't hesitate. "Because this kid is my son."
Cecelia froze. Joe didn't even blink—he already knew.
Cecelia glanced toward the approaching agents. "We'll take this somewhere else, then."
Joe gave a polite nod. "Very well. Ignis, HQ will debrief you shortly." And just like that, they turned and left, leaving the beach in uneasy silence.
Dad faced me again, the wind tugging at his jacket. "Kaleb… how do they know you?"
I stared at the sand shifting around my shoes, listening to the chatter of Sentinel agents sweeping the wreckage. The weight of everything pressed down on me.
"I wish you knew," I said quietly. Then I turned to leave.
"Kaleb, wait." His hand caught my shoulder, firm but pleading.
I pulled away, the anger bleeding through before I could stop it. "Stop!"
The ground beneath me cracked, a shockwave rippling through the beach. Dad stepped back, eyes wide. "Kaleb… how?"
"Go to work, Dad," I said, voice low and trembling. "And stay away."
I snapped my fingers.
The air shimmered—and the scene began to unravel, folding in on itself like a deleted file—the sound, the light, the people—gone.
"I never promised, though," I whispered into the empty wind.