The rising sun is pale behind thick grey clouds. The air is cold. Dew clings to the trees, and every breath fogs in the chill.
Henry, still tired but burning with focus, sharpens his fist against a stone—blue aura flickering lightly with each movement.
Jack stands shirtless under a tree, drawing his breath slow and deep. Lightning crackles faintly along his spine, dancing across the scales forming on his arms.
Lenny, crouched on a nearby rock, scribbles tactical notes into a glowing holopad. Diagrams, aura frequency patterns, a terrain map… every detail matters.
Ichiro moves through katana drills, his movements fluid and precise—but his eyes keep drifting to the edge of the woods, where Keal walks barefoot, eyes closed, listening to the aura of the trees.
Keal stops. His small voice cuts through the quiet.
Keal: "He's closer than last night. He moved."
Emilia (emerging from the dojo, her arm freshly bandaged): "Then we have less time than we thought."
Midday.
Inside, the group has laid out their plan.
Henry tests aura-repelling cloaks made from materials Ichiro sourced from their hoverjet. They won't make them invisible—but they'll mute their presence long enough to move.
Lenny: "If our plan works, we will disrupt the link at the source. His connection to the Schatten dies. But his vessel might go berserk."
Jack (grimly): "Then we make sure that there's nothing left to control."
Evening—just before sundown.
Final checks.
The group eats together, quietly. No jokes. No chatter. Just the crackle of firewood and the smell of roasted mushrooms and rice. Emilia stays apart, sitting under a tree, watching the clouds change color. Ichiro walks over, placing a bowl beside her.
Ichiro: "We're with you. All the way."
Emilia (softly): "I know. That's why I'm scared."
Nightfall. The winds shift.
Keal stands in front of them, his back to the forest.
Keal (eyes glowing faintly): "I can hear it. The trees are tense. Like they're holding their breath."
The group rises.
Henry (to all): "Tonight we walk into the dark. But this time…we brought our light with us."
They vanish into the trees—one by one.
The forest has changed. The trees seem taller. Thicker. The shadows stretch unnaturally long, as if resisting the group's advance.
Keal leads them, barefoot and calm, his hands gently hovering beside bark and moss.
Keal (quiet): "He's ahead. The ground remembers him."
Behind him, the others move in formation: Henry, eyes burning blue; Jack, his fists clenched with restrained storm energy; Emilia, fingers brushing across her dagger hilt; Ichiro, katana drawn but low; and Lenny, scanning the terrain through a holographic interface fused to his palm.
The trees shift. Suddenly, Keal halts.
Keal (whispers): "Don't move. The roots are listening."
The group freezes. The wind has stopped. The birds are gone.
Varik von Shadow sits on a tree, carefully watching them. Half-human, half-corrupted shadow construct. His body flickers like static between flesh and nightmare. His eyes glow crimson, but there's no soul behind them—only programming.
Emilia (silent, to herself): "Varik…"
His hand twitches. Krau jumps off Variks shoulder. Krau lets out a loud scream; his body is then fully covered in dark marks. The air behind him tears open like wet paper—a portal of writhing dark energy. Dozens of shadow spikes spiral out from it.
Henry (roars): "Move!"
The group scatters.
Jack bursts forward, slamming into one of the spikes with a thunder-infused punch.
Ichiro slashes two away from Keal with precision strikes, guiding him behind a fallen tree.
Lenny covers his arms with scales, blocking one spike, pushing it away from him and the others.
Emilia charges forward, a fog cloud erupting from her steps.
Henry (to Keal): "You need to find the core—his link to the Syndicate."
Keal (focused, whispering): "I'm trying."
He places his hands on the ground. The leaves around him shiver. His eyes glow green.
Varik jumps from one tree silently to another.
Keal (focused): "Emilia, he is there." He points out a tree.
Emilia's dagger slices through the mist—phasing past the shadow spikes, her movements unpredictable, like a dance with ghosts. Her lower part turns to mist. She flies up to the tree and lands a cut across Varik's chest.
But he doesn't flinch.
Instead, he grabs her throat mid-motion, jumps off the tree, and slams her into the ground.
(Echoes, inside Emilia's head): "The syndicate wants your blood."
Emilia screams in agony.
Henry's blue aura explodes. With shooting star, he crashes into Varik from the side—sending him flying into a tree.
Suddenly, Keal speaks:
Keal (loud, glowing): "There! Below the roots—a false heartbeat! That's where they bound him!"
Lenny tosses a pulse grenade—detonating with a green flare, exposing the hidden Syndicate sigil etched beneath the earth. Henry and Ichiro rush to it. Jack holds Varik off with rapid lightning bursts out of his mouth, buying time.
Ichiro (slamming his palm on the sigil, throwing it to Henry): "NOW!"
Henry's aura pulses to max—he channels all into his fist and strikes the seal.
The impact is deafening.
Varik screams—a sound like twisting metal and a soul being torn apart.
Something then leaves Variks's body. Something ancient…evil.
Krau screams; he turns into dust, blown away with the wind.
Silence follows.
When the dust settles…
Varik's body lies still.
The shadow spikes retreat. The portal closes.
Keal walks up and kneels beside Varik, placing two fingers on his chest.
Keal: "He is gone; the darkness has left its vessel."
Emilia (tears in her eyes): "I'm so sorry…"
Henry (to all): "The Schatten syndicate knows now—that we're not running from them."
Ichiro walks up to Emilia.
Ichiro (calmly): "It has left his body."
Emilia (wipes the tears from her face): "It went back to the Syndicate. His soul will never be free as long as they have bound it to the Schatten."
Jack (steps up): "Then we will keep on beating their asses until we find those who did that."
He turns to Ichiro, giving him a short twinkle.
Jack walks up to Henry.
Henry (kneeling, watching his fist): "I'm not…weak."
Jack (kneeling next to Henry): "Hey, Henry, it's over. You broke the sigil."
Henry quickly snaps back.
Henry (slightly turns to Jack): "Was I…"
Jack: "…Gone? Yeah. Stand up; you need some rest."