The morning after the storm, the air tasted like iron.Ash still floated through the trees, carried from some fire no one had set.
Kisar was the first to sense it—a pressure rolling over the town like a tide."Something's crossing worlds," she said, eyes narrowing.
A flash split the sky.When the light cleared, Nyx was kneeling in the mud, steam rising from his back.Null landed beside him, steady as always.
Kim was there before anyone could speak."Where were you?" His voice was flat, but his eyes told the rest.
Nyx looked up, drenched, shaking. "The Void pulled us in. Trained us. Broke us."He paused, noticing the fresh grave behind Kim."Who—"
Tix stepped forward, face pale, bandages stained. "Bob."
The word hit like a blade.For a moment nobody moved; only the rain from the night before dripped from the eaves.
Nyx's fingers curled. "How?""Vox," Tix said. "He was… Awakened. We couldn't stop him."His voice cracked halfway through. "Bob saved me."
Nyx's aura flared once, then vanished again.Null's hand hovered near his shoulder. "Don't.""I'm not," Nyx whispered. "Not yet."
That evening, they gathered inside Kisar's hall.The room felt smaller with everyone in it—Kim silent at the head, Kisar behind him like a shadow.Candles flickered, throwing orange across tired faces.
Kisar finally broke the quiet."You all felt it, didn't you? When Vox struck. His soul tore the border open."She turned toward Nyx. "That's why the Void released you—it was answering that wound."
Nyx looked down at his hands. "He used Void energy."Kisar nodded. "Refined. Controlled. Someone taught him."
Null's eyes narrowed. "Meaning he's not acting alone."
Kim slammed a fist into the table, wood cracking."Then we find whoever's teaching monsters to touch the Void."
The sound echoed for a long time.
Later that night, Tix sat outside the dojo, staring at the rain guttering in the dirt.Nyx came to sit beside him.Neither spoke for a while.
Tix finally said, "You ever wonder if this is worth it?"Nyx gave a quiet laugh. "Every day.""Then why keep going?""Because if I stop," Nyx said, eyes distant, "the Void wins."
They stayed like that until the candles inside burned out.
Far beyond the mountains, deep in a ruin that still whispered with old magic, Vox knelt before a circle of dim blue fire.A voice inside the flames asked, calm and cold, "Did you test them?""Yes," Vox said. "The weak one died. The others will come.""Good," the voice answered. "Let them. We need them angry."
The flames died, leaving only darkness.