Melissa woke with a sharp inhale, her heart racing against her ribs like a trapped bird.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed, her breath hitching. The floor beneath her bare feet felt wrong—tense, vibrating with a low-frequency hum, as though the earth itself had been startled awake by a nightmare.
She stood up slowly. Something was moving. It wasn't nearby, but it was pulling at her, a magnetic tug on the very core of her power.
Downstairs, Kai was already a statue of alert tension. He reached for the bow resting against the wall the moment Melissa descended the steps. One look at her pale face confirmed his suspicions.
"You feel it too," he said, his voice a low vibration.
Ember emerged from the shadows of the hallway moments later. Even in the dim light, her eyes glowed with a faint, dangerous amber hue. "Something is stirring," she said, her voice tight with restrained heat. "And I don't like the taste of the air."
Felix joined them last, rubbing the sleep from his eyes—but he stopped mid-step. His playful mask shattered instantly, replaced by a cold, sharp focus.
"Oh," he said softly, his head tilting as if listening to a distant sound. "That's bad."
The air shifted. A pulse—low, unfamiliar, and fundamentally wrong—rolled through the street like a silent shockwave.
Kai straightened, his eyes locking onto the door. "We move. Now."
They didn't argue. In Avalon, they were rivals; here, in the dark of a foreign world, they were a single, lethal unit.
Leo ran.
His lungs burned with every ragged breath, his legs aching as he darted through alley after alley. The night had blurred into a dizzying smear of cold stone and long shadows. The warmth on his wrist had long since turned into a steady, agonizing throb that pulsed in time with his heartbeat.
"Leave me alone!" he whispered violently, though he didn't know who—or what—he was speaking to.
The alley narrowed suddenly, the walls seemingly closing in. Leo skidded to a halt as the shadows ahead deepened unnaturally, stretching and folding in on themselves like ink dropped in water. A sudden pressure settled over his chest, heavy and suffocating, making it impossible to scream.
He backed away slowly, his hands trembling. "Please," he breathed.
The shadows moved closer, a physical weight of malice.
Then—the ground trembled.
It wasn't a violent earthquake. It was a precise, deliberate shift. The stone beneath Leo's feet groaned, and a crack snaked through the pavement, shattering the illusion of the encroaching darkness.
A sudden, fierce gust of wind tore through the narrow space, scattering the shadows like dry smoke in a gale.
Leo shielded his face with his arms, stunned and blinded. He didn't see them clearly. He only saw shapes—blurs of movement and light bending where it shouldn't.
A figure stepped in front of him. Tall, steady, and immovable, blocking whatever lurked in the dark.
"Run," a voice commanded. It was sharp, cold, and left no room for questions.
Leo didn't argue. He turned and sprinted toward the light of the main street, his heart pounding against his teeth, never once looking back.
By the time Leo reached the open road, the suffocating pressure vanished. The night felt… normal again. The sounds of a distant barking dog and the rustle of wind in the trees returned.
He slowed to a halt, bending over to catch his breath, staring at his wrist. The star-shaped mark was dimming, returning to its usual, faint glow.
"What was that?" he whispered to the empty street, his voice shaking.
Behind him, hidden in the deep shadows of the alleyway, the four leaders of Avalon stood in silence.
Ember exhaled sharply, a small puff of smoke escaping her lips. "That thing knew exactly what it was looking for. It wasn't hunting a mortal; it was hunting a source."
Melissa steadied herself, her palms still pressed against the stone wall of the building. She could still feel the earth's heartbeat. "It was drawn to him. It's getting stronger."
Felix frowned, looking at the spot where the shadows had evaporated. "It retreated too fast. It was testing us."
Kai watched the street where Leo had disappeared, his expression dark and unreadable. The boy was gone, but the trail was now glowing in his mind.
"We can't delay any longer," Kai said. "The enemy has sensed the Heir. They won't miss a second time."
"And the Heir has no idea he's even in a fight," Melissa murmured, her heart aching for the boy who just wanted to survive.
Far ahead, Leo straightened his clothes and continued walking home. He was confused, shaken, and terrified—but he was alive.
He didn't know he'd been protected by the very people he had mocked. He only knew that for the first time in his life, the night had noticed him. And it was hungry.