"Fwoosh!"
The shadowy barrier shattered like glass, dissipating into the air and revealing a sight that made their blood run cold.
"Argh! My eyes!" Daniel throws up his hands, shielding himself from the blinding light.
"No…"
"Wane's breath hitched as his chest tightened, his body trembling like a leaf in a storm. His eyes twitched, wide and unfocused, as if refusing to accept what lay before him. His mouth hung open, forming a soundless cry, lips quivering with words he couldn't force out. His hands curled into shaking fists, loosened slightly—reaching, desperate, powerless. The weight of reality crashed down on him, hollowing him out, leaving nothing but the sharp sting of despair."
Daniel blinked rapidly, his vision adjusting. The moment he lowered his hands, his stomach dropped. His throat tightened.
"Briana!"
His phone hit the ground with a clatter as he dashed forward, nearly slipping as his foot skidded in the pool of blood. A sharp, metallic scent flooded his nostrils, mixing with the damp air. His pulse pounded in his ears as he stumbled toward her, heart hammering so hard it ached.
Briana lay motionless on the ground, a gaping hole in her chest. Her once-bright eyes were dull, empty.
"W-what… h-how did this…" Daniel's voice cracked, the words tangling as his mind struggled to make sense of what he was seeing. His breath came in ragged gasps, his hands shaking as he hovered over her, unwilling to believe.
"Wane! Quick, call emergency services!" Daniel shouted, his voice unsteady. Panic clawed up his throat. His hands hovered uselessly over Briana, afraid to touch her, afraid of what it might confirm.
"Wane! Wane!"
Daniel whipped around. Wane stood there frozen, his face pale, eyes locked onto Briana's lifeless form. He didn't move.
"What the hell! Snap out of it, Wane! We're gonna lose her if you don't do something!" Daniel's voice cracked, raw with desperation. Tears welled in his eyes, hot and uncontrollable. He didn't know what to do. The fear was paralyzing.
A slow, guttural growl rumbled through the air.
The temperature plummeted.
The iron scent of blood mixed with something fouler—something rancid, like burnt flesh and decay.
"Jeez, you're a loud one, aren't you?"
Splash!
Wane suddenly collapsed to the ground, his body hitting the wet floor with a thud.
A heavy presence loomed over them.
Emerging from the darkness, a towering beast stepped forward, its jagged teeth glinting beneath the dim light. Its breath came in slow, rasping huffs, carrying the scent of death. Sharp, curved horns jutted from its skull, and its rough, scaled skin looked as if it had been carved from stone.
Daniel staggered back, his legs nearly giving out. His whole body screamed at him to run, but he couldn't. His fists clenched, useless against the thing standing before him.
"W-what just— Who are you? What have you done to Wane?"
His voice trembled. His body shook. Fear wrapped around his chest like a vice.
"Whoosh!"
In the blink of an eye, the towering beast appeared before him, its presence looming, suffocating.
"Why are you trembling, boy?"
The creature's lips curled into a menacing grin as it grabbed Daniel by the neck, its sharp claws pressing into his skin like cold daggers.
"Cough—ghhkk—!" Daniel clawed at the creature's grip, his legs kicking weakly. His throat burned, each gasp a ragged wheeze. Dark spots crept into his vision as his lungs begged for air.
"Whoosh!… CRASH!"
The beast grinned as it hurled Daniel into the wall, the impact sending a violent tremor through his body. The rough brick scraped against his skin as he crumpled to the ground.
"Argh!… Cough!" Daniel spat blood, his body wracked with pain as his organs felt like they were being crushed under the force of the impact.
"Pat…pat…pat…pat!"
The monster slowly advanced toward Daniel, each step deliberate and heavy. Sparks flew as its jagged claws scraped against the wall, the grating sound sending a shiver down his spine.
"W-what do you want from us?… Why are you doing this?" Daniel raised his head to face the monster as it looked down upon him with a scary expression.
"Because," it responded, its voice cold, deep, and dripping with malice. The grin on its face widened, as if mocking Daniel.
The monster slowly raised its hand into the air, its claws glinting under the dim alley light. A sinister energy crackled around it as it spoke the next words.
"Shadow Spear."
Darkness twisted and swirled in the monster's palm, condensing into a towering, six-foot spear. The weapon pulsed with an eerie energy, its jagged edges seeming to shift like living shadows, hungry for destruction.
He locked eyes with Daniel and took two slow, deliberate steps forward. Each step felt like an elephant pressing down on Daniel's chest, his heartbeat pounding louder with every breath.
"Argh!!!" Daniel's scream tore through the alley as searing pain erupted in his chest.
The monster grinned, twisting the spear slowly as it sank into his heart. The shadows wrapped around him like cold, merciless tendrils.
The monster released the spear and looked down at Daniel.
Daniel lay motionless. His wide eyes, now bloodshot, stared blankly ahead. His mouth rattled like a snake. His legs twitched, while blood poured freely from the wound, spilling onto the cold ground like water from a shattered dam.
"Tsk, weak human child."
The monster scoffed. Unimpressed, he turned his back and slowly walked away, unsatisfied by the outcome.
"Is this it?... Is this what death feels like?"
Daniel whispered to himself. His body felt heavier, weaker—his strength slipping away like sand through his fingers. His vision blurred, and he no longer had the energy to keep his eyes open.
"What the—how—what is…?"
Daniel muttered, his thoughts a jumbled mess. He slowly sat up, blinking in confusion as he found himself in an endless white space.
"Pat-pat-pat-pat!" Daniel frantically pats himself, checking for wounds.
"Huh… I'm not hurt. Was it all a dream? Or am I in heaven?" Daniel murmured, looking down at his hands, his mind struggling to understand his predicament.
"It's not a dream," an ominous, mysterious voice echoed through the void.
"Huh! Who's there?" Daniel's eyes widen, his body trembles, frightened by the sudden noise.
"Whoosh!" A powerful gust of wind swept through the void as a massive tree suddenly emerged before Daniel. One side of its trunk gleamed with a radiant, golden light, while the other loomed in eerie darkness, its twisted bark exuding a sinister aura.
"Ahhhhhh!"
Daniel tumbled onto his back, his breath hitching as his eyes locked onto the massive tree before him. His heart pounded against his ribs, his mind struggling to process what had just happened.
"Oww…" He groaned, wincing as he rubbed the back of his head. He stayed there for a moment, staring up at the towering tree that seemed to appear out of thin air.
"Man, what is going on in this place? And where did this tree even come from?" he muttered, scanning his surroundings with growing unease.
Despite his confusion, curiosity got the better of him. He took a cautious step forward, then another, reaching out hesitantly toward the mysterious tree. As his fingers brushed against its bark—
"AWAKEN!".
The voice came from everywhere and nowhere all at once, deep and commanding.
A blinding white light exploded from the tree.
Daniel barely had time to gasp before his body began to unravel, his form dissolving into radiant fragments. He could feel himself being pulled apart, his very essence breaking away—
And then—
Silence.
Meanwhile, back in the alley—
The monster continued walking away, its victory assured. But suddenly—
"What the—?!" it growled, sensing a massive surge of power behind it. It turned around, its expression twisting in disbelief.
Standing there was Daniel.
But he was different.
A brilliant aura of light radiated from his body, illuminating the alleyway. His once-weakened form now pulsed with an overwhelming energy, his presence almost divine.
"Rumble!" The ground shook as Daniel took a step forward, his overwhelming energy bearing down with the weight of a thousand elephants.
"What's… going on?" The monster's voice quivered as a suffocating pressure filled the air.
"Rumble!" The ground trembled as Daniel took another step forward, his energy pressing down like an unseen force.
"I-I can't move!" The monster's body locked in place, the overwhelming aura constricting him like a boa, squeezing the life from its prey.
"Rumble!" Another step. Daniel's eyes—sharp, narrow, and predatory—pierced through the darkness like a tiger ready to pounce.
"GUSH!"
Unfazed, Daniel gripped the spear buried in his chest and tore it free. Blood gushed for a fleeting moment—then stopped. His wounds sealed as if they had never existed.
The monster's breath hitched. Its eyes, once filled with malice, now brimmed with pure, unfiltered terror. "T-This… this can't be! You're not even human!"
A jagged black horn twisted upward from one side of Daniel's head, raw and menacing, while on the other, half of a luminous halo flickered into existence, glowing with celestial radiance.
The Nyxborn's body trembled. "W-What are you?" his voice barely a whisper. "You bear the essence of a Nyxborn like me… but also the presence of an angel."
"RUMBLE!"
Daniel took his final step, standing inches from his prey. His aura alone pressed down on the monster like the weight of the heavens.
The creature swallowed hard, accepting its fate. "S-So this is it."
The temperature plummeted. Frost slithered up Daniel's arm as ice crystallized around the spear in his grasp.
He lifted it effortlessly, his voice like a winter storm.
"Ice Spear."
The weapon gleamed—a jagged, glacial spike, radiating an unforgiving chill.
"FWOOSH!"
Daniel hurled the spear with blinding speed—so fast it was as if his hand had never moved.
"VSHHHP—!"
The icy weapon tore through the Nyxborn's chest, leaving a gaping hole where its heart once beat. The monster stood frozen, eyes wide in disbelief, before its body went still.
Dead.
"THUMP!"
Daniel collapsed to the ground, his energy drained, his vision blurring. His breath came in ragged gasps, his limbs heavy as lead.
As darkness crept in, distant sirens wailed in the background—a faint sound, barely registering in his fading consciousness.
Then—nothing.