The first crack of wood splintering was enough to make all three of them move at once.
Kyle was on his feet, blood already seeping from his palm and forming the jagged curve of a blade. Felix had his weapon raised, stance low, eyes darting between the door and the half-shuttered windows. Gia's portals flickered like unstable stars around her, their glow jittering with her heartbeat.
The black ice spread faster now, eating the cabin's walls in spiderweb patterns, the air dropping to a cutting chill.
"Kyle," Gia whispered, "that's not shadow magic… that's something else."
"I know." He shifted his weight, keeping her behind him.
The First Strike
The voice came again, closer this time—so close it felt like it was whispering inside his ear.
"I wonder… will you break faster than the Hunter did?"
The door exploded inward before Kyle could respond, shards of rotted wood scattering like deadly splinters.
The figure that stepped through wasn't what he expected.
Tall, draped in tattered black and silver robes, with a mask of pale bone hiding its face, the thing didn't move like a man—it flowed, every step unnervingly silent. Its hands were bare, and its skin looked carved from obsidian, faintly glowing with pulsing cracks of deep red.
Felix muttered under his breath, "Oh, yeah. That's bad news."
The figure tilted its head. "The wolf bleeds steel. The portal blooms. The blood sings."
And then it moved.
The Fight Begins
Kyle barely had time to raise his blade before the thing's arm lashed out, not striking but pulling. The air itself twisted, yanking him forward as if hooked by an invisible chain.
Felix dove in, his weapon slashing at the figure's side—only for the blade to bounce off with a hollow, ringing sound.
Gia's portal flared open in front of the enemy, spitting out a massive stone chunk she must have stored days ago. The figure simply raised one hand, and the stone crumbled to black dust before hitting the floor.
Kyle swung hard, his blood blade screeching against the mask. The figure didn't flinch, but its head turned toward him slowly.
"The blood answers… but not to you."
Pain erupted in his arm as the blade shattered in his hand. He stumbled back, gritting his teeth.
The Villain's Power
Felix lunged again, this time aiming for its legs, trying to slow it. The figure's foot moved only slightly—enough to send Felix sprawling with an unseen force.
Gia yanked a portal open beneath Felix, catching him before he hit the ground and spitting him back out upright.
Kyle's pulse roared in his ears. This wasn't just a fight—they were being tested.
The figure's cracked skin pulsed brighter, and thin streams of black ice began crawling up the walls again, creeping toward them like living things.
Gia's voice shook. "Kyle, we need to get out—now!"
"Not yet," he growled. "If we run without knowing what it can do, it'll hunt us down in minutes."
The figure tilted its head again, as if amused.
"Run or fight—it makes no difference. The end is the same."
_______