WebNovels

Chapter 38 - CH 34: Into the Maw

The fire was nothing but embers when they left the shack.

The forest was still dark, though a faint gray had started to creep over the horizon. Snow whispered under their boots as they moved—silent, deliberate, each step pulling them further from safety and deeper into the heart of the thing's hunting ground.

Kyle led the way, his hand flexing occasionally, droplets of blood floating from his fingertips before solidifying into small blades. He wasn't wasting them on practice; every bit of strength counted.

Gia stayed close, her eyes scanning the trees, fingertips sparking with faint portal light that flared and died with each cautious step.

Felix moved like a shadow, knives in both hands, his gaze darting constantly.

The Pull

The deeper they went, the stronger the feeling in Kyle's chest became—a steady drag, like an invisible rope tied to his ribcage. He gritted his teeth and kept moving.

Felix noticed. "It's pulling harder, isn't it?"

Kyle gave him a sharp glance. "Shut up and keep moving."

Gia's voice was quieter but steadier. "The closer we are, the more dangerous this will get." She looked at Kyle. "You tell me if it starts trying to take control again."

"I'm fine."

She stared a moment longer, as if to challenge the word, but didn't push.

Signs of the Hunt

They found the first sign of the enemy an hour in.

A tree stood split down the middle, its bark frozen into jagged white ridges. The air around it was colder—unnaturally so.

Felix crouched, touching the ice. "Same as the cabin. Same as the trap where it took you before."

Kyle's eyes narrowed. "Then we're close."

Gia shifted uneasily. "Or it's leading us in."

The Clearing

The trees thinned, opening to a wide, snow-covered hollow. In the center stood what looked like a shattered shrine—stone pillars broken and leaning, a black altar coated in frost. The air shimmered faintly, like heatwaves, though the temperature was dropping by the second.

Kyle stepped forward slowly.

That's when the voice came.

Not spoken. Not in the air. Inside his mind.

Come closer…

He froze, blood weapons flickering. "It's here."

The snow in the center shifted—and then rose, shaking free to reveal a tall figure clad in blackened armor, its mask pale and eyeless. Shadows bled from its joints, curling into the air like smoke.

Felix immediately moved left, circling. "We're doing this now?"

"Now," Kyle said, his voice low.

The First Clash

The figure moved faster than Kyle expected—one moment still, the next crossing the clearing in a blink.

Its hand shot forward, gripping Kyle's arm with a force that made bone groan.

Kyle's blood weapon burst in a sharp spike, stabbing into its side, but the figure didn't flinch.

Your strength belongs to me.

Kyle felt the pull again—worse this time, ripping at him like hooks in his veins.

Gia's portal light flared and she appeared at his side, slicing the air with her hands. A glowing tear in space erupted between Kyle and the figure, forcing its grip to loosen.

Felix was already there, slamming both knives into its back. "Not so fun when they fight back, huh?"

The figure turned its mask toward him—and the air around Felix froze instantly, forcing him to leap back before ice climbed up his legs.

Holding the Line

They regrouped, breath steaming in the cold.

Kyle's face was pale but his voice was steady. "It's trying to drain me again. If it gets me, it wins. Simple as that."

Gia's jaw tightened. "Then we don't let it touch you."

Felix smirked. "Easy to say. Not so easy to—"

The figure blurred forward again, forcing them to scatter.

The battle turned into a storm of movement—Kyle's blood weapons shattering against its armor, Gia's portals warping attacks at the last second, Felix moving like a shadow with flashes of steel.

But the thing was adapting. Learning. Every exchange, it came closer to breaking through their defenses.

The Trap

After what felt like hours compressed into minutes, the figure halted suddenly, its head tilting toward Kyle.

You can't run from what you are.

The ground beneath Kyle fractured in a web of frost, and before he could move, a surge of black ice shot upward, encasing his legs.

"Kyle!" Gia shouted, opening a portal—only for the figure's hand to slam into it, shattering the gateway like glass.

Felix threw himself forward, knives raised—

—but the figure caught him mid-strike and hurled him into a pillar with bone-cracking force.

The world narrowed around Kyle. His blood blades flickered. His heartbeat roared in his ears.

He could feel it—his power being ripped out of him, vein by vein.

Gia stepped between them, hands blazing with portal light, her voice shaking but furious. "You'll have to go through me."

The figure paused. The shadows around it thickened.

________

More Chapters