The figure lunged like a living blade.
One moment it was several meters away; the next, it was there, a fist shattering the stone floor where Kyle had been standing.
He rolled aside, sending a spray of crimson daggers toward its neck. The figure twisted, catching two and snapping them in its grip as though breaking glass.
Felix was already in motion—sliding low, twin blades carving a cross-shaped strike into the exposed knee joint. The figure's stance faltered for the first time.
"Gia! Now!" Kyle barked.
The Trap
Gia's portals snapped into place, one above the figure, the other beneath it.
Gravity did the rest—stone debris from the ceiling dropped through the upper portal and slammed onto its shoulders with bone-jarring force.
But instead of collapsing, the figure turned the momentum into a spin, one arm sweeping in a black arc that slammed into Felix's side and sent him skidding across the floor.
Kyle caught a flash of teeth as Felix coughed up blood, but the older boy just grinned through it. "That all you got, shadow freak?"
Pushing Back
Kyle drew deep this time—so deep his vision blurred at the edges. Blood erupted from his palms in the shape of jagged chains, whipping out and coiling around the figure's arms and neck.
The figure strained, shadows writhing, but Kyle dug in his heels, each link tightening with his will. "Felix—cut it!"
Felix didn't hesitate. One clean, brutal slash—and the black-glass joint at the figure's shoulder cracked open with a piercing scream of metal.
Gia opened a portal beneath its feet—this one small and unstable. The figure stumbled, one leg half-vanishing before it wrenched free. But in that instant, Kyle saw fear in the way it moved.
The Wound
The three of them struck at once—
Kyle drove a spear through the open shoulder joint.
Felix buried his last dagger into the wound.
Gia snapped a portal closed on the weapon, severing the blade inside.
A shockwave burst from the figure, hurling them back. When Kyle looked up, it was staggering, its shadows flickering weakly.
It hissed, a sound like static through broken speakers, and then—
It retreated.
The Aftermath
Silence settled heavy. Snow drifted through the gaping holes in the walls, the wind whispering like a voice far away.
Felix was the first to break it, pushing himself upright. "Well… that sucked."
Gia's knees gave out, and Kyle was at her side instantly. "You okay?"
"I'm fine," she said, though her voice was thin. "You?"
Kyle managed a crooked smirk. "Still alive. That's something."
Felix limped toward them, one hand pressed to his ribs. "We need to move before shadow-boy changes his mind."
Finding Shelter
They pushed through the blizzard for hours until they found an abandoned mountain outpost—four walls, a roof, and a half-working fireplace.
Felix scavenged wood while Kyle wrapped Gia in his jacket, sitting beside her until the shivers eased. The firelight flickered over her face, making her eyes look brighter than usual.
"You didn't have to put yourself in front of me like that," Kyle said quietly.
Gia smiled faintly. "You didn't have to fight like hell for me, either. Guess we're even."
Felix made a gagging noise from the corner. "If you two start making out, I'm sleeping outside."
Kyle threw a snow-crusted boot at him without looking.
The Breath Before the Storm
They slept in shifts, the wind howling outside. Kyle's dreams were scattered flashes—Gia's portals, Felix's blades, the crack in the figure's armor.
But one image stayed with him—
That thing had been afraid.
Which meant it could bleed.
And if it could bleed… they could kill it.
When morning came, the snow had stopped. Felix's first words were: "We're running out of time. That wasn't the end. Whatever's pulling its strings is still out there."
Kyle glanced at Gia. She met his eyes and nodded.
The final hunt had begun.
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