It's a new day.
I let out a slow breath, lying on my bed and staring at the ceiling. Today's the day. The Shadowveil will attack.
And I still can't do it.
No flame. No smoke. No ash. Not even a spark.
I clench my fists, frustration tightening in my chest. Training didn't change that. Meditation didn't help. Everyone else learned control. Everyone else moved forward.
I stayed stuck.
If things go wrong… I barely survived the first time. I don't even want to imagine how bad the next encounter could be. I know we prepared more. I know we improved.
But how much did I really improve?
And if he shows up—the one who dismantled us in seconds—will our powers even touch him?
There are too many unknowns. Too many ways this can go wrong. But none of that changes what needs to be done.
We have to try.
I have to try.
I get up and get dressed. My mom and dad are already at work, which makes leaving easier. No questions. No lies. I step outside and head toward the coffee shop, taking the familiar stairs, turning left, then right.
I push through the door. The bell rings. I drop down the hidden tunnel—
—and land hard on my back.
On my butt, like usual.
I groan and sit up. Everyone's already here—Maya, Jordan, Cameron, and Shu. The air feels heavier than usual. No jokes. No arguing. Just nerves.
Shu steps forward, his expression serious.
"Today is the day," he says. "The Shadowveil will make their move."
Everyone straightens.
"We don't know when or where," Shu continues. "It could happen at the start of the celebration, or at the end. Your task is simple—observe. Stay unseen. I'm issuing all of you communication devices."
He hands each of us a band that wraps snugly around our wrists. The metal is cool to the touch, etched with a dragon insignia that pulses faintly with light.
"Dragon watches," Shu says. "They track your vitals and keep you connected to each other—and to me here at the Dragon's Palace. If anything goes wrong, you report immediately."
"This is awesome," Cameron says, turning his wrist.
"Yeah," Jordan adds. "Not bad."
Maya studies hers quietly. I do the same. Each watch glows a different color, the dragon symbol embedded deep within the metal.
"No one knows we exist," Shu says. "It's vital it stays that way. Since the Sengoku period, our clan has remained hidden. Today is no different."
He looks at each of us.
"You will monitor the celebration from the rooftops. Stay alert. And when the Shadowveil appears—you defend the people. You stop them from taking any souls."
"Yes, Sensei," we say together.
The tension hangs thick in the air. None of us say it out loud, but we're all thinking about him. The one who tore through us without effort. The way his eyes held nothing but cold darkness.
Shu takes a step back. "Before you go—activate your shinobi gi."
I move first.
I grip my sword and raise it in front of my face, holding it steady. I close my eyes and focus.
Heat surges.
A low hum fills the air as energy explodes outward. Crimson fire coils around my body, forming layered armor. A hood of flickering flame settles over my head, the inside glowing with molten light. Scales like burning embers weave into the fabric, locking into place as the shinobi gi fully forms.
The weight feels familiar. Heavy—but grounding.
Jordan steps forward next. Earthy energy cracks outward as her brown shinobi gi manifests, stone-like scales splitting with glowing fissures, raw power pulsing beneath the surface.
Maya follows. Water swirls gracefully around her, dark ocean-blue scales flowing into a sleek shinobi gi that moves like a living tide. Calm. Controlled.
Then Cameron.
Electricity snaps through the air as his light-blue shinobi gi forms, sparks dancing across his hood and scales, crackling with barely contained energy. You'd never guess who he was beneath it.
Four figures. Four elements. Hidden in plain sight.
We leap into motion, moving across rooftops as the city below begins to glow with lights. It isn't fully dark yet, which makes every step riskier.
We reach the heart of Redwood City—Times Square.
A massive red oak stands at the center, wrapped in lights. Crowds gather below, laughing, shopping, celebrating. Music drifts through the air. Everything feels… normal.
Too normal.
"So we just wait?" Maya asks quietly.
"Yeah," Cameron mutters. "Not gonna lie, that makes me more nervous."
Jordan turns to me. "What's the plan?"
I hesitate. "I… don't know."
Her eyes narrow. "You don't know?"
"We haven't seen them. We don't know what they'll look like, how many there are, or what they can do."
"So we have no plan," Maya says flatly.
"Looks like we're improvising," Cameron says.
Jordan side-eyes me. I meet her gaze.
"Well?" I say. "Do you know what they're going to do?"
She exhales. "No."
"Then we go with my plan."
"Your plan is no plan," she says.
I nod. "Exactly
Time: 7:00 p.m. — Redwood City
We sit along the edge of the rooftop, legs hanging over the side, watching the city glow beneath us. Neon lights flicker to life. Music pulses through the streets. Laughter rises into the cold night air.
For a moment, the world feels untouched.
Then Cameron breaks the silence.
"You know," he says, voice low, eyes fixed on the city, "if this ends up being our last mission together… I'm really gonna miss you guys."
The words land heavy.
Maybe because we've all thought it.
Maybe because none of us want to say it first.
Maya speaks quietly. "We're not going to die."
Jordan scoffs, but there's no bite behind it. "Yeah. I wouldn't want to die with you three anyway."
But she doesn't meet our eyes.
I exhale slowly. "When we first started… we were terrible. Jordan, I thought you were ignorant."
She snaps her head toward me. "Excuse me?"
"Maya, you were so quiet I could never read you." She gives a faint smile. "And Cameron—you were reckless. Hilarious, but reckless."
"Still am," he mutters.
"But somehow," I continue, "between the arguing, the training, the failures… we became something more than a team."
"A family," Maya says.
"A dysfunctional one," Jordan adds.
Cameron grins. "Wouldn't trade it for the world."
We share a look.
Below us, the celebration continues. People laugh. Children run. The red oak at the center of Times Square stands tall and proud, lights wrapped around its massive trunk. The air is cold, clean. The stars above glitter sharply.
Then—
A shrill scream tears through the night.
Not human.
Not natural.
The sound vibrates through bone and skull, forcing us to clamp our hands over our ears. The crowd freezes, confusion spreading like a ripple.
And then we see it.
Above the oak tree, reality fractures.
The air folds inward, splitting open into a gray rift, jagged and unstable, like the sky itself is being torn apart. Darkness spills from it in thick, twisting strands.
My blood runs cold.
I tap my dragon watch instantly. "Shu. A rift just opened in Times Square."
A pause.
Then, dread. "That's it," Shu says. "That's what they've been building toward."
"The Shadowveil?" Maya asks.
"Yes. That rift is a direct tear between their world and ours. It binds both realms together and allows armies to pass through for an extended amount of time. The souls they harvested stabilized it. The longer it stays open, the stronger the connection becomes."
Jordan curses under her breath.
"It won't allow Drakna himself to cross," Shu continues, "but his followers will pour through. You must enter the rift and defeat whoever is anchoring it before—"
The portal erupts.
Shadows flood out like an avalanche. Hundreds—no, thousands—pour into the streets, their bodies warped, clawed, wrong. They crawl over buildings, rip through crowds, tearing souls from bodies in flashes of pale blue light.
Screams fill the square.
"We have to move," Jordan says.
"But the rule," Cameron hesitates. "We can't be seen."
Maya's voice hardens. "If we wait, everyone here dies."
I hesitate. Shu's words echo in my mind. Stay hidden. Always.
But what kind of protectors hide while the world burns?
I clench my fists. "We move."
No one argues.
We jump.
The moment my feet hit the street, power explodes.
Flames roar from my body, wild and furious, spiraling outward in a blazing arc that incinerates shadows mid-leap. Heat ripples through the square like a shockwave.
Above us, Maya raises her arms. The sky answers.
Storm clouds churn into existence, thunder cracking violently as rain crashes down. Cameron vanishes into the storm, reappearing as streaks of lightning that tear through the battlefield, electrifying everything the rain touches.
Jordan slams her foot into the ground.
The earth roars.
Stone spears erupt upward in waves, impaling shadows, shattering them into ash and releasing stolen souls in brilliant blue flares that rise like stars.
The crowd stops running.
They stare.
Phones rise. Cameras shake.
A reporter's voice cuts through the chaos, trembling but awed.
"This is Ava reporting live—Redwood City is under attack by unknown entities. But four figures are fighting back. One commands water. One bends the earth. One moves like living lightning. One wields fire itself."
Her voice falters.
"They don't look human," she whispers.
"They look like gods—beings that eclipse heaven itself. Inhuman. Unstoppable."
A shadow lunges from behind her.
Before it can strike, a kunai whistles through the air, piercing the creature's skull. It dissolves instantly.
Ava gasps, turning to see Maya standing behind her, water swirling violently around her Shinobi gi, eyes sharp, unyielding.
The battle rages on.
And above it all, the rift continues to tear the sky apart.
I look up at it, flames roaring around me.
This isn't just a fight.
This is a declaration.
And it has only just begun