The emergency siren screamed across Academy 151.
Red lights flashed overhead as students scattered through the cafeteria.
Tables overturned.
Trays crashed against the floor.
Hundreds of frightened voices rose beneath the roar coming from outside.
Beyond the shattered western wall, the corrupted beast stepped onto academy grounds.
It resembled a bear only in the broadest sense.
The creature stood nearly twenty feet tall at the shoulder, its twisted body covered in overlapping plates of black bone.
Six crimson eyes burned across its skull, arranged in two uneven rows.
Shadow rolled from its mouth with every breath, spreading across the grass like smoke.
Behind it, dozens of corrupted wolves poured through the breach.
Their bodies were unnaturally thin, with exposed ribs beneath patches of dark fur.
Jagged spikes grew along their backs.
Black saliva dripped from their jaws and hissed against the ground.
The Morvane lifted its head.
All six eyes locked onto Lee.
Hermes appeared beside him.
The god’s usual calm had vanished.
“Lee.”
“I know.”
“No.” Hermes stared toward the monster.
“You do not.”
The Morvane ignored the soldiers forming between it and the cafeteria.
It ignored the shouting instructors.
It ignored the weapons being raised along the western field.
Its eyes remained fixed on Lee.
“It did not come for the academy,” Hermes said.
The Aether Soul pulsed beneath Lee’s chest.
“It came for me.”
“It came for what is inside you.”
Captain Garrett moved to the front of the cafeteria.
He now wore dark combat armor over his academy uniform.
A straight sword rested in his right hand, its blade lined with pale blue Aetherium.
“Freshmen, move to the interior corridors!” he shouted.
“Combat-qualified faculty, form defensive lines!
Medical personnel to the eastern hall!”
Students surged toward the exits.
Lee remained still.
William grabbed his arm.
“We need to go.”
The Morvane took another step.
The ground trembled beneath its weight.
A line of soldiers fired from behind a barricade.
Rifles cracked across the field.
Bullets struck the creature’s bone plates and shattered into sparks.
Several found gaps between the armor, but the Morvane barely reacted.
One corrupted wolf leapt over the barricade.
Captain Garrett intercepted it.
His sword flashed.
The blade passed through the creature’s neck, leaving a line of blue light in its wake.
The wolf collapsed and dissolved into black ash.
Garrett pivoted as another attacked.
He raised one hand.
A pulse of pale force struck the wolf in midair and hurled it into the concrete wall.
Lee stared.
Captain Garrett was more than a swordsman.
Hermes watched him closely.
“Aether reinforcement and kinetic projection.”
“You knew he had abilities?”
“I suspected.”
William pulled harder on Lee’s sleeve.
“Move.”
Lee allowed himself to be dragged toward the interior hallway.
The moment he moved, the Morvane changed direction.
It followed.
Captain Garrett noticed.
His eyes shifted from the beast to the fleeing students.
Then directly to Lee.
“Why is it changing course?” one instructor shouted.
The Morvane charged.
Soldiers opened fire again.
An academy instructor slammed both hands against the ground.
A wall of stone rose from the field.
The Morvane crashed through it.
Rock exploded across the academy grounds.
Emerson raised his arms.
Several chunks of concrete stopped in midair above a group of students.
His face tightened with effort.
“Move!” he shouted.
The students ran beneath the suspended debris.
Emerson released it.
The concrete crashed to the ground behind them.
Ella stood near the hallway entrance, both hands extended.
Wind spiraled around her.
A corrupted wolf leapt toward Sophia.
Ella released the gust.
The animal twisted sideways and slammed into an overturned cafeteria table.
Michelle followed with a sharper burst.
Electricity moved through the wind.
The wolf convulsed against the floor.
Sophia scrambled away.
Captain Garrett looked toward them.
“Students, fall back!”
Another wolf entered through the shattered wall.
Then another.
The academy’s defenses had stalled the Morvane, but the smaller creatures were spreading through the cafeteria.
William knelt beside an injured student.
Blood covered the boy’s forehead.
William pressed both hands against the wound.
A faint blue glow moved beneath his palms.
The bleeding slowed.
Declan stood near the windows with his eyes closed.
Birds circled above the western field.
Their frightened impressions flooded through him.
Movement.
Predators.
More creatures in the trees.
“They’re surrounding the campus,” he said.
Lee looked toward Hermes.
“We can’t just leave.”
“The academy has defenders.”
“They’re losing ground.”
“They have not lost yet.”
A wolf lunged toward a fallen teacher.
Lee moved before he could think.
He crossed the distance in seconds.
His shoulder struck the animal’s ribs.
The impact knocked it sideways.
Lee caught the teacher beneath one arm and dragged her behind a support column.
The wolf recovered.
It lowered its head.
Lee felt fire gathering beneath his skin.
Hermes’ voice sharpened.
“Do not.”
“It’s going to attack.”
“Use only what they already believe you possess.”
The wolf charged.
Lee stepped aside and caught it by the neck.
Its momentum nearly pulled him from his feet.
He twisted.
Milo’s training guided the movement.
Lee drove the creature into the floor.
The tile cracked beneath its body.
The wolf snapped at his arm.
Lee slammed one fist into the side of its skull.
Once.
Twice.
The creature collapsed.
Black smoke rose from its body.
Several students stared at him.
Lee released the wolf and forced himself to breathe harder than necessary.
Captain Garrett saw everything.
So did Billy.
The lightning-wielder stood near the opposite hallway, blue electricity crawling across both arms.
His expression shifted from surprise to suspicion.
“That’s Tier One?” Billy muttered.
Lee ignored him.
The Morvane roared.
A wave of shadow spread across the field.
The nearest soldiers stumbled as darkness wrapped around their legs.
Captain Garrett drove his sword into the ground.
Blue light expanded from the blade, cutting through the shadow.
“Second line, advance!”
Military instructors charged.
One wielded a spear surrounded by white flame.
Another formed a translucent barrier across the breach.
An Anunnaki warrior descended from the hovering vessel above the academy.
Golden armor surrounded his body.
A long staff rested in both hands.
He struck the Morvane across the face.
The impact released a burst of light powerful enough to shake the cafeteria windows.
The beast staggered.
Students cheered.
The Morvane turned toward the Anunnaki warrior.
For the first time, its attention left Lee.
The warrior struck again.
Golden energy cut across the creature’s bone plates.
One fractured.
Black fluid poured from the wound.
The Morvane roared and slammed one paw into the warrior.
He flew across the field and crashed through a training barrier.
The cheering stopped.
“That thing just hit an Anunnaki,” William said.
Hermes’ expression remained grim.
“It is stronger than it appears.”
The Morvane looked toward Lee again.
Its eyes narrowed.
Lee felt pressure inside the Aether Soul.
A corrupted connection reached toward him.
Not Mimicry.
Something else.
A scent.
A recognition.
The beast could feel the purified shadow within him.
Lilit’s shadow.
Lee touched the center of his chest.
“It knows.”
“Yes,” Hermes said.
“What happens if I stay hidden?”
“It will continue killing until you reveal yourself or escape beyond its senses.”
Ella stepped beside Lee.
“We need a plan.”
“You need to get everyone into the interior shelter.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Distract it.”
“No.”
“It’s following me.”
Ella looked toward the Morvane.
The creature had started moving again, crushing barriers beneath its paws.
Her face went pale.
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.”
Michelle joined them.
Electricity gathered around her fingers.
“Then we help.”
Lee shook his head.
“If I lead it away, the smaller creatures may follow.”
“And if they don’t?” William asked.
“Then you stay here and help the injured.”
William stood.
The student beneath his hands was breathing steadily now.
“You’re doing it again.”
Lee knew what he meant.
Deciding everyone else’s risks.
But this was different.
The Morvane wanted him.
“Someone has to pull it away from the dormitories.”
Captain Garrett reached them before William could argue.
His armor bore deep scratches.
Blood ran from a cut near his temple.
“Woods.”
Lee straightened.
“Sir.”
“Why is that creature tracking you?”
Everyone fell silent.
“I don’t know.”
Garrett looked toward the dead wolf near the support column.
“You moved faster than your evaluation indicates.”
“Adrenaline.”
“Try again.”
The Morvane struck the defensive barrier.
A crack spread through the translucent surface.
Captain Garrett glanced over his shoulder.
“We do not have time for a convincing lie.”
Lee met his eyes.
“I have stronger physical enhancement than the evaluation recorded.”
“How much stronger?”
“I don’t know.”
Garrett’s gaze hardened.
“That answer may get people killed.”
The barrier shattered.
The Morvane charged through.
“Later,” Garrett said.
“Can you run?”
“Yes.”
“Faster than that?”
Lee looked at the approaching monster.
“I think so.”
Garrett pointed toward the northern training field.
“Lead it away from the dormitories.
Do not enter the forest.
Stay inside the defensive perimeter.”
Ella stepped forward.
“You can’t send him alone.”
Garrett looked at her.
“I am not.”
He raised his sword.
“I’m going with him.”
The Anunnaki warrior climbed from the ruined barrier.
One side of his golden armor had collapsed inward.
He lifted his staff and joined Garrett.
“Move!” Garrett shouted.
Lee ran.
The Morvane followed.
Lee crossed the training field at a speed he hoped looked impressive without appearing impossible.
The Morvane thundered behind him.
Each impact of its paws shook the ground.
Garrett ran to Lee’s left, using bursts of kinetic force to increase his speed.
The injured Anunnaki warrior moved on the right.
Smaller corrupted wolves broke away from the main pack and followed.
Ella and Michelle ignored Garrett’s order to remain behind.
Wind pushed at their backs as they raced after Lee.
Emerson moved with them, several pieces of broken metal floating around his body.
Declan and William stayed near the cafeteria, helping move injured students toward the interior shelter.
Lee glanced back.
“Why are you here?”
Ella released a gust that threw a pursuing wolf off its feet.
“You’re welcome.”
Michelle extended one hand.
Lightning struck the fallen creature.
It stopped moving.
Captain Garrett swore.
“I ordered students to remain inside!”
“Then stop talking and send us back,” Michelle called.
Garrett looked toward the Morvane.
He had more urgent problems.
The northern field contained reinforced combat arenas surrounded by high barriers.
Lee headed toward the largest.
Hermes appeared beside him, moving effortlessly.
“Do not use the armor.”
“I know.”
“Do not use shadow.”
“I know.”
“Do not use Harvest.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“You often form plans after acting.”
Lee entered the arena.
The Morvane smashed through the entrance behind him.
Garrett and the Anunnaki warrior spread apart.
Ella and Michelle remained near the edge.
Emerson positioned himself behind a reinforced pillar.
The creature slowed.
Its six eyes focused on Lee.
Black shadow gathered around its body.
Hermes studied it.
“The bone plates are strongest around the neck and spine.”
“Weak point?”
“The lower chest.
Beneath the front legs.”
Lee looked at Garrett.
“The chest armor is thinner underneath.”
Garrett frowned.
“How do you know?”
“Guess.”
“You are terrible at lying.”
The Morvane charged.
The Anunnaki warrior struck first.
He drove his staff into the ground.
Golden chains erupted from the arena floor and wrapped around the creature’s front legs.
The Morvane stumbled.
Garrett ran forward.
His sword cut through a gap in the bone armor.
Black blood sprayed across the sand.
The beast twisted.
Its paw struck Garrett’s kinetic barrier.
The shield held for half a second.
Then shattered.
Garrett flew backward.
Lee moved toward him.
“Stay on the target!” Garrett shouted.
The Morvane broke the golden chains.
It turned toward Lee.
Ella raised both hands.
Wind slammed into the creature’s side.
It barely shifted.
Michelle added electricity.
Blue-white arcs spread across the bone plates.
The Morvane roared.
Its muscles locked for a moment.
“Again!” Lee shouted.
Michelle’s face tightened.
“I need time.”
Emerson launched the floating metal.
Three jagged pieces struck the wound Garrett had opened.
One sank deep.
The Morvane turned toward him.
Lee ran across its path.
“Here!”
The creature followed.
He moved beneath one swinging paw.
Wind from the strike knocked him sideways.
Lee rolled and regained his feet.
The beast was fast.
Too fast for its size. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
The Morvane lowered its head and charged.
Lee waited.
Milo’s voice echoed through his memory.
Do not fight the weight.
Redirect it.
Lee stepped toward the creature at the last moment.
He planted one foot against the ground, caught the edge of a damaged bone plate, and pulled with all the strength he could reveal.
The movement did not throw the Morvane.
Nothing that large could be thrown so easily.
But it shifted the beast’s balance.
Its front leg landed incorrectly.
The Morvane stumbled.
The Anunnaki warrior struck its exposed chest.
Golden energy exploded through the thinner armor.
A cavity opened beneath the creature’s ribs.
Black shadow poured from the wound.
Hermes’ eyes widened.
“There.”
Lee saw it.
A dark crystal pulsed inside the Morvane’s chest.
Its core.
Garrett pushed himself upright.
“Hit the opening!”
The Anunnaki warrior thrust his staff.
The Morvane twisted.
Its shoulder took the impact.
The creature slammed its body into the warrior and drove him into the arena wall.
Stone collapsed around him.
Garrett charged alone.
The Morvane opened its mouth.
Shadow gathered between its jaws.
“Garrett!” Lee shouted.
The beast released a beam of darkness.
Lee moved.
He reached Garrett and shoved him aside.
The shadow struck Lee across the shoulder.
Pain tore through his body.
The Olympian armor tried to summon itself.
Lee forced it down.
He hit the ground and rolled across the sand.
His academy shirt smoked.
Dark lines spread across his skin.
The purified shadow inside him reacted.
It pulled against the corruption, absorbing fragments before they could spread farther.
Hermes appeared beside him.
“Lee, stop it.”
“I’m trying.”
“Your shadow is responding.”
The Morvane turned toward Lee.
Recognition deepened in its eyes.
The creature lowered its head.
A voice entered Lee’s mind.
Not words.
Images.
Lilit’s throne.
The red eye beneath his bedroom window.
A golden-armored Anunnaki standing beside her.
Zal’thar.
Then Lilit herself.
She smiled.
Show me.
Lee felt the shadow tendrils pressing against his back.
One movement would release them.
One attack might expose the Morvane’s core.
It might also reveal everything.
Garrett dragged himself upright.
The Anunnaki warrior remained buried beneath rubble.
Ella and Michelle were exhausted.
Emerson had dropped to one knee, blood running from his nose.
The Morvane prepared another blast.
Lee made his choice.
He summoned fire.
Not the full stolen affinity.
Only a concentrated flame across his right hand.
Captain Garrett saw it.
So did everyone else.
The Morvane released the shadow beam.
Lee drove his hand forward.
Fire met darkness.
The collision shook the arena.
Lee’s flame collapsed immediately beneath the Morvane’s greater power.
But it changed the beam’s direction.
The shadow passed over his shoulder and struck the arena wall.
Garrett used the opening.
He drove his Aetherium sword through the exposed cavity in the Morvane’s chest.
The blade struck the dark crystal.
A sharp crack echoed across the arena.
The Morvane screamed.
Its shadow collapsed inward.
Michelle gathered the last of her strength.
Wind circled the sword.
Lightning followed.
The energy traveled down Garrett’s blade and into the core.
The crystal shattered.
The Morvane froze.
Cracks spread across its bone armor.
Red light faded from its six eyes.
The creature collapsed into black ash.
Silence filled the arena.
Lee remained on one knee.
Fire flickered across his hand.
He extinguished it.
Captain Garrett pulled his sword from the dissolving remains.
He turned toward Lee.
“You have an elemental affinity.”
Lee looked at the burned skin across his palm.
“Apparently.”
Garrett’s expression made it clear that answer would not survive a second conversation.
The Anunnaki warrior emerged from the rubble.
His armor was badly damaged, but he remained standing.
He looked toward the Morvane’s shattered core.
Then toward Lee.
“Purified shadow,” he said.
Lee’s stomach tightened.
Garrett heard him.
“What?”
The warrior did not answer.
Instead, he approached Lee.
Golden eyes examined the burns across Lee’s shoulder.
The dark corruption had already stopped spreading.
“You resisted its infection.”
Lee forced himself to remain calm.
“Maybe it wasn’t strong enough.”
The warrior looked toward Garrett.
“This student must be examined.”
Hermes’ voice hardened.
Do not allow them to take you below the academy.
Captain Garrett sheathed his sword.
“He goes to the human infirmary.”
The Anunnaki warrior straightened.
“This is a celestial matter.”
“He is a student under my protection.”
“You lack the authority to make that determination.”
Garrett stepped between Lee and the warrior.
“Try me.”
The tension between them sharpened.
Before either could act, the Anunnaki ship above the academy released a pulse of golden light.
The remaining corrupted wolves fled.
Those trapped inside the grounds dissolved into black smoke.
The attack was over.
Students gathered at the distant edge of the field.
Military teams secured the breach.
Lee saw Billy among the crowd.
The other boy stared at the scorched ground near Lee’s hand.
Billy had witnessed the fire.
So had Michelle.
Her expression held no surprise.
Only concern.
Ella reached Lee first.
“You’re hurt.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re smoking.”
“That’s less fine.”
William arrived with Declan several moments later.
William grabbed Lee’s shoulder.
Blue energy spread through his hand.
Lee pulled away.
“Not here.”
“You were hit by a shadow weapon.”
“And people are watching.”
William looked around.
Instructors.
Students.
Anunnaki observers.
Security cameras.
He lowered his hand.
Captain Garrett pointed toward the medical wing.
“All of you report to the infirmary.”
The Anunnaki warrior looked toward Lee again.
“This is unfinished.”
Garrett’s voice became cold.
“Not today.”
The academy remained under lockdown for forty-eight hours.
The official report blamed a migration of corrupted creatures displaced by the spreading Convergence zones.
No mention was made of the Morvane targeting Lee.
No mention was made of Lilit.
The western wall was rebuilt with Anunnaki barriers and military fortifications.
New patrols moved through the surrounding forest.
Students were confined to their dormitories except for meals and medical screenings.
Captain Hailey treated Lee’s burns.
The shadow damage had already receded before he reached the infirmary.
She noticed.
Of course she noticed.
“This should have spread farther,” she said.
Lee sat on the examination table with his shirt removed.
Dark lines remained across his shoulder, but they were fading.
“Maybe the attack was weaker than it looked.”
Hailey gave him the same expression Captain Garrett used whenever Lee lied.
“Your ability file lists minor physical enhancement.”
“I know.”
“You displayed fire.”
“That’s new.”
“Awakened affinities do not generally appear because someone needs them.”
Lee looked away.
Captain Hailey lowered her voice.
“The Anunnaki requested custody of your medical evaluation.”
“What did you tell them?”
“That human students remain under human medical authority.”
Lee looked back at her.
“Why?”
“Because no one should be transferred into extraterrestrial custody without informed consent.”
She applied a cooling gel across the burn.
“And because I reviewed Lilith’s monitoring device.”
Lee remained still.
“What did you find?”
“Technology designed to influence neural activity.”
“We know.”
Hailey stopped.
“How?”
Lee realized the mistake.
“I guessed.”
“No, you didn’t.”
She covered the wound with a flexible bandage.
“I don’t know what is happening around your group, Lee.
I do know that multiple administrators are showing unusual interest in you.”
“Zal’thar?”
Her hands paused again.
“You know his name.”
“He’s the academy director.”
“Most freshmen do not know the names of Anunnaki administrators they have never met.”
Lee said nothing.
Hailey stepped back.
“Be careful who you trust.”
“Does that include you?”
“Yes.”
The honesty surprised him.
“Return tomorrow for another examination.”
Lee pulled his shirt on.
“Am I cleared?”
“For ordinary classes.”
“And combat?”
“Absolutely not.”
Hermes laughed inside his mind.
She is sensible.
Lee ignored him.
Classes resumed on the third morning.
No one called it a normal schedule.
The academy announcements described it as a return to operational readiness.
The difference mattered.
Armed guards stood outside classrooms.
Students wore emergency identification tags in addition to their silver wristbands.
Combat instructors carried weapons between training halls.
The navy-and-silver uniforms no longer felt like school clothing.
They felt like military issue.
Math class began with probability models for predicting corrupted-beast movement.
Mr.
Harlan filled the holographic board with branching equations.
“Traditional tracking assumes animals seek food, territory, or safety,” he said.
“Corrupted creatures may instead follow Aether concentration, emotional distress, celestial fragments, or commands from intelligent entities.”
Lee kept his eyes on his notes.
The Morvane had followed him.
Everyone in his group knew it.
Captain Garrett knew something.
The Anunnaki warrior knew more.
Michelle sat across the aisle.
She caught Lee looking and offered a small smile.
Warmth moved through his chest.
He looked back toward the board before anyone noticed.
Hermes appeared in the empty chair beside him.
“You should not become distracted.”
I’m taking notes.
“You were examining Michelle.”
I looked at her for two seconds.
“Your pulse changed.”
Please stop monitoring that.
“As I have explained, privacy is relative.”
Lee pushed him from his thoughts.
Ella sat beside him, filling several pages with equations.
Declan stared through the window toward the forest.
His head tilted slightly.
“What is it?” Lee whispered.
“The animals still won’t come near the wall.”
“Because of the attack?”
Declan nodded.
“Mostly.”
“Mostly?”
“Something else is out there.”
Lee looked toward the trees.
Nothing moved.
“Another corrupted creature?”
“I can’t tell.”
Mr.
Harlan turned from the board.
“Mr.
Woods, would you care to explain the next step?”
Lee looked at the equation.
He had followed none of the previous explanation.
The answer still formed quickly.
He stood and completed the calculation.
Mr.
Harlan examined the result.
“Correct.”
Lee returned to his seat.
Ella raised an eyebrow.
“You weren’t listening.”
“I understood enough.”
Hermes smiled.
“Careless.”
Lee ignored both of them.
Combat training resumed after lunch.
Captain Garrett stood at the front of the General Enhancement group.
The scar near his temple had been sealed, but bruising remained along one side of his face.
His Aetherium sword rested across his back.
No one complained about basic drills.
Not after seeing him fight the Morvane.
“Today, we return to hand-to-hand fundamentals,” Garrett said.
“The attack does not excuse poor technique.
It proves why technique matters.”
His gaze found Lee.
“Woods.
Front.”
Lee stepped onto the mat.
Garrett joined him.
A murmur passed through the students.
Billy stood near the back of the formation.
His eyes narrowed.
Garrett raised his hands.
“Demonstrate your stance.”
Lee used the academy’s basic fighting position.
Garrett moved closer.
“Your real stance.”
Lee remained still.
“This is my stance.”
Garrett swept his lead leg.
Lee stepped over the attack before it could connect.
The reaction was automatic.
Garrett nodded.
“That one.”
The students watched.
Lee adjusted his feet into the stance Milo had taught him.
Balanced.
Mobile.
Hands relaxed.
Garrett circled.
“Your father taught you this?”
“Some of it.”
“Your father’s military file shows weapons and tactical training.
Not pankration.”
Lee’s stomach tightened.
“You looked him up?”
“I review the files of students who conceal combat ability.”
Captain Garrett attacked.
His jab came faster than Billy’s.
Lee blocked.
Garrett followed with a low kick.
Lee checked it.
A hook came toward his jaw.
Lee leaned away.
Garrett stopped the punch inches from his face.
The exchange had lasted less than two seconds.
“Properly trained,” Garrett said.
Lee lowered his hands.
“I practiced over summer.”
“With whom?”
“I can’t tell you.”
Garrett’s expression did not change.
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Both.”
Garrett stared at him.
Then stepped back.
“Pair off.”
Lee started toward the formation.
“Woods.”
He turned.
“After class.”
Billy smiled from the back.
Lee spent the next hour hiding his skill less convincingly than before.
Captain Garrett watched every drill.
When Lee used a hip throw, Garrett corrected the angle despite it already being sound.
When Lee escaped a ground hold, Garrett switched his partner to a stronger student.
Each exercise felt like an examination.
By the end of class, the other students had left.
Garrett remained beside the mat.
“You used fire during the attack.”
Lee wiped sweat from his forehead.
“Yes.”
“How long have you had the affinity?”
“Since the alley fight.”
Garrett’s expression sharpened.
“You were there.”
Lee realized he had revealed too much.
“Kane told you?”
“No.”
Garrett removed his tablet from the equipment bench.
A surveillance image appeared.
It showed Lee stepping from an alley in Graham.
The quality was poor, but the face was unmistakable.
“The government connected you to the incident weeks ago.”
“Why wasn’t I arrested?”
“The victim reported that you saved him.
The attackers possessed illegal Aetherium fragments and had assaulted several civilians.”
Garrett closed the image.
“Special Agent Kane argued that detaining you would create more problems than it solved.”
“You know Kane.”
“I know of him.”
Garrett moved closer.
“The fire-wielder lost his affinity.”
Lee felt the Aether Soul tighten.
“I heard.”
“You were the last person seen with him.”
“I didn’t kill him.”
“I didn’t say you did.”
Lee held Garrett’s gaze.
The captain lowered his voice.
“The Morvane ignored hundreds of awakened students and pursued you.
An Anunnaki warrior identified purified shadow in your body.
Your evaluation stone malfunctioned.
You concealed an elemental affinity.”
Garrett counted each point calmly.
“I do not need the whole truth today.”
“What do you need?”
“To know whether you are a threat to the students under my command.”
Lee thought of Harvest.
Of Lilit’s mark.
Of the darkness inside his shadow.
“I don’t want to hurt anyone here.”
“That was not my question.”
Lee looked toward the empty training hall.
“If I lose control, I could be dangerous.”
Garrett absorbed the answer.
“Can you lose control?”
“I haven’t yet.”
“That means you don’t know.”
“No.”
Garrett nodded once.
“Report for private training tomorrow at 0500.”
Lee frowned.
“Morning conditioning starts at six.”
“You’ll attend both.”
“Why?”
“Because whatever you are hiding, someone else is already trying to force it into the open.”
Garrett picked up his tablet.
“I would prefer you learn control before they succeed.”
High above the Antarctic interior, a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III moved through pale cloud cover.
The steady roar of its engines filled the cockpit.
Below, endless ice stretched toward the horizon.
At least, that was what the satellite maps predicted.
The pilot studied the navigation display.
“We should be directly over Camp X-Ray.”
The copilot leaned toward the windshield.
“There’s nothing.”
Sergeant Major Hurshell Woods entered the cockpit from the cargo hold.
His broad shoulders nearly filled the doorway.
“What do you mean, nothing?”
The pilot pointed toward the coordinates.
“Camp X-Ray should be beneath us.”
Hurshell looked down.
Snow and ice covered the land.
No buildings.
No runway.
No debris.
Only white emptiness.
“Run another pass.”
The C-17 banked north.
As it turned, the landscape changed.
Not gradually.
A line spread across the ground as though an invisible curtain had been pulled away.
Beyond it, Antarctica vanished.
A vast green forest covered the interior.
Trees rose hundreds of feet into the air, their trunks wider than houses.
Black lakes filled the valleys.
Violent whirlpools churned across their surfaces.
Something crawled from one of the lakes.
It had too many legs.
The copilot whispered a curse.
“Are we recording this?” Hurshell asked.
“Every sensor is active.”
A mountain range appeared beyond the forest.
Castles stood upon several peaks.
Their black towers rose beneath supernatural clouds filled with green and purple lightning.
Then figures moved along a ridgeline.
Giants.
Each stood taller than a building.
They lifted boulders from the ground.
“Break left!” Hurshell shouted.
The first boulder crossed the C-17’s flight path.
The aircraft banked hard.
Cargo restraints groaned behind them.
A second boulder passed beneath the wing.
A third struck the tail.
The entire plane shuddered.
Warning lights flashed across the cockpit.
“Turn us around!” Hurshell ordered.
“Return to the last verified Camp X-Ray coordinates.”
The pilot fought the controls.
“We took damage.”
“Can we land?”
“Once.”
“Make it count.”
The C-17 turned north.
The green forest vanished behind the same invisible boundary.
Ice returned.
Minutes later, the aircraft descended toward a rough runway half-buried beneath snow.
The remains of Camp X-Ray appeared through the cloud cover.
Buildings lay crushed across the ice.
Blackened debris surrounded the operations center.
The control tower had been torn in half.
The C-17 landed hard.
Its damaged tail vibrated violently as the aircraft slowed.
The rear ramp opened.
Cold air rushed into the cargo hold.
Hurshell led a twelve-person Special Operations team onto the ice.
Snowmobiles and defensive equipment followed.
“Establish a perimeter,” he ordered.
“We recover intelligence and leave before those things find us.”
The team moved through the ruined camp.
Some buildings had been destroyed by fire.
Others appeared to have been crushed by enormous hands.
Deep footprints crossed the snow.
Each was large enough for a man to lie inside.
Hurshell entered what remained of the operations center.
The roof had partially collapsed.
Frozen bodies lay beneath rubble and snow.
His team worked in silence.
They found the server room near the lower level.
Most equipment had been destroyed.
A reinforced cabinet remained intact beneath a fallen support beam.
Two soldiers lifted the debris.
Hurshell entered the emergency code.
The cabinet opened.
Inside rested six hardened data drives and a black crystalline object shaped like a narrow tablet.
One technician raised a hand.
“That isn’t ours.”
The crystal contained faint golden symbols.
Anunnaki.
Hurshell looked toward the ceiling.
“Bag it separately.”
A radio transmission broke through the static.
“Perimeter team to recovery.
Movement south of the runway.”
Hurshell pressed his earpiece.
“What kind of movement?”
The answer came through bursts of interference.
“Multiple large hostiles.
Giants.
Wolves.
Humanoid contacts.”
A boulder struck the ice outside.
The impact shook the operations center.
“Recovery team, move!”
They collected the drives and crystal tablet.
Hurshell led them back toward the runway.
Frost Giants crossed the distant ridge.
Their bodies appeared carved from glacial ice, with blue light glowing beneath cracked skin.
Wolves the size of trucks ran beside them.
A one-eyed giant swung a jagged club above its head.
Behind them came dead warriors in corroded armor.
Runes burned across their rotting flesh.
“Contact!” a soldier shouted.
Missiles launched from the perimeter.
Explosions struck the nearest Frost Giant.
Chunks of ice tore from its chest.
It slowed for several steps.
Then continued.
“Fall back to the aircraft!” Hurshell ordered.
Fireballs crossed the sky.
One struck a snowmobile and flipped it across the ice.
An enormous shard of ice shattered beside the runway, spraying frozen fragments through the defensive line.
Hurshell fired controlled bursts toward the approaching Draugr.
The bullets knocked one down.
It stood again.
“Explosives only!” he shouted.
The team retreated toward the C-17.
The aircraft engines were already running.
Soldiers fired rockets and grenades as the loading ramp began to rise.
A giant hurled another boulder.
It struck the runway behind the plane.
The C-17 accelerated.
Fire and ice crashed around it.
One of the enormous wolves reached the runway and leapt.
Its claws scraped across the rear fuselage before the aircraft climbed beyond reach.
The plane rose unsteadily into the clouds.
Hurshell remained near the rear ramp until it sealed.
Only then did he lower his weapon.
The recovered footage played across a screen inside the cargo hold.
The recordings showed the first attack on Camp X-Ray.
A Frost Giant breached the outer defenses.
The cyclops crushed vehicles beneath its club.
Draugr swarmed through the barracks.
A massive wolf tore through the runway security team.
Hurshell watched without speaking.
The technician inserted the sixth data drive.
A new folder appeared.
PROJECT FIRST LIGHT
The file required multiple layers of authorization.
Hurshell entered his credentials.
A damaged recording began.
A scientist sat inside a Camp X-Ray laboratory.
Blood covered one side of his face.
Alarms flashed behind him.
“If anyone recovers this, the Convergence was not accidental.”
Hurshell leaned closer.
The scientist continued.
“We uncovered an archive beneath the ice.
It predates every known human civilization.
The records describe cyclical realm collisions and the return of entities worshipped as gods.”
The image distorted.
Golden symbols appeared behind the scientist.
“The archive repeatedly references a human-compatible vessel called the Aether Soul.”
Hurshell went still.
The technician looked toward him.
The scientist’s voice weakened.
“It was designed, created, or preserved by an entity identified in multiple translations as Hermes.”
Images flashed across the screen.
A winged staff.
A golden city.
A human figure surrounded by lightning and shadow.
“The archive refers to the vessel’s bearer as the Champion.
It warns that the Champion will become the central point in the coming war.”
Static swallowed the recording.
The image returned.
The scientist was looking toward the laboratory door.
Something struck it from the other side.
“One final warning.
The Anunnaki are divided.”
The door bent inward.
“A high-ranking member of their council serves the entity called Lilit.”
The scientist held up a page containing a partially translated name.
Only the first letters remained visible.
ZAL—
The door exploded.
The recording ended.
No one in the cargo hold spoke.
Hurshell looked toward the black crystalline tablet recovered from the cabinet.
Its symbols began to glow.
One symbol resembled an open eye surrounded by three curved lines.
A mark he had seen beneath his son’s bedroom window.
Hurshell’s jaw tightened.
He picked up the secure radio.
“Connect me to Cuc.”
The operator hesitated.
“We’re still outside stable range.”
“Keep trying.”
Several minutes passed before the connection opened.
Static filled the channel.
Then his wife’s voice came through.
“Hurshell?”
“Cuc, it’s me.”
“Are you all right?”
“We recovered intelligence from Camp X-Ray.”
He looked at the eye symbol glowing across the tablet.
“I need you to listen carefully.”
“What happened?”
“Do not allow anyone into the house without verifying them.
Military, federal, or Anunnaki.”
A pause followed.
“Hurshell, what did you find?”
“I don’t know yet.”
He thought of Lee.
His son’s changed posture.
The secrets.
The damage beneath the bedroom window.
“But I think something followed the Convergence to our family.”
That night, Lee entered the Elysian Void.
The academy dormitory faded around him.
Stars filled the darkness.
The Greek training arena formed beneath his feet.
Lee expected Milo.
Perhaps Ajax.
Instead, both stood near the edge of the arena.
Silent.
Waiting.
Hermes appeared beside them.
His expression carried an excitement Lee had rarely seen.
“You revealed fire today.”
Lee crossed his arms.
“I didn’t have much choice.”
“There is always a choice.”
“You would have preferred I let Garrett die?”
“No.”
Hermes approached.
“You chose to reveal one secret to preserve a greater one.
That was a reasonable decision.”
“Is that your way of saying I did well?”
“Do not become accustomed to it.”
A bronze gate appeared at the far end of the arena.
It opened slowly.
A tall warrior stepped through.
He wore battered bronze armor marked by countless cuts.
A crimson cloak hung from one shoulder.
His face was young, but his eyes carried the cold confidence of someone who had spent a lifetime surrounded by death.
A long spear rested in his right hand.
Unlike the academy’s Aetherium weapons, the spear did not glow.
It did not need to.
The air changed around it.
Every instinct in Lee’s body warned him that the weapon could kill him.
The warrior stopped at the center of the arena.
He studied Lee from head to toe.
“This is him?”
Hermes smiled.
“This is Lee Woods.”
The warrior’s expression showed no approval.
“He stands poorly.”
Lee frowned.
“I’m standing normally.”
“Exactly.”
Milo turned away to hide a smile.
Ajax did not bother.
The warrior planted the butt of his spear against the marble.
The impact echoed through the Void.
“I have trained kings, broken champions, and killed men who believed immortality made them untouchable.”
He looked directly at Lee.
“My name is Achilles.”
Lee stared at him.
Hermes rested one hand on Lee’s shoulder.
“I believe it is time you learned how to fight an enemy stronger than you.”
Achilles lowered his spear.
The point stopped inches from Lee’s throat.
“Defend yourself.”