Buster’s growl deepened.
Lee stood motionless in the kitchen, staring through the glass of the back door.
Beyond the porch, blue vapor drifted across the ruined pasture, partially hiding the crater and the massive stone embedded at its center.
Something moved along the crater’s edge.
At first, Lee could make out only pieces of it—a narrow back, several jointed limbs, and a long shape dragging through the grass.
The creature remained low to the ground, using the mist as cover.
Two violet eyes opened in the darkness.
Lee’s pulse hammered against his ribs.
Six weeks of training had taught him how to fight armed soldiers, wrestlers, and groups of human opponents.
Milo had thrown him hundreds of times.
Ajax had placed a blade against his throat more often than Lee wanted to remember.
None of them had taught him how to fight whatever was crawling through his backyard.
What is that?
Lee asked.
Hermes’ voice entered his thoughts.
A Nyxreaver.
That name doesn’t help.
It is a predator born from corrupted shadow Aether.
They once hunted along the borders of Nyx’s realm, feeding upon fear, blood, and weakened spirits.
Lee watched the creature move behind a fallen tree.
How dangerous is it?
Hermes remained silent for half a second too long.
For an untrained mortal?
Extremely.
And for me?
We are about to discover that.
Lee tightened his hands into fists.
“That’s not an answer.”
Buster barked sharply.
The creature stopped.
Its head turned toward the house.
Lee immediately regretted speaking aloud.
The Nyxreaver climbed onto the broken tree.
Its body unfolded as it rose, revealing six limbs ending in hooked black claws.
Its skin looked like stretched darkness, swallowing the blue light around it rather than reflecting it.
A narrow skull sat atop a twisted neck.
There were no visible ears or nose, only the two violet eyes and a mouth lined with thin silver teeth.
Black vapor leaked from its shoulders.
The smell reached the kitchen a moment later.
Sulfur, wet soil, and spoiled meat.
Lee covered his nose.
Buster backed away from the door, growling between frightened whines.
The Nyxreaver tilted its head.
Then it screamed.
The sound pierced the walls.
Glass rattled inside the cabinets, and pain stabbed through Lee’s ears.
Buster yelped and dropped to the floor.
The creature leaped from the tree.
It crossed half the pasture in a single bound.
“Void,” Lee said.
Golden light flashed around Buster.
The dog vanished.
Lee reached for the same connection, intending to follow, but the Nyxreaver struck the porch before he could focus.
Wood exploded beneath its claws.
The back door shattered inward.
Lee threw himself sideways.
Black limbs tore through the space where he had been standing.
The creature crashed into the kitchen counter, splintering the cabinets and sending dishes across the floor.
Lee rolled, came up on one knee, and raised his hands.
The Nyxreaver twisted toward him.
Up close, it was larger than he had realized.
Its body stood nearly as tall as Milo’s, but its limbs stretched outward like those of a spider.
Dark tendrils moved beneath its skin, pressing against the surface as though trying to escape.
One claw struck.
Lee blocked with his forearm.
Pain exploded through his arm as the impact hurled him across the room.
He slammed into the refrigerator hard enough to dent the door.
The refrigerator tipped toward him.
Lee rolled away as it crashed onto the floor.
His forearm burned.
Three deep cuts ran from his wrist to his elbow, and blood soaked into his sleeve.
The wounds had already begun to close, but slower than they had inside the Void.
The ambient Aether on Earth is thinner, Hermes warned.
Your healing draws from your reserves now.
I noticed.
The Nyxreaver crawled over the fallen refrigerator.
Lee pushed himself upright.
His mind raced through Ajax’s lessons.
Watch the body, not the weapon.
Maintain distance.
Never retreat without knowing what waits behind you.
The kitchen was too small.
Broken glass covered the floor, and the creature’s reach gave it an advantage.
Lee backed toward the shattered door.
The Nyxreaver followed.
“Come on,” Lee whispered.
It lunged.
Lee waited until the claws were almost upon him, then stepped sideways and grabbed one of its arms.
Mimicry flared at the moment of contact.
Cold flooded his body.
For an instant, Lee felt the creature’s instincts as though they were his own.
Hunger.
Darkness.
A craving for fear.
He also sensed how it moved.
The Nyxreaver’s limbs did not function independently.
Every attack began with a contraction deep inside its chest.
Lee twisted beneath the arm and used Milo’s throw.
The creature left the ground.
It crashed through the remains of the door and landed on the porch.
Lee stared after it.
“I threw it.”
Do not celebrate yet.
The Nyxreaver’s arm snapped backward with a sharp crack.
The limb bent at an impossible angle, caught the porch railing, and pulled the creature upright.
Lee’s brief confidence vanished.
“Right.”
He ran outside.
Cold air struck his face as he moved into the pasture.
The open ground gave him room, but the blue vapor reduced visibility to less than twenty feet.
He listened.
The creature’s claws scraped across the porch.
Then stopped.
Lee turned slowly.
Nothing moved beyond the mist.
His enhanced hearing separated the distant sirens, the hum of the generator, and the crackle of small fires near the crater.
No footsteps.
No breathing.
The Nyxreaver had become completely silent.
Where is it?
It is using the shadows.
Can you see it?
No.
That answer frightened Lee more than he wanted to admit.
A branch cracked behind him.
Lee spun.
The creature struck from his left.
Its shoulder slammed into his chest and drove him across the ground.
Lee hit the dirt, rolled, and felt claws tear across his back.
He cried out.
Heat spread beneath his shirt as blood ran down his skin.
His Aether reacted immediately, pulling the wound closed, but the effort drained something inside him.
The reservoir Hermes had described no longer felt full.
Lee forced himself to stand.
The Nyxreaver circled him through the fog.
It had learned.
The first attack had been direct.
Now it disappeared after every strike, testing Lee’s reactions and waiting for weakness.
This was not an animal.
It was hunting him deliberately.
Lee reached inward and tried to summon the weapons he had used in the Void.
Nothing happened.
Hermes?
The arena created those weapons for training.
They were not yours.
“That would’ve been useful to know.”
The Nyxreaver rushed him again.
Lee ducked beneath one claw and struck the creature’s chest with both hands.
His enhanced strength lifted it from the ground, but a second limb wrapped around his waist.
The world spun.
The creature slammed him into the earth.
Lee’s vision flashed white.
Before he could move, one claw pinned his shoulder.
Another pressed against his stomach.
The Nyxreaver lowered its face toward his.
Its mouth opened.
Cold vapor rolled across Lee’s skin.
He drove his knee upward into the creature’s chest.
The strike created enough space for him to twist free.
One claw sliced across his side as he escaped, but Lee ignored the pain and sprinted toward the crater.
The creature followed.
He heard its limbs pounding against the ground behind him.
Lee jumped across a split in the earth, landed on the sloped edge of the crater, and nearly lost his footing.
Loose soil slid beneath him.
The Nyxreaver leaped.
Lee remembered Milo’s voice.
The opponent cooperates because you leave him no other choice.
Lee waited.
Every part of him screamed to move, but he held his ground until the creature committed to the attack.
Its chest contracted.
Lee stepped aside.
The Nyxreaver sailed past him and struck the exposed surface of the fallen stone.
Blue energy erupted.
The blast threw Lee backward.
The creature screamed as light traveled through its black body.
Smoke poured from its limbs, and the dark vapor surrounding it burned away.
It was vulnerable to the stone.
Lee pushed himself up.
The Nyxreaver clung to the rock, stunned but alive.
“Now,” Hermes urged.
Lee charged down the slope.
The creature turned as he approached.
One damaged limb swept toward his head.
Lee ducked and drove a punch into its chest.
The impact hurt his hand more than it hurt the monster.
The Nyxreaver struck him across the face.
Lee stumbled sideways, tasted blood, and raised his arms just before two claws descended.
The force drove him to one knee.
He could feel his reserves draining as his body repaired the damage.
He was stronger than a normal human.
Faster.
Harder to kill.
But the creature was still overpowering him.
Lee caught sight of the metallic blue veins inside the fallen stone.
An idea formed.
He grabbed the Nyxreaver’s wrist with both hands.
Mimicry surged again.
This time, Lee did not recoil from the creature’s instincts.
He pushed deeper, searching through the connection for movement, strength, and weakness.
Cold shadow entered his veins.
The mist around them sharpened.
Lee could suddenly sense darkness as though it were another limb.
Every shadow cast by the stone, the broken trees, and his own body became visible in his mind.
The Nyxreaver pulled back.
Lee held on.
Black vapor crawled over his hands.
The creature’s violet eyes widened.
For the first time, it appeared afraid.
“You don’t like that, do you?”
Lee twisted beneath its arm and drove the creature against the stone.
Blue light flashed through its body.
The Nyxreaver screamed and struck wildly.
A claw pierced Lee’s shoulder, but he kept pushing.
Pain tore through him.
His knees threatened to buckle.
The creature tried to pull away from the boulder, but Lee shifted his weight and used every lesson Milo had drilled into him.
He controlled the limb, broke its balance, and trapped its body against the glowing surface.
“Stay down!”
The Nyxreaver’s free limbs wrapped around Lee.
Claws dug into his back and sides.
His Aether plunged.
Hermes’ voice sharpened.
Release it, Lee.
You cannot outlast its corruption.
If Lee let go, the creature would disappear into the shadows again.
It would come back.
Maybe not for him.
Maybe for Buster.
Maybe for his friends or neighbors.
Lee tightened his grip.
“No.”
Darkness climbed his arms.
The cold spreading through him became unbearable.
Images entered his mind—people running beneath moonless skies, creatures dragged into caves, and shadowed forms feeding upon their fear.
The Nyxreaver’s hunger tried to become his.
Lee remembered his father telling him that panic was a decision.
Fear came naturally, but surrendering control was a choice.
He focused on the stone’s light.
On his family.
On Buster waiting in the Void.
The shadow inside him resisted.
Lee pushed back.
Blue light burst from the boulder.
The Nyxreaver convulsed.
Cracks spread across its black skin, glowing violet from within.
Its claws tore one final time across Lee’s back before its body collapsed against the stone.
Then the creature went still.
Lee remained pressed against it, breathing hard.
“Is it dead?”
Hermes did not answer immediately.
The Nyxreaver’s body began to dissolve.
Black smoke rose from its limbs as flesh and bone broke apart into drifting strands of shadow.
The vapor gathered above the remains, circling tighter until it formed a dark crystal orb no larger than Lee’s fist.
Violet light pulsed at its center.
Lee released the creature and staggered backward.
His legs gave out.
He sat in the dirt, clutching his bleeding shoulder while the orb hovered above the ground.
For several seconds, there was only silence.
Then Hermes appeared beside him.
The god looked down at the fading remains.
“You survived.”
Lee laughed weakly.
“You sound surprised.”
“I am relieved.”
“That’s not better.”
Hermes knelt and examined the wound in Lee’s shoulder.
Golden light gathered around his fingers, but he did not touch it.
“Your reserves are nearly exhausted.
Return to the Void.”
Lee looked toward the black crystal.
“What is that?”
“The creature’s condensed essence.
Its Aether Crystal Orb.”
“And if I absorb it?”
“The abilities you temporarily accessed through Mimicry will become yours permanently.”
Lee remembered the cold hunger that had entered his mind.
“What else comes with it?”
Hermes studied him.
“A wise question.”
The orb rotated slowly.
“Power carries the nature of its source,” Hermes continued.
“The Nyxreaver’s essence contains stealth, shadow manipulation, enhanced movement in darkness, and the capacity to form living tendrils from corrupted Aether.”
“Corrupted?”
“Yes.”
Lee stared at the crystal.
“You want me to put that inside me?”
“I want you to choose.”
“What happens if I don’t?”
“The orb will eventually decay, and its Aether will return to the world.”
“And if I do?”
“You gain its abilities.
You also accept the burden of controlling them.”
Lee looked at the blood coating his hands.
He had nearly died despite six weeks of training.
If another creature appeared tomorrow, he might not survive without more power.
He thought of the images from the Council, the falling stones, and the war Hermes said had already begun.
“What does Aether Harvest do?”
“It allows your soul to separate useful essence from a defeated enemy.
Unlike Mimicry, the abilities taken through Harvest remain with you.”
“Does it take everything?”
“Only what your soul can contain.”
Lee looked toward Hermes.
“And the corruption?”
“Your Aether Soul can purify much of it, but not without effort.
The darkness will test your will until it accepts your authority.”
Lee reached toward the orb, then stopped.
The Nyxreaver had been alive.
A monster, but alive.
“Did I have to kill it?”
Hermes’ expression softened.
“It entered your home and hunted you.
Had you fled, it would have fed upon another.”
“That doesn’t make killing it feel normal.”
“It should not.”
Lee looked at him.
Hermes’ voice became quieter.
“Never become comfortable with taking life.
Necessity may demand violence, but comfort turns warriors into monsters.”
Lee lowered his gaze.
He had expected victory to feel good.
Instead, he felt tired, sick, and colder than before.
The black orb floated a few feet away.
Buster was safe because Lee had fought.
That mattered.
Lee extended his hand.
“Show me.”
Hermes touched the end of his staff to the ground.
“Call the essence to you.
Do not seize it with anger or hunger.
Command it.”
Lee focused on the orb.
At first, nothing happened.
Then the violet light at its center stretched toward him.
Black vapor peeled away from the crystal and flowed across the crater.
The essence entered his palm.
Cold burned through his arm.
Lee gasped as darkness spread beneath his skin.
It crossed his chest and poured down his back, searching for somewhere to settle.
Images of the Nyxreaver’s hunts flashed through his mind.
Fear rose inside him—not his fear, but the creature’s enjoyment of it.
Lee clenched his teeth.
“You are not me.”
The shadow resisted.
Lee felt it press against his thoughts, offering power without restraint.
He could move unseen.
Hunt without being caught.
Strike anyone before they knew he was there.
He rejected the images.
“I decide how this power is used.”
The darkness twisted violently.
Golden light ignited inside Lee’s chest.
The Aether Soul answered.
Light moved through the invading essence, burning away the hunger and corruption while leaving the shadow behind.
The process felt like ice breaking beneath his skin.
Lee cried out.
Then the pain stopped.
The crystal orb shattered into black dust.
A deep pressure settled between Lee’s shoulders.
Something moved beneath his skin.
Six narrow tendrils burst from his back.
Lee lurched forward.
The shadowy limbs spread around him, each ending in a sharp point.
They moved without his conscious direction, striking the ground and curling protectively around his body.
“What is happening?”
“Remain calm,” Hermes said.
“They’re coming out of my back!”
“A precise observation.”
“This is not the time for jokes.”
Lee tried to pull the tendrils inward.
They reacted to his panic by spreading wider.
One struck the dirt beside Hermes.
The god did not move.
“Stop fighting them,” he said.
“They are responding to instinct.
They are not separate creatures, nor do they possess minds of their own.
They are extensions of your Aether.”
Lee forced himself to breathe.
The tendrils slowed.
He imagined them drawing back into his body.
One by one, they dissolved into black mist and sank beneath his skin.
Lee remained frozen, afraid they might return.
“Did I do it?”
“You did.”
“Are they gone?”
“Dormant.”
“That isn’t the same thing.”
“No.”
Lee examined his hands.
Dark vapor curled briefly across his fingers before fading.
He could feel the shadows around him now.
They no longer seemed empty.
Each one carried depth, direction, and movement.
He knew instinctively that he could reach into them.
Lee looked toward the house.
The kitchen had been destroyed.
The refrigerator lay on its side, the door was gone, and long claw marks covered the walls.
His parents were going to kill him.
Assuming monsters did not do it first.
“We should go,” Hermes said.
Lee tried to stand.
His legs failed.
Hermes caught him by the arm.
“Your reserves are empty.
The Harvest did not restore them.
It consumed what little remained.”
Lee focused on the Void.
The connection felt distant.
“Home,” he whispered.
Hermes raised an eyebrow.
“You are already home.”
“You know what I mean.”
Lee pictured the endless black platform and the stars surrounding it.
He reached with what little energy he had left.
Golden light gathered around them.
The crater vanished.
Lee collapsed onto the surface of the Elysian Void.
Aether flooded into him immediately.
The wounds across his shoulder, back, and side began closing.
Torn muscle pulled together, and the deep ache in his bones slowly faded.
Buster raced toward him.
The dog jumped onto Lee’s chest and licked his face.
“I’m okay,” Lee said, wrapping both arms around him.
“I’m okay.”
Buster continued licking him as though he did not believe it.
Hermes stood several feet away, watching in silence.
Lee buried his face against the dog’s neck.
He had won.
He had gained power.
But when he closed his eyes, he still saw the Nyxreaver’s violet stare and felt its claws sinking into him.
After several minutes, Lee sat up.
The last wound on his shoulder sealed, leaving no scar.
“What happens now?” he asked.
“Now you learn to control what you have taken.”
Lee looked toward the shadows beneath his hands.
They moved.
Only slightly, but he saw it.
The darkness stretched toward his fingers like something answering a call.
Hermes followed his gaze.
“The Nyxreaver was young,” he said.
Lee looked up.
“Young?”
“A newly formed predator.
Weak compared with those that once served the greater powers of darkness.”
Lee stared at him.
“That was weak?”
Hermes turned toward the stars.
“The Convergence has only begun, Lee.
The creatures crossing now are scouts, strays, and lesser beasts drawn through the first cracks between realms.”
A cold sensation spread through Lee that had nothing to do with the shadow essence.
“What comes through next?”
Hermes’ expression became unreadable.
“The things those creatures fear.”
Far beyond the Elysian Void, something roared.
The sound traveled across the boundaries between realms and shook the stars around them.
Buster pressed closer to Lee.
Hermes tightened his grip on the caduceus.
Lee stared into the darkness as two enormous red eyes opened among the distant galaxies.
Then they vanished.
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