The cry came again.
“Help!”
It echoed from somewhere beyond the mouth of the alley, followed by the scrape of shoes against pavement.
Everyone stopped.
Ella turned toward Lilith.
“You said there were two men?”
Lilith nodded slowly.
The color had drained from her face.
“And someone screaming.”
Another crash sounded deeper between the buildings.
William stepped toward the alley.
“We can’t ignore that.”
Lilith grabbed his arm.
“I didn’t say we should ignore it.
I said something bad is waiting in there.”
William looked toward the main street.
Soldiers stood less than two blocks away, but crowds, emergency vehicles, and concrete barricades blocked the direct route.
“We can call for help,” Declan said.
Ella already had her phone out.
“No signal.”
Emerson looked toward the alley.
“We could get one of the soldiers.”
The boy screamed again.
This time, the sound ended in a muffled grunt.
William pulled free of Lilith’s grip.
“That could take too long.”
Lee studied the narrow passage.
The smart choice was to alert the soldiers.
His father would have told him not to enter an unknown situation without understanding the threat, especially when trained professionals were nearby.
But his father had also taught him that some decisions came with a clock.
Every second they waited could be another second the boy did not have.
“I’ll check it,” Lee said.
Ella stared at him.
“Alone?”
“I’ll look from the corner.
If it’s bad, we go back and get help.”
“That is bad,” Lilith said.
“I already saw it.”
Lee looked at her.
Silver still flickered faintly behind her eyes.
Whatever she had witnessed had frightened her enough to make her hands shake.
He believed her.
That did not mean they could leave someone behind.
“We stay together,” William said.
“No,” Lee replied.
“You stay here.”
William folded his arms.
“Not happening.”
Lee knew that expression.
Arguing would waste more time.
“Fine.
Nobody rushes in.
We look first, then decide.”
Ella moved beside him.
“And if there’s a kid in trouble?”
Lee glanced toward the shadows.
“Then we get him out.”
Hermes stirred inside his thoughts.
You are placing them at risk.
I know.
Then why permit them to follow?
Because they’ll follow whether I permit it or not.
Hermes gave a quiet sigh.
Mortals often confuse loyalty with good judgment.
Lee almost smiled.
You’re the one who trained me to run toward monsters.
I trained you to survive them.
There is a difference.
Lee moved toward the alley.
The others followed.
The noise of the town faded after only a few steps.
Tall brick buildings blocked most of the sunlight, leaving the alley dim and cool despite the warm morning.
Dumpsters crowded one wall, surrounded by broken crates, loose cardboard, and garbage scattered by the previous night’s impacts.
Dust hung in the air.
The passage smelled of damp concrete, spoiled food, smoke, and gasoline.
Lee slowed.
His hearing separated the sounds ahead.
Two adult voices.
A third person breathing quickly.
Something metallic scraping against brick.
He raised one hand, signaling for the others to stop.
William nearly walked into him.
“What is it?” Ella whispered.
Lee did not answer immediately.
Being able to hear the men from this distance was not normal.
Explaining that would raise questions he was not ready to answer.
“I heard something.”
Ella leaned forward.
“I don’t hear anything.”
Lee continued toward a bend in the alley.
A delivery truck had backed against one building, narrowing the passage to several feet.
He peered around the vehicle.
Two men stood near the rear entrance of a damaged electronics store.
One was large and broad, with a shaved head and a black work jacket stretched across his shoulders.
He had a teenage boy pinned against the brick wall with one forearm pressed beneath his chin.
The second man was thinner and wore a stained gray hoodie.
A faint orange glow surrounded his right hand.
On the pavement between them rested a chunk of fallen stone the size of a football.
Metallic blue veins pulsed beneath its black surface.
“Where’s the rest?” the larger man demanded.
The boy could not have been older than thirteen.
“I told you.
That’s all I found.”
“You carried it from somewhere.”
“It landed behind our apartment.”
The man pressed harder against his throat.
“Then there are more pieces.”
The boy clawed at the man’s arm.
“I don’t know.”
The thinner man crouched beside the fragment.
Orange light moved through the veins in his hand, spreading toward his wrist.
“Forget the other pieces,” he said.
“This one’s enough.”
The larger man glanced toward him.
“For what?”
The orange glow brightened.
“To make us rich.”
Lee pulled back behind the truck.
Ella looked at him expectantly.
“There are two men,” Lee whispered.
“They have a kid against the wall.
One of them has changed somehow.”
“What does that mean?” Emerson asked.
Lee hesitated.
“He has fire around his hand.”
Declan’s eyes widened.
“Actual fire?”
“Yes.”
William moved past Lee.
“We need to get the kid.”
Lee caught his shoulder.
“We need a plan.”
“The plan is tell them to let him go.”
“That isn’t a plan.”
“It’s a start.”
William stepped around the truck before Lee could stop him.
“Hey!”
Both men turned.
William stood in the center of the alley with his hands at his sides.
“Let him go.”
The large man stared at him, then looked toward the others emerging behind the truck.
“You kids lost?”
“No,” William said.
“But there are soldiers all over the street.
You should probably leave before someone calls them.”
The thinner man smiled.
“You going to call them?”
Ella raised her phone despite the lack of service.
“I already did.”
The lie sounded convincing.
For a moment, Lee thought it might work.
The large man released the boy.
“Go,” he said.
The boy stumbled sideways.
Then the man grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him close again.
“Actually, I think you should all give us your phones.”
William stepped forward.
The man drew a knife.
Everything changed.
The blade flashed in the weak light.
Ella inhaled sharply.
Emerson backed into Declan, while Lilith remained frozen near the truck.
Lee felt his Aether react.
Strength gathered inside his muscles.
Shadows stirred beneath his skin, and an uncomfortable pressure formed between his shoulder blades.
The tendrils wanted to emerge.
He forced them down.
Not in front of his friends.
Not unless he had no choice.
“We don’t want trouble,” Lee said.
The fire-wielder laughed.
“You already found it.”
Orange light flooded his palm.
Hermes’ voice sharpened.
Move.
The man thrust his hand forward.
Fire erupted through the alley.
“Down!” Lee shouted.
Everyone scattered.
The fireball struck the side of the delivery truck and burst across the metal in a wave of orange flame.
Heat rolled over Lee’s face.
William turned too slowly.
The edge of the blast caught his left shoulder.
His shirt ignited.
William cried out and slammed himself against the wall, beating at the flames with his other hand.
Ella reached him first.
She grabbed his shirt and pulled, but the burning fabric clung to his skin.
“Get it off!”
A sudden gust tore through the alley.
The air struck William’s shoulder hard enough to rip the flames sideways.
They vanished almost instantly, leaving burned cloth and red, blistered skin beneath.
Ella stared at her hands.
Lee saw silver-green light spiral around her wrists before fading. This chapter was copied from novelping.com without permission.
No one else appeared to notice.
The large man shoved the younger boy away and rushed William with the knife.
Lee intercepted him.
He caught the man’s wrist with both hands and redirected the blade toward the wall.
The motion came naturally after weeks of training with Milo and Ajax.
The man grunted and tried to overpower him.
Lee deliberately gave ground.
He could have broken the wrist.
He could have thrown the man hard enough to crack the pavement.
Instead, he twisted just enough to force the knife loose.
It clattered near a dumpster.
The man stared at Lee.
“What the hell?”
Lee shoved him backward with what he hoped looked like ordinary strength.
“Run!” he shouted at his friends.
Ella hooked William’s uninjured arm over her shoulder.
Declan grabbed his other side, and they pulled him toward the alley entrance.
Emerson waved frantically toward the younger boy.
“Come on!”
The boy ran toward them.
Lilith did not move.
Her silver eyes remained fixed on Lee.
“What are you doing?” Lee yelled.
She blinked.
Then she turned and followed the others.
The fire-wielder raised both hands.
Two flames formed above his palms.
Lee stepped between him and his friends.
The man smiled.
“You think you’re a hero?”
“No.”
Lee watched his shoulders.
His stance.
The angle of his hands.
“I think you’re standing between me and the exit.”
The first fireball came high.
Lee ducked.
It passed above him and exploded against the brick wall.
The second came lower.
Lee stepped sideways, but the flames clipped his arm.
Heat tore through his sleeve and burned across his skin.
His Aether responded immediately.
The pain faded as the damage began to repair itself, but Lee felt the cost inside his reserves.
The fire-wielder stared.
Lee had moved too quickly.
He had also failed to react like someone who had just been burned.
The man’s smile disappeared.
“What are you?”
Lee heard his friends reach the far end of the alley.
He no longer needed to pretend.
He lowered his stance.
The large man charged from the side.
Lee sensed the movement before seeing it.
Shadows stretched across the pavement, mapping every step inside his mind.
The knife-wielder swung a metal pipe he had pulled from beside the dumpster.
Lee leaned beneath it.
He struck the man once in the ribs, pulled the force before impact, and followed with a palm strike beneath the chin.
The man collapsed.
Lee turned toward the fire-wielder.
Orange light surrounded both of the man’s arms now.
Sweat ran down his face, and his breathing had become uneven.
“Stay back!”
Lee advanced.
The man launched another fireball.
Lee stepped into the shadow of the delivery truck.
The darkness folded around him.
Cold swept across his body.
For an instant, the alley vanished.
Lee emerged from the shadow beside the fire-wielder.
The movement surprised both of them.
Lee drove his shoulder into the man’s chest.
They crashed into the brick wall.
The fire-wielder swung wildly.
His burning fist passed inches from Lee’s face, close enough to singe his hair.
Lee caught the arm.
Mimicry ignited through the contact.
Heat flooded his mind.
Not merely warmth, but instinctive knowledge.
He felt how the man drew Aether into his chest, compressed it, and forced it through his arms.
The ability was crude and unstable, strengthened by repeated contact with the fallen fragment.
Beneath the power, Lee felt fear.
Greed.
Desperation.
The man had spent his entire life feeling powerless.
Now, for the first time, people were afraid of him.
He loved it.
Lee released the connection.
The fire-wielder slammed his forehead into Lee’s face.
Pain burst across Lee’s nose.
The man shoved him away and raised both hands.
Flames gathered between them, larger than before.
Hermes spoke urgently.
His control is failing.
What happens if he loses it?
The fire will consume everything nearby, including him.
Lee looked toward the mouth of the alley.
His friends had escaped, but the buildings remained occupied.
He could hear people shouting beyond the rear doors.
The fireball continued expanding.
The man’s skin reddened.
Blisters formed along his arms.
“I’ll burn all of you!”
Lee stepped forward.
The flames exploded.
Six shadow tendrils tore from his back.
They did not act on their own.
They responded to Lee’s fear and intent, moving as naturally as his arms.
Two wrapped around the fire-wielder’s wrists and forced them apart.
Another struck the growing flame, smothering it beneath a layer of black Aether.
The remaining tendrils anchored against the walls and pavement, holding Lee in place against the force of the blast.
Orange fire filled the alley.
Shadow curled around Lee’s body like armor.
The heat still reached him.
His skin burned, and his reserves fell sharply as his body repaired the damage.
Lee tightened the tendrils.
“Stop!”
The fire-wielder struggled.
The shadows pulled his arms behind him.
Lee closed the distance and struck him once across the jaw.
The man went limp.
The fire vanished.
Silence returned to the alley.
Lee stood between the unconscious men, breathing hard.
Black tendrils stretched around him.
One had punched through the brick wall.
Another had crushed the edge of the dumpster.
Lee stared at the damage.
He had intended to restrain the man.
The shadows had obeyed, but not gently.
He drew them back.
They dissolved into mist and sank beneath his skin.
The cold emptiness they left behind made him shiver.
They are becoming easier to summon, Hermes said.
Lee wiped blood from his nose.
That doesn’t mean I control them well.
Control is not the absence of dangerous impulses.
It is the ability to direct them.
Lee looked at the two unconscious men.
The larger one groaned but did not wake.
The fire-wielder remained still, faint heat rising from his arms.
Neither appeared seriously injured.
Relief loosened Lee’s chest.
Then he noticed the fallen fragment.
Its blue veins had dimmed.
Thin lines of orange Aether stretched from the stone toward the fire-wielder’s body.
“He got his power from that.”
Partly, Hermes replied.
The stone awakened a natural affinity within him.
Continued exposure strengthened it while damaging his body and judgment.
“Can it be taken away?”
Hermes was silent.
Lee understood the answer before the god spoke.
Yes.
Lee looked toward the fire-wielder.
“You want me to Harvest him.”
I want you to consider the danger he presents.
“He’s human.”
So are tyrants, murderers, and those who enslave the weak.
“That doesn’t mean I get to take pieces of them.”
No.
It does not.
Hermes’ answer surprised him.
The god appeared beside the fragment, visible only to Lee.
“This choice is different from the Nyxreaver,” Hermes said.
“The creature’s essence remained after death.
These men live.”
Lee looked at the unconscious fire-wielder.
“What would Harvest do to him?”
“If you take only the awakened Aether, he will survive.
His ability will be removed, and his reserves will return to what they were before the Convergence.”
“Will it hurt?”
“Yes.”
“Will it change him?”
Hermes studied the man.
“Power has already changed him.
Removing it will not restore whatever he chose to become.”
Lee glanced toward the alley entrance.
Soldiers would eventually arrive.
If the man woke with his ability intact, he could burn someone else.
He might hurt the officers who tried to arrest him or escape into the crowd.
But taking the power felt dangerously close to deciding who deserved to possess it.
“I could leave him for the military.”
“You could.”
“They might know how to contain him.”
“They might.”
Lee frowned.
“You’re not helping.”
“I am refusing to make the choice for you.”
Lee looked down at his hands.
The Aether Soul gave him the ability to take power from defeated enemies.
That did not mean every person he defeated became something to consume.
The thought disgusted him.
The man had attacked children with fire because they interrupted a robbery.
Lee knelt beside him.
“I’m taking the fire ability,” he said.
“Nothing else.”
Hermes inclined his head.
“A necessary boundary.”
“And the other man?”
“He possesses no awakened gift beyond a slightly strengthened body.”
“Then I leave him alone.”
Lee placed one hand over the fire-wielder’s chest.
Heat pulsed beneath his palm.
The man jerked awake.
His eyes widened.
“What are you doing?”
Lee almost pulled away.
Then orange flame formed around the man’s fingers.
Lee tightened his grip.
“Aether Harvest.”
Golden light ignited inside his chest.
The man screamed.
Fire rushed from his body in twisting orange streams.
It flowed through Lee’s arm and settled beneath his ribs like molten metal.
The sensation was intoxicating.
Warmth filled his muscles.
His exhausted reserves expanded as the stolen Aether joined his own.
For one frightening moment, Lee understood why the man had loved the power.
Fire offered certainty.
It destroyed whatever stood in its path.
Lee ended the Harvest.
The orange light disappeared from the man’s arms.
His body collapsed against the pavement.
He remained alive.
Lee checked his pulse.
Fast, but steady.
A faint flame danced across Lee’s fingertips.
He extinguished it immediately.
The new power remained inside him, hot and eager.
It did not feel corrupted like the Nyxreaver’s essence.
That somehow made the choice worse.
The man had been human.
Lee had taken something directly from him.
“He’ll live?” Lee asked.
“Yes.”
“Will his power come back?”
“Possibly, if the Convergence awakens another spark.
But not soon.”
Lee stood.
Sirens grew louder beyond the alley.
“We need to go.”
Hermes vanished.
Lee ran toward the entrance, but stopped after several steps.
The fallen fragment still rested beside the wall.
Orange and blue light moved beneath its surface.
Leaving it behind would allow someone else to touch it.
Taking it would look suspicious.
Lee grabbed an empty plastic crate from beside the dumpster and turned it upside down over the stone.
It was not a perfect solution, but it hid the glow.
Then he continued running.
Far beyond Earth, a red moon hung above a realm without stars.
Its light spilled through narrow windows into a throne room carved from obsidian.
Rivers of molten rock moved beneath the transparent floor, illuminating pillars covered in glowing symbols.
At the center of the chamber stood a throne built from blackened bones.
Lilit sat upon it.
She wore no crown, yet everyone in the room understood that the chamber belonged to her.
Long dark hair fell over her shoulders, framing a pale face and crimson eyes that carried neither warmth nor mercy.
Iblis stood to her right.
Smokeless fire moved across his bronze skin and gathered around the curved horns rising from his temples.
He smiled as he studied images floating above a basin of black water.
Humans fought over fallen stones.
Cities burned.
Newly awakened mortals tested powers they barely understood.
“Chaos suits them,” Iblis said.
“Give humans one spark, and they will burn down their own homes to prove they possess fire.”
Across from him, Samael remained motionless.
The Angel of Death wore dark armor beneath folded black wings.
His face held the beauty of a statue and the coldness of a grave.
“You mistake desperation for loyalty,” Samael said.
“They may use your gifts, but that does not mean they will serve you.”
Iblis’ flames brightened.
“They will serve whoever makes them powerful.”
“Until someone offers more.”
A quiet laugh came from the throne.
Lilit leaned forward.
“Let them compete.
Ambition creates openings that faith never could.”
The fourth figure in the room did not share their amusement.
Zal’thar stood apart from the others, wrapped in dark ceremonial robes over golden armor.
Unlike the Anunnaki representatives meeting with Earth’s governments, he bore the sigil of the hidden faction loyal to the Dominion.
“The Celestial High Council has accelerated its negotiations,” he said.
“Anukar is distributing technology faster than expected.”
Iblis glanced toward him.
“Your own people are becoming inconvenient?”
“My people are divided.”
“Then choose the stronger side.”
“I already have.”
Zal’thar’s voice carried a warning.
Iblis smiled wider.
Samael looked toward the basin.
“The Council’s weapons will allow humanity to kill lesser creatures.”
“Lesser creatures are replaceable,” Lilit said.
“They are also revealing the strength of emerging champions.”
The water shifted.
Images appeared of awakened humans across Earth.
A woman surrounded by lightning.
A soldier whose skin had hardened into metal.
A child floating above a hospital bed.
Then the image changed to a dark alley in Graham.
For an instant, shadow tendrils filled the basin.
Lee stood among them.
The image flickered before his face became clear.
Samael stepped closer.
“That one.”
Lilit’s eyes narrowed.
The basin went dark.
Iblis frowned.
“Your vision failed.”
“Something concealed him,” Samael said.
“Or someone,” Zal’thar added.
Lilit rose from the throne.
The room seemed smaller when she stood.
“Find him.”
Iblis crossed his arms.
“You want him killed?”
“No.”
The answer surprised everyone.
Lilit descended the steps slowly.
“A mortal capable of wielding corrupted shadow without being consumed is more valuable alive.”
Samael’s wings shifted.
“Or more dangerous.”
“Those are often the same thing.”
Zal’thar watched her carefully.
“The invasion in Antarctica requires our attention.
Diverting resources to hunt one child would be unwise.”
Lilit stopped before him.
“Do not confuse your assignment with authority.”
The Anunnaki emissary held her gaze.
“Our arrangement depends on subtlety.
The High Council already suspects a traitor within its ranks.”
“Then become more subtle.”
Zal’thar’s jaw tightened.
Lilit turned toward Iblis.
“Send observers.
Not soldiers.”
“My Jinn will find him.”
“They will watch him,” Samael said.
“Direct contact could expose us.”
Iblis’ expression hardened.
“My servants answer to me.”
“And yet you stand in her throne room,” Samael replied.
Black fire spread across the floor.
Samael’s hand moved toward the sword at his side.
Lilit raised one finger.
Every flame in the chamber went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Only her crimson eyes remained visible.
“You will both remember why you came here,” she said.
The fires returned.
Iblis lowered his gaze.
Samael released his sword.
Lilit returned to the throne.
“The forces beneath Antarctica will rise according to plan.
Zal’thar will keep the nations divided.
Samael will identify the champions capable of threatening us.”
She looked toward Iblis.
“And your Jinn will offer them a choice.”
“Power or death?” Iblis asked.
Lilit smiled.
“No.
Power or insignificance.”
The black water rippled again.
This time, it showed Lee running from the alley.
“He has already learned to take power from others,” she said.
“Sooner or later, he will wonder how much more he could possess.”
Samael watched the image.
“And if he refuses?”
Lilit’s smile disappeared.
“Then we teach him what it costs to remain loyal to the light.”
Lee reached the end of the alley at a run.
Sunlight struck his face as he emerged onto Main Street, nearly colliding with a man carrying two grocery bags.
“Hey!”
The man stumbled sideways as a carton of eggs slipped from one bag.
“Watch where you’re going!”
“Sorry!” Lee called over his shoulder.
He kept moving.
His heart pounded, but his lungs did not burn.
Heat coiled beneath his skin alongside the cold shadow Aether already within him.
Fire and darkness.
Two powers taken from defeated enemies.
The first had been a monster.
The second had been human.
Lee glanced at his hands as he searched the crowded street for his friends.
They looked the same as before.
He was not sure he did.
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