10: 10.I Can feel it!
10: 10.I Can feel it!
In the Tower.
Blinc stood looking up at the forest above him.
His breath caught in his throat.
His mind struggled to understand what his eyes were seeing.
A world upside down.
A forest in the sky.
Green leaves.
Dark branches.
All of it hanging above him like a reflection in water.
He stood frozen.
Shocked.
His heart pounded against his ribs.
His legs felt rooted to the stone floor.
Then, slowly, the clouds covered the space again.
The forest disappeared.
Swallowed by the darkness.
Like it was never there.
Like it had been a dream.
Blinc remained still.
Staring at nothing.
His chest rose and fell with shallow, uncertain breaths.
What was this place?
What was he becoming?
— In the Hall.
Charlie, Annie, Zander, and Cult came running in.
Their footsteps echoed through the ancient stone chamber.
Their breathing was ragged.
Desperate.
They stopped dead.
A Karbu was standing near the throne.
Nine feet tall.
Thin.
Terrible.
It turned toward them slowly.
Its black eyes found them.
Empty.
Hungry.
The eyes of a predator that had never known mercy.
Charlie stepped in front of the others.
His body moved before his mind could catch up.
His hands trembled violently as he raised the shotgun.
Fear flooded his eyes — pure, raw, primal terror.
Sweat dripped down his face in cold rivers.
His finger hovered near the trigger.
Shaking.
Shaking.
The Karbu moved toward them.
Slow.
Certain.
Enjoying the hunt.
Annie saw Charlie freezing.
His body had locked up.
His eyes were glassy.
She grabbed the gun from his hand.
Her movement was swift.
Decisive.
Without hesitation, she aimed at the Karbu and shot.
The bullet hit its forehead.
The sound exploded through the hall like thunder.
Then, from the ceiling, more Karbu dropped down.
One by one.
Landing on their feet like grotesque spiders.
Staring.
Deathly.
Silent.
Their chests heaved with hungry breath.
Then they screamed.
A terrible, piercing sound that tore through the air and buried itself in their bones.
Annie raised the gun again.
Her hands were steady now.
Fear had transformed into something harder.
Something colder.
But then— Every Karbu turned its face toward the steel gate.
As if called by something.
As if obeying a silent command.
A blue thunder sparked there.
Small.
Bright.
Alive.
— Outside.
Blinc stood still.
The world around him had faded to nothing.
There was only the power.
Only the light.
Around him, a blue glow began to rise.
Soft at first — like dawn breaking over a dark horizon.
Then brighter.
Brighter.
Small sparks of thunder flickered in the air like fireflies dancing in summer.
His skin cracked open, and blue light filled the lines.
Glowing.
Pulsing.
Alive with ancient energy.
His eyes slowly turned blue.
A deep, burning blue.
The color of the sky before a storm.
His hair grew longer, rising upward as if he were suspended underwater.
Between his fingers, blue thunder crackled and sparked.
A short sword materialized from the light itself.
He held it by the handle.
Solid.
Real.
His.
Now Blinc was in control.
He could feel the power moving through him.
Not wild.
Not blind.
His.
It flowed through his veins like liquid lightning.
His muscles thrummed with strength he had never known.
His senses sharpened until he could hear the heartbeat of every person in the hall.
He closed his eyes.
His mind replayed everything from thelast time he transformed.
The chaos.
The fear.
The loss of control.
He understood it now.
He opened his eyes again.
Calm.
Ready.
— In the Hall.
Every Karbu faced the gate.
Frozen.
Watching.
Waiting.
The heavy steel door began to open.
No one touched it.
An invisible force pushed it aside like paper.
Thunder sparks entered the hall first.
Dancing across the stone floor.
Blue fireflies in the darkness.
Then Blinc stepped inside.
He walked slowly.
A short sword in each hand.
He did not look at the ground.
He did not blink.
He looked only at the Karbu.
I can feel it, Blinc thought.
His voice inside his own head was clear.
Calm.
Certain.
A warmth.
Strength in my legs.
Strength in my hands.
My eyes can measure distance like a microscope.
I can see the smallest crack in the stone.
My ears can hear Zander’s heartbeat.
Fast.
Afraid.
This thunder is here to protect me.
These sparks pushed the gate open.
But now… now I push.
He bent his knees.
The stone cracked beneath his feet.
He jumped.
He landed on the ceiling.
Stood there for a heartbeat.
Upside down.
Defying gravity.
Defying everything.
Then he dropped down like a shooting star.
Blue light trailing behind him.
He landed among the Karbu.
Dust exploded everywhere.
The ground shook.
His sword moved.
Blue light cut through the dust like lightning in a storm.
He swung again and again and again.
Hitting faces.
Cutting bodies.
The sound of steel meeting flesh.
The dust began to clear.
Blinc stood covered in blood.
Black blood.
Karbu blood.
His chest rose and fell with calm, steady breathing.
A Karbu stood in front of him — the last one standing.
His blue eyes held a deathly stare.
Cold.
Empty.
He took a step forward.
The Karbu raised its hand to strike him.
Claws gleamed in the blue light.
Blinc cut the hand off.
One clean motion.
The creature howled.
He thrust the sword into its chest and pulled it out.
He thrust it back in and tore open its head.
The body fell.
Heavy.
Lifeless.
He moved and cut down every last Karbu.
Brutally.
Completely.
No hesitation.
No mercy.
Zander and the others stood watching.
Shocked.
Silent.
Their mouths hung open.
Their eyes were wide.
Their friend was gone.
Someone else stood in his place.
Something else.
One Karbu — the last of them — struck Blinc in the chest.
The blow came from nowhere.
Blinc flew back and hit a pillar.
Stone cracked.
Dust rained down.
The Karbu jumped and kicked him with both legs.
Blinc’s body slammed against the stone floor.
Then, suddenly, a blue thunderbolt fell from above.
It struck the Karbu.
Its body burned.
Screamed.
Turned to dust.
Ash scattered in the air.
Blinc stood up.
Slowly.
Painfully.
Blood dripped from him in dark rivulets.
But he stood.
Every Karbu was dead.
The transformation faded.
The thunder disappeared.
His eyes returned to their normal brown.
His hair fell back to its usual length.
The swords dissolved into sparks and were gone.
Blinc stood there.
Just Blinc again.
A seventeen-year-old boy covered in blood that was not entirely his own.
“Blinc,” Zander called.
His voice was quiet.
Careful.
The voice you use when you’re not sure if the person in front of you is still the person you know.
“I am still standing this time,” Blinc said.
Sadness weighed heavy on his face.
Not pride.
Not triumph.
Just pain.
Just exhaustion.
Just the hollow emptiness of someone who had done terrible things and would have to live with them.
“Did you find Amili?” Blinc asked.
His voice cracked on her name.
Cult shook his head.
No.
His eyes were downcast.
He couldn’t meet Blinc’s gaze.
Then a sound came from the throne.
Metal scraping against stone.
Ancient.
Awakening.
A long silver blade shot out.
Then another.
Then many.
Dozens of them.
Emerging from hidden slots in the walls.
Blinc’s eyes widened.
Fear returned.
“Go!” “What?
You can’t transform?” Zander shouted.
Fear cracked his voice open.
“I don’t know how to do it!
It happened by itself!” Blinc shouted back.
Desperation.
Frustration.
Terror.
The blades followed them.
Sharp.
Silent.
Relentless.
They cut through pillars like paper.
Stone columns fell.
Dust filled the air.
The group burst out of the hall and ran down the stairs.
The stairs started moving again.
Shifting.
Turning.
The ancient architecture came alive, trying to trap them.
Annie shot one blade with the shotgun.
It shattered into silver fragments.
Blinc jumped onto the stairs, guiding them.
“This way!
Follow me!” His voice was hoarse.
Desperate.
More blades grew.
Even more came.
They were everywhere.
Hard to dodge.
Hard to breathe.
“Blinc, get back!
I understand these stairs now!
Come after me!” Zander shouted.
His voice was certain.
He had figured something out.
Zander jumped across several stairs and reached the last one.
The others followed his path.
They got down to the ground floor.
A blade cut Charlie’s back.
He cried out — a raw, pained sound.
Blood soaked through his shirt.
Dark red spreading like a flower.
Zander and Cult held him and ran.
His arms over their shoulders.
His feet dragging.
Annie shot at the blades while running.
She fired until the shotgun clicked empty.
They ran across the floating bridge.
The violet water churned below them.
The blades were gaining.
Closer.
Closer.
Then, suddenly, an old bus came screeching to a stop at the end of the bridge.
The door flew open with a bang.
Tom stepped out.His sunglasses were gone.
His cigarette hung from his lips, the smoke curling upward.
He aimed his gun at the blades and fired.
To be countinue ..