Maxruell dreamed of falling.
Not through air.
Through people.
Faces stacked beneath him, mouths open, eyes empty. They reached up, grabbing his legs, pulling him down into something warm and black.
He woke up breathing hard.
The room was still dark. The tunnel lights outside flickered like tired stars. Juvy sat cross-legged on the mattress, staring at her hands.
"You too?" she asked.
"Too what?"
"Dreaming of dead people."
He didn't answer. He stood and stretched, shadows sliding off him like wet clothes.
The steel door screeched open.
Two armed guards stepped aside as Varkos walked in, coat dripping tunnel water.
"Morning, monsters."
Juvy frowned. "We didn't sleep."
"Good. You don't get lazy when you're hunted."
He tossed Maxruell a bottle. "Drink. You look like hell."
Maxruell caught it. "Why are we still alive?"
Varkos smiled. "Because I like watching storms learn how to aim."
He turned. "Training pit. Now."
The pit was an old subway station turned into a cage.
Cracked tracks. Hanging chains. Blood stains that never came out.
Men stood around the edges, betting quietly.
Juvy whispered, "This is wrong…"
Varkos gestured forward. "Show them control."
Two prisoners were dragged into the pit. Both bleeding. Both terrified.
Maxruell stiffened. "No."
"They're cult scouts," Varkos said. "Check their necks."
Burned symbols.
Juvy swallowed.
"They killed families," Varkos continued. "Your turn."
The prisoners screamed.
Juvy raised her hands slowly. Wind stirred. Water rose from the broken rails.
"I don't want to…."
One of the prisoners spat. "Witch."
Something in her cracked.
The air turned sharp.
Crystal erupted from the ground, locking the men in place. Fire ran across their bodies in thin lines. Not burning. Cooking.
They screamed.
Juvy dropped her hands. "Stop—stop—"
The crystal tightened.
Bones snapped inside it.
Silence.
Juvy backed away, gagging. "I didn't mean it like that…"
Maxruell stepped forward.
A third prisoner was shoved into the pit.
"You," Varkos said, "need practice too."
The man cried. "Please—"
Maxruell hesitated.
Then the whisper came back.
Take him.
The shadow moved without asking.
It wrapped around the man's legs, pulled him under the floor like a drain swallowing trash.
The pit went quiet.
Maxruell staggered.
A memory slipped.
He couldn't remember their father's laugh anymore.
He grabbed his head. "What did I just lose…?"
Juvy ran to him. "Max—Max—"
Varkos watched carefully. "That's the cost."
"What cost?" Juvy snapped.
"Power eats things. You just don't notice at first."
He looked at Maxruell. "Every soul you take pulls you closer to the other side."
Maxruell clenched his jaw. "Then stop making me kill."
Varkos shrugged. "Stop the world from hunting you first."
A guard rushed in. "Boss. New bounty."
He handed Varkos a glowing screen.
On it:
Two faces.
Maxruell and Juvy.
STATUS: EXTREME ANOMALY
AUTHORIZED TERMINATION
Juvy whispered, "They want us dead… officially."
Varkos smirked. "Congratulations. You made history."
Maxruell stared at his own face on the screen.
The shadow under his feet twitched like it wanted to bite the world.
"So what now?" he asked.
Varkos turned. "Now… you learn to hunt before you get hunted."
Juvy looked at Maxruell. "We're becoming what they fear."
He looked back at her, eyes darker than yesterday.
"Good."
Somewhere deep below the tunnels, something shifted again.
Not awake.
Not asleep.
Waiting.