The night was hot and heavy. Sweat clung to Kael's neck like a second skin. Even the occasional breeze rolling through the city reeked of grilled meat and exhaust. He and Orenji were still chuckling over their half-melted ice creams when the sharp cry shattered everything.
A yelp, both sharp and frightened.
Then a dull, unmistakable thud like flesh on pavement.
Kael's laughter died almost instantly. His head snapped up. Somewhere beyond the alley, someone laughed—a low, guttural sound that didn't belong in the mouth of anyone decent.
Orenji froze beside him, halfway through a step. "Did you hear that?" he whispered, his voice suddenly tight. "We should call—"
"Go." Kael's voice was flat. Cold. His eyes had already locked on the alley ahead.
"But—"
"I said go." This time, there was no room for argument.
Orenji hesitated for a heartbeat. Then he turned and ran, his footsteps pounding down the sidewalk, fading into the distance.
Kael didn't watch. He was already moving.
***
The alley reeked of rust, oil, and wet garbage. Under a flickering streetlamp, three teenagers loomed over a crumpled figure on the ground.
Kael recognized the boy who had done it.
Sean.
Of course it was Sean.
Even in partial shadow, Kael could see the cocky tilt of his head, the loose varsity red-coloured hoodie slipping off one shoulder. Sean didn't need reasons to hurt people. He needed excuses—and the right audience.
Kael didn't shout or threaten. He sprinted forward and dove to catch the kid as another boot came down. The force of the landing knocked the air from his lungs, pain lighting up his side as his shoulder hit the concrete.
:: [SYSTEM ALERT] ::
[HP: 94/100]
Came the warning before his eyes but Kael paid no heed to it.
The boy whimpered in his arms. He clutched a small chimpanzee plush—no, not a toy. Kael blinked. It was a real baby chimpanzee, alive and trembling in the boy's arms.
Kael's stomach twisted. He gently shifted the boy upright, helping him sit up and that's when he saw them—ears. His were long and pointed, just barely hidden under his cap. It was subtle, but unnatural.
He's not normal, Kael thought. Not entirely though. Not anymore.
This wasn't a mutation in progress. It had already happened. The boy had crossed whatever invisible line separated the human from the not-quite.
A Drifter.
Kael looked back up at Sean and knew instantly that he knew. He'd seen it. He must've known and still have chosen violence.
Sean's smirk widened. "Well, well. If it isn't Mr. Miracle Shot."
Kael didn't answer. His jaw clenched. He positioned himself between Sean and the boy.
"Why?" Sean sneered. "Why help him? You saw the ears. That thing's not human. Just a mask all covered up with skin."
Kael's voice came low. "Then what does that make you?"
Sean's expression darkened. "He hurt my people. I'm just making it right. That's what leaders do, right?"
Kael stood slowly, squaring his shoulders.
Sean's voice dropped to a snarl. "You don't walk away from this one."
He snapped his fingers and the other two moved. His lackeys stepped forward, cracking their knuckles with barely restrained grins.
The first one charged without warning.
Kael braced, but the punch hit him square in the gut, folding him over. Another caught his jaw, snapping his head sideways. His vision danced.
:: [HP: 86/100]
He staggered. Then a knee drove into his ribs with enough force to lift him slightly off the ground.
:: [HP: 76/100]
The message came again before his eyes.
Pain exploded through his chest. He dropped to one knee, a warm trickle running down the corner of his mouth. Even his ears rang.
Everything in him screamed to stay down.
But he didn't.
Kael rose, but barely.
That's when he found it. The opening he needed. From a small lapse in their rhythm, he twisted with the next punch, grabbing the attacker's arm and slamming his elbow into the guy's temple. The thug dropped.
Another charged. Kael swept low and brought the second one down into a pile of garbage bins.
And for a moment, he could barely breathe.
His hands trembled. His legs wobbled. He felt like a machine overheating—no stamina, just grit.
And Sean—Sean was just stepping forward.
***
Sean removed his gloves slowly, flexing his fingers. "Let's make this fun."
He raised his hand and instantly, the atmosphere changed.
:: [HP: 64/100]
Kael's knees buckled as a pressure slammed into him. Like gravity had thickened around his body. Every movement was suddenly harder and heavier.
Sean muttered something under his breath. It didn't matter.
The pavement cracked beneath the latter's feet as gravity itself seemed to double. Then triple.
Kael couldn't lift his arms. Kael couldn't straighten his back. Sweat poured down his face. Every heartbeat pounded like a hammer in his skull.
:: [HP: 58/100]
His Health Points plummeted.
And still, he didn't fall.
Every muscle felt like it was lifting a building. He gritted his teeth and tried to rise.
Then just for a bit, he saw her.
Not in the world. But in the reflection beside him.
In a puddle of water, a girl's face stared back. A chill that didn't belong. A glimpse of something in the corner of Kael's eye. Her skin was pale. Her eyes remained unmoving. She didn't blink. Didn't move. She just watched.
Something he hadn't felt since the last Bloom…
Kael's chest tightened. He could feel the invitation.
Let go. Let me in.
She didn't speak them. The girl didn't need to.
The words weren't words. Just a feeling.
His heartbeat slowed. His thoughts quieted. For he knew: if ever he broke, she would take his place.
He shook his head. No.
The pressure was unbearable.
And Sean wasn't done.
A punch crashed into Kael's cheek.
:: [HP: 47/100]
Another into his ribs.
:: [HP: 41/100]
The flurry came next; hook to the ribs, elbow to the temple, each blow dragging him closer to unconsciousness.
:: [HP: 36/100]
:: [HP: 31/100]
:: [HP: 21/100]
Kael dropped to one knee, blood dripping from his lips. His body trembled. His breath came in short, uneven gasps.
Sean stood over him now, breathing hard.
"This is what you get," he spat. "You side with monsters, you get put down like one."
But Kael's limbs wouldn't respond.
The voice came again, closer now. Not just in the reflection.
You're dying, she whispered. I'm not.
She appeared again, standing before him now. Her hair was like smoke. Her eyes were endless and cold.
Let me take it from here.
Kael stared at her.
Then past her.
At the boy, curled up and crying in the corner.
At Sean, grinning, blood spattered on his red hoodie.
At the memory of every time he let someone down by staying quiet.
"No," Kael whispered, barely audible.
He dug his fingers into the cracked pavement. And with the last scrap of strength in his body—
He forced himself up. Breath by breath. Inch by agonizing inch.
Every tendon in his body screamed. His vision blurred. His equilibrium spun.
He was barely standing, not out of power but out of endurance.
Sean's expression shifted from that of mild amusement into one of cruel anger.
Kael drove forward. It wasn't fast, it wasn't sharp, just desperate. He slammed into Sean, driving him into the alley wall, but he was faster than Kael remembered.
With his clean footwork, sharp angles, and no wasted movement, he struck. The first jab hit Kael in the cheekbone. The second slammed into his shoulder, sending him stumbling back.
Sean pressed in. Left hook. Right elbow. Kael caught one yet he missed the other. Blood sprayed from his lip.
"You think you're better than me?" Sean growled between strikes. "You're just a stray playing hero to monsters."
Sean threw a gravity-fueled punch, hoping to end it all quick in one move but Kael ducked low beneath it, ramming Sean into the brick wall again with the last of his body's charge.
Sean grunted, but answered with a brutal knee to Kael's ribs.
:: [HP: 15/100]
Kael reeled from the blow but he didn't fall. He caught himself and threw in a wild headbutt to make up for his laspe in judgement. It caught Sean's ribs like it was meant to. Then Kael twisted low and shoved a palm into Sean's knee. Sean shouted, staggering.
He retaliated with a blast of raw force and Kael's body was flung across the alley, crashing into a dumpster with a wet, hollow crack. His bones groaned. His skull bounced once against the metal before his body slumped to the ground, limp and lifeless.
For a moment, the world fell silent.
Then the interface flickered to life in the corner of his vision—blinking red and glitching at the edges.
::
[CRITICAL CONDITION]
[HP: 1/100]
[SYSTEM NOTICE: You Are Dying]
[Revival Unavailable]
[REAPER'S BLOOM: ON COOLDOWN — 27 Days Remaining]
[MP: 0 — Emergency Override: Locked]
::
Kael blinked slowly. He couldn't feel his limbs. He could barely register the sound of Sean laughing somewhere behind the ringing in his ears.
'No... no no no... '
His mind lurched, crawling through the words again like a drowning man reaching for a rope just out of reach.
[REAPER'S BLOOM: ON COOLDOWN — 27 Days Remaining]
'It's not ready… '
He remembered the last time he died. He remembered blood pooling everywhere around his broken body. He remembered the void. The feeling of falling backward into an endless dark until the Bloom bloomed, wrenching him back to life in a burst of violet flame.
But not now.
Not tonight.
'It's not ready. I'm not ready. . . '
His breath came in short, dry spasms.
The screen didn't blink. Didn't care.
[You Are Dying]
< Chapter 12 > Fin.