The dragon's tongue tasted the air, approaching dangerously close to the people in the cellar.
Torger turned to press his family into a wall farthest from the creature, but it was still too close to his jaws. He spread his arms wide in a protective gesture.
"G-go away!" He shouted. "Go away before Elkanah sends you back to hell!"
"Elkanah… Who's that? The weak angel who's been guarding this shithole? He's already dead, just like all other able-bodied fighters in this place."
Zemin's blood ran cold. He knew in that moment that this was the truth and they were doomed. In his logical mind, he even knew that the demon was telling the humans all that to terrify them even more.
"No way! This can't be!" Levana shouted, slipping from her mother's hold and ducking under Torger's hand to stand in front of him. Her face was stained by tears. "This isn't true! And there ARE more fighters here. There's me!"
"No, Leva, you can't!" Zemin shouted, reaching for her.
Too late.
With a sound that reverberated in Zemin's bones and made his eardrums itch, Levana threw out her hands at the black dragon. A blast of uncontrolled power shook the room, fluttering people's hair and sending jars of pickles to the ground.
The dragon flinched.
"Leva!" Zemin caught his sister just when she began to fall down. "Leva, are you alright?!"
The girl blinked blearily and coughed out a bit of blood. Bruises were rapidly spreading over her face and neck.
"Levana!" Their father gathered both children close again. "Levana, you were told to never, NEVER do this!"
The demon laughed.
"Oh, this was it? Pathetic! So much energy and absolutely zero control. The girl must have severe inner injuries right now, and this didn't even tickle!"
Suddenly, the dragon's head bolted forward. In a blink of an eye, his jaws snapped on Torger's shoulder and pulled him away.
"AAAAGH!"
"Torger!"
"MOM!"
With the first bite, the demon took off Torger's left hand, making blood splatter all over the concrete floor and scattered pickles. Then Marina covered Zemin's eyes, and he could hear only his father's screams, his mother's sobbing prayer, and Levana's choking coughs.
It became even worse when the screams ended and the demon spoke again.
"Yes, yes… I will kill you just the same, one after another. It will be painful until the very last moment, and after I'm done, I will trample your corpses to terrify even people who will find them."
That self-satisfied voice was the most disgusting thing Zemin ever heard. More than anything, he wanted to silence it forever—but he couldn't bring himself to move.
And then his mother screamed as she, too, was pulled away. There was no one to stop Zemin from watching anymore.
He covered Levana's eyes so at least she wouldn't see how the demon tore their mother limb from limb, with his teeth. How he was shaking her like a chew toy until her skin just tore and her head fell away and rolled on the floor.
Zemin could barely see it himself. His vision was growing dark around the edges, and his body was trembling.
[Greetings, possible host. Do you accept installing the Void System?]
He must've been the most scared and furious he had ever been in his life—and could barely tell. With his useless Psi-powers, he had even fewer chances against this demon than Levana.
Despite that, Zemin picked a sharp shard of glass from the floor. The shard would hurt if it struck the demon in the eye.
Then he stood up and almost fell back again. His vision darkened even more. His body was growing numb, as if his entire being was floating in that darkness.
[Response not received. Initiating an emergency installation. The Void System apologizes in advance for the lack of consent.]
Only when a strange jolt ran through his body, Zemin realized that there was a voice, and it didn't belong to the demon.
[Installation in progress. Loading data from optic nerves…]
"What are you?" Zemin asked.
"You want to know my name? What, are you planning to kill me with this shard of glass and write it on my grave?" the demon mocked. "You don't need to know! But go on. Try."
Zemin's hand clenched on the shard until he bled. With a guttural cry, he lunged forward, trying to reach for the demon's eye, but he opened his mouth and easily battered Zemin aside with a single swipe of its long tongue.
[Installing the analysis unit… The result of situation analysis: extreme danger ahead. Changing the installation order… Installing the weaponry module…]
Zemin landed on the ground amid blood and more glass shards. He grasped the wall to stand up again, then looked around for the source of the strange voice.
[Weaponry module installed. User, please, give your permission to use them. Without it, your current chances of survival are approximately 0%.]
Was there someone else? Someone coming to help?
An angel?
"Yes! Yes, please, help me, help Levi, h-help—" he sobbed and couldn't speak anymore.
"No one is going to—"
The demon's voice fell silent. Just like Zemin wanted.
His ugly head wasn't in Zemin's sight anymore.
Instead, all there was in front of him was a perfect circle of darkness that swallowed the demon and the entrance to the cellar. Like a blotch of ink on Levana's painting.
[Danger removed. Continuing installation… Unzipping packages… Entering silent mode to complete the remaining installation processes.]
Zemin sobbed in pain and relief as he fell to his knees. He began crying out loud as he prayed to God and angels that this all was just a nightmare. That in a few moments, he would wake up.
Things afterward were a blur.
Hours passed. Zemin had a hard time being aware of anything but Levana's bruised face and icy hands.
At some point, a rescue team came from the nearest military station. An unfamiliar angel and several people in Soldiers' uniform unearthed the cellar and brought Zemin and Levana outside.
The village was in ruins. What didn't burn has been demolished—including Zemin's house. The black circle stayed still in the middle of the ruins like a memorial.
Then Zemin and Levana were pulled apart by someone's hands. Zemin trashed in their grip.
"No! Leva, don't take Leva!"
"She needs to see a medic. You too, boy. Don't worry, your sister will be fine…"
"Just put them together, Ravil. No need to scare the boy even more," another Soldier said.
Zemin stopped shaking only when he could hold Levana's hand again and hear her weak, rattling breaths.
***
The siblings were brought to the Avalon—the capital city of humankind—and placed in the same room in a clinic. As soon as the doctor told that Zemin was healthy enough to talk, he had been asked about what happened in his village.
There weren't many other survivors to tell the tale.
Zemin didn't want to remember these events, but he did his best to recount them. He mentioned the strange voice speaking strange words, too, although he wasn't sure if he imagined it.
Levana hasn't woken up since then, even though the doctors said that she wasn't getting worse.
On the second day, the siblings were visited by an angel.
The sight of him pulled Zemin from his dulled state of mind. With wide eyes, he stared at the majestic being. The angel looked almost human-like in his long white robe embroidered with gold, with his silver hair mostly hidden under a hood. But there was no hiding the glowing halo over his head or the pair of shimmering, ghostly wings.
Like every angel, he was a unique wonder.
"Greetings, Zemin Gatti," the angel said in a melodic voice. "I hope you feel well today. My name is Makhos, and I'd like to talk with you, if you are willing."
"Ah… Greetings, Mister Makhos!" Zemin was about to stand up from his hospital bed to bow properly to the angel, but Makhos raised a hand to stop him.
"Please, leave the ceremonies for when you are feeling better. Although the doctors said that your injuries are all surface-level, you still should rest as much as possible."
Zemin reluctantly sat back. Now that he didn't feel so dull, he had so many questions he wasn't sure which to ask first.
"I came to talk to you about what happened to you, and more importantly, about what will happen," Makhos said. He elegantly folded his robe and sat opposite of Zemin—right on the thin air. "You still can't tell how you created that 'black hole', Zemin?"
The boy shook his head. "It just happened… Is it still there?"
"Yes. It destroys anything that touches it, and until we know more about it, we have encased it by a metal barrier. It seems that, although you had been unable to access your Psi-energy, the trauma of what happened in your village has changed that. An uncontrollable spike of energy must've broken a barrier between this dimension and some other, creating this 'black hole'."
"So that voice I heard… It really was just in my head?"
"Most likely. You haven't heard it since then, right?"
Zemin shook his head again. Makhos smiled softly, making the boy feel warmth inside just with that expression.
"Zemin, I want you to do something now."
Makhos pulled a small candle out of his robe and lit it with a single glance.
"Reach inside yourself. Focus on your emotions, and find your Psi-energy, Zemin. There's a well of it inside every human, just under the surface. Use it to extinguish this candle."
Zemin's eyes widened. He tried this exercise before, when his Psi-potential had been accessed, and couldn't even find his Psi-energy. Could he do it now?
He had to try.
If he could, then he could become a Psionic. He wouldn't be weak and helpless next time, able to only watch.
Zemin closed his eyes and tried to focus on his emotions. There was a sinking feeling in his gut when he found the same emptiness as always. Was he, maybe, looking in the wrong direction?
Zemin frowned and tried harder, poking blindly in his own mind and soul. His memories, his thoughts, his dreams…
And something new. Zemin saw it in his mind's eye like a ball, soft as yarn, but sparkling like pure lightning. The boy imagined picking a thread from it, but lightning tried to slip from his mental fingers. After some trying, he twisted several threads of energy into a solid, obedient rope.
It was much smaller than all the threads Zemin used for it.
He opened his eyes and stared at the small, fragile flame of the candle.
Zemin threw the energy at it.
It came out as a powerful gust of wind and blew the flame out. Makhos smiled proudly.
"Great job, Zemin. That really wasn't a fluke… You can become a Psionic now."
Zemin's heart beat frantically in his chest. He stared at the extinguished candle with wide eyes until Makhos put it away.
"I can't rate your control just yet, but it doesn't matter. You can use your power without harming yourself, unlike your sister, and you have S+ Psi-potential. With a few years of study and training, you could become one of the best Psionics out there. In fact, those abilities would be invaluable in our army. There are missions that only the strongest and the bravest Soldiers have a chance to complete."
Zemin swallowed. Although he wanted to be strong, he wasn't so sure about becoming a Soldier. That would mean leaving Levana alone…
"Sadly, your sister's prospects are much worse. Her inner organs were damaged badly, and she might never recover enough to leave a hospital bed. Together with the trauma of losing her parents in such a gruesome way… There's really only one thing we can do for her," Makhos said, shaking his head ruefully. "A merciful death will spare her the pain and reunite her with her parents in Heaven. Unless…"