Thud. Thud. Thud
The world broke into fragments with every step.
Roots twisted beneath Aiden's boots, threatening to trip him with every stride. His breath came short and sharp, his lungs burning like a furnace. Leaves whipped at his face, and the sharp stink of dirt and rot filled his nose. Mist coiled at his feet with every step, curling around him like smoke from a wildfire.
He glanced over his shoulder. They were still there.
Six raptors. Six glowing sets of predatory eyes, weaving between the tangled trunks like phantoms, silent but ever-present. Their movements weren't random. They were coordinated. Calculated.
"Jeez," Aiden muttered, teeth gritted. His fingers flexed, mist surging from his palms in small, frantic wisps. " they just don't quit."
He darted past a decaying sedan, its roof crushed inward like a child's crumpled soda can. Rust flakes clung to his sleeve as he weaved through the wreckage. Half-buried cars and twisted road signs jutted from the dirt like the remains of a shipwreck. This place wasn't a forest. It was a graveyard of worlds.
A flash of silver light in his peripheral vision. Instinct kicked in. Move.
Aiden ducked low, narrowly avoiding the swipe of razor-sharp claws. The raptor's talons tore bark from a nearby tree, the sound like knives scraping metal. He felt the wind of it against his cheek, cold and sharp. His foot slipped on a slick patch of moss, and he nearly went down.
Keep moving.
He lunged forward, heart hammering in his chest, gaze flicking wildly between the shattered landscape. Fossils. He caught the curve of an ancient shell half-buried in stone, its spiral like a frozen hurricane.
Bones. Scattered rib cages larger than cars jutted from the dirt, brittle and hollow like dried reeds.
There, in the distance, the Twin Towers stood. Their broken silhouettes loomed like ghosts, one bent and shattered, the other barely upright, cracked from head to base like a porcelain doll.
Focus.
He tore his gaze away and sprinted.
A high-pitched whistle rang through the air. The raptors clicked their jaws in unison. It wasn't a sound of malice. It was a signal.
Aiden's heart tightened. He risked a glance behind him. Six of them. No, seven. Their eyes glowed like embers, locked on him with unyielding focus. They didn't chase like wild animals. They moved like a squad.
He vaulted over the hood of a wrecked car, his boots slamming down on the other side with a sharp crack. The raptors didn't hesitate. One darted under the car, its claws scraping the ground as it slid like a bullet. The other two veered left and right, flanking him. They were spreading out, cutting off his escape routes.
They're trying to corral me.
Panic clawed at his mind. No. He forced it back.
Twilight emitted from his skin, rising into the air like a foggy aura. His gaze darted to the edge of his vision, tracking movement. Two on his left. One behind. One ahead.
Not today.
His breath slowed. His hands curled into fists, and the mist around him thickened like smog rolling over a battlefield. He pivoted, swinging his left arm wide. The mist followed his command, rippling like water.
Two raptors shifted their focus confused. Their eyes narrowed. They weren't sure. Good. Be unsure.
Aiden's grin was brief, sharp, and gone in a second.
They lunged for him.
Aiden spun on his heel, twisting his body with a dancer's grace. His body rippled into vapor as one of the raptors' claws passed clean through it. Too late. Aiden was already in motion.
He didn't hesitate. His right hand surged with power, condensing into a short, jagged shard of twilight. He hurled it like a spear. It sailed through the air, silent as a whisper. The raptor had no time to react. The shard hit it in the leg, piercing deep. The beast tumbled forward with a pained snarl, its claws digging at the ground as it skidded to a halt.
"Not so tough now," Aiden panted, breath heavy, legs burning. He could feel his stamina draining. The mist shimmered at the edges of his vision. He could barely see past the fog.
But the raptors didn't charge. Not yet. The three still standing circled him slowly. Their heads twitched, their eyes flicking toward each other. Their movements were too deliberate. They were waiting.
They're not animals. They're soldiers.
One of them ducked low, almost like it was limping. The way it dragged its leg was too obvious.
Aiden squinted, heart pounding. Did he hit this one? Or was this an act?
The other two raptors kept circling. Obviously this had to be bait.
"Not falling for that," Aiden growled. He flexed his fingers, but his hands shook. He'd been burning too much energy. His breath came in sharp, jagged pulls. Getting tired.
They know it.
The injured raptor shifted. Its eyes locked on him. Its legs tensed. Now. It's coming.
Aiden spun, arms raised, the dance of light and blackened lightning swirling around his hand, ready to form another blade, but it was too late. The fourth raptor — the one that had disappeared earlier — dropped from the tree branches above.
His eyes snapped up, pupils shrinking. No time.
He braced for impact—
THOOM.
The raptor hit the ground, crumpling like a puppet with its strings cut.
A streak of silver and green light smashed into it, a comet of pure force. The ground shook. The air shifted. The raptor didn't get up.
Aiden's breath caught in his throat. Slowly, his eyes traced the path of the light.
A figure stood there, framed by dust and mist. Silver hair. Green glow. A voice he knew too well.
"Long time no see, huh?" she said, flashing him that grin. Not a smirk. Not cruel. Her grin.
Aiden's eyes widened. His breath hitched. His heart forgot how to beat. He stared, his voice stuck in his throat.
"...Lila?"
She winked, hands on her hips, her armor lined with faint green glow lines that pulsed in rhythm with her breath. "Yeah, it's me, dummy," she said, tilting her head in that same lopsided way. The same way she always used to.
His mind stalled. His heart didn't. His feet moved forward without thinking.
"Lila!" He called her name like a lifeline. Like he could pull her from whatever nightmare had taken her.
Her eyes glowed faint red. Just faint. Barely enough to notice.
The raptors stood perfectly still. They didn't move. They didn't make a sound.
She noticed. She saw them. They saw her.
"Don't mind them," Lila said, cracking her knuckles with casual ease. Her eyes flicked toward them, and the raptors shrank back, crouching low to the ground. Scared. Fleeing into the hodgepodge of the cores outer sanctum.
Her grin widened, sharp like the edge of a shattered mirror.
"What, you didn't think I'd let you get eaten, did you?"
Aiden's voice was weak, barely a whisper. "You're alive?"
Her eyes softened. She blinked once, twice, and the glow dimmed to faint green. Her smile, however, did not fade.
"Yeah," she said quietly, stepping forward. "I am."
She raised a hand, slow, gentle, palm out. Just like back then.
Aiden stared at it.
His fingers twitched.
"Come on," she said, her voice gentle, familiar. Just like back then. "Don't leave me hanging, Aiden."
His breath caught in his chest. He reached out.
He didn't see the raptors watching im the distance.
He didn't see the way her eyes lingered on him just a little too long.
He didn't see the Core staring back at him from behind her beautiful eyes.