The tree smoldered, embers licking at its bark as the portal expanded, distorting the air with its growing presence. He met the monster's gaze, unwavering, as he slowly raised his hand.
"Burn."
With a single word, the tree erupted into a blazing inferno. A torrent of fire surged from his palm, consuming the trunk in an instant before leaping toward the creature, swallowing it in a searing blaze.
It shrieked, the sound fracturing the air, piercing through the stillness like a blade.
The force of its agony shattered the sound barrier, yet still, it crawled forward—wreathed in flame, defiant even in death.
Its charred claws stretched toward him, flesh and sinew melting away, the fire devouring its form piece by piece. With a final, withering lunge, it collapsed, its smoldering remains crumbling into ash.
He stood there alone, his flames fading into embers as he lifted his gaze. Cold droplets pelted his face, the rain falling harder, faster, drumming against his skin with a relentless force. The sudden chill rushed through him, biting into his flesh, sending a shiver down his spine.
A moment of silence followed—heavy, absolute—broken only by the sound of his labored, uneven breaths and the relentless patter of rain against the shattered earth.
The storm drenched him, rivulets of water sliding down his skin, washing away the blood, the soot, the remnants of fire. Thin streams of crimson and grime curled around his feet, swirling in delicate patterns before vanishing into the cracks of the rubble-strewn ground.
He felt empty. Cold.
Memories rushed back, flooding his mind like an unrelenting tide.
Shirley was dead. And he had survived.
A sharp, hollow ache settled in his chest, twisting, suffocating. His legs buckled, and he collapsed to his knees, the weight of it all too much to bear.
His fingers dug into the drenched earth, his shoulders shaking violently as a raw, broken sob tore from his throat. He wept like a child, his cries swallowed by the endless rain.
Somewhere in the distance, he heard noises—voices, the shuffle of footsteps.
But he was too tired to care.
Then—a sharp command, cutting through the downpour.
"Hands up where I can see them. Don't move."
Boots splashed against the flooded ground, figures emerging from the haze of rain. Ezra barely registered them, his breath ragged, his body too wrung dry to respond.
"Any retaliation will be met with force. You are now under the jurisdiction of Nexus HQ."
The voice was cold, authoritative—unshaken by the destruction surrounding them.
"Comply, or we will use necessary measures."
He blinked through the haze, his vision swirling, the world tilting as he lifted his gaze. Figures loomed over him, encircling him in a tight formation.
Was it ten? Twelve? He was too tired to care.
He tried to push himself up, his limbs trembling—but a gunshot rang out.
Pain exploded in his leg.
A sharp, white-hot agony tore through him, his body collapsing back to the ground as his knee buckled. His ears rang, drowning out the world as a voice—loud, commanding, merciless—boomed through the storm.
"Do not move! Put your hands in the air!"
The words blurred, distorted, swallowed by the rushing wind and his own ragged breaths.
What were they saying?
Hands. Air. Move.
The words muddled together, twisting in his head as he tried to process them.
'Are they telling me to move?'
A new voice cut through the chaos, calm and measured.
"Any survivors left?"
"No, sir. "
Footsteps approached, steady and deliberate.
Ezra's blurred gaze landed on a pair of polished boots, now smeared with mud.
Before he could react, a warm jacket was draped over his shivering body, its weight unfamiliar yet strangely grounding.
Strong arms lifted him, steady, unyielding.
"Captain—"
A firm voice cut through the air.
"You're forgetting who you answer to . Correct ?"
A beat of silence followed. Too long.
"…Yes, sir."
Silence settled, thick and suffocating.
Ezra tried to lift his head, but it felt impossibly heavy, as if it no longer belonged to him. The world blurred at the edges, distant and fading.
A low murmur reached his ears, quiet but absolute.
"Shh. Go to sleep."
The darkness swallowed him whole.