The shockwave did not just travel through the air it ripped through the fabric of the atmosphere itself. Standing on the very spot where Kota had leaned against a crumbling wall to catch his breath just hours before Kaola felt the soles of her boots vibrate against the stone. Her breath hitched. It was a sensation she had not felt in years a cold and hollow pressure that made the hair on her arms stand up. It was not just energy. It was a puncture in the world.

  She reached back and gripped the riser of her bow. She did not notch an arrow. Instead she closed her eyes and allowed her senses to flow into the weapon. The bow acted as a tuning fork for the vibrations in the air humming with the residual frequency of the blast. Through the wood and the string she felt the jagged rhythm of a heart that was no longer beating like a humans. The bow pulled slightly in her hand as if it was being pulled by magnets.

  She looked toward the horizon where a faint violet hue stained the clouds. The twins stood behind her their eyes wide as they felt the residual hum of the explosion rattle their own bones. They looked at each other then back at her. The air was suddenly heavy with a static that tasted like iron and old silk.

  Kaola narrowed her eyes. Her gaze sharpened as her bow led her focus to the distant outskirts. Through the haze of dust and the shimmering heat of the explosion she saw him. He was standing in the center of a crater his silhouette jagged and wrong.

  I have eyes on him again. Kaola said her voice a low whisper that carried the weight of her realization. He is awake. But he is not himself.

  Deep within the silent halls of their sanctum Koma and Kova sat in a room where the shadows seemed to have a life of their own. The air here was always still as if the world were afraid to breathe in their presence. They had felt the pulse the moment it happened. To them it felt like an inversion.

  Koma leaned back his fingers steepled in front of his face. His eyes were cold reflecting the flickering candlelight. He did not need to be told that the hunt was stalling. I already know she is failing. Koma murmured his voice cutting through the silence. She is watching a metamorphosis she cannot control.

  Kova did not look up from the map spread across the table. His expression was unreadable but his tone was sharp. She cannot lead the twins. They are too much for her to handle and her hesitation is becoming a liability. We should pull her. I was planning on stepping in anyway. The boy is no longer a simple target.

  Koma tilted his head slightly watching the way Kova gripped the edge of the table. And where is Koa?

  I sent Koa to my void. Kova replied flatly. She needs to be trained. If she is to survive what is coming she cannot remain as she is. She needs to understand that she is poweful with training and we need her to be useful.

  Shouldnt you have sent Kana instead? Koma asked his voice drifting with a calculated indifference. She needs training more than anyone. She is a liability on par with Kota in terms of being useless and she lacks confidence.

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  Kova remained still the silence stretching between them. If she is to survive what is coming she cannot remain as she is.

  Koma suddenly broke the tension with a sharp jagged laugh that echoed off the high stone ceilings. The sound was devoid of joy. I really want to kill that boy. Koma said his eyes gleaming with an eager malice. But I know he is not even close to being as strong as father probably thought he would be. It is a disappointment.

  Koma stood up and began to pace the shadows his movements fluid and restless. I give the mission to you. It bores me. Do what you see fit and yes pull Kaola from the mission. I do not really care. I need to something to fight right now. I am so bored. I just want to kill something brother. Let me fight your void demons.

  Kova looked up finally his gaze meeting Komas. If you seek slaughter you will find it there. Do not lose yourself in the process.

  Koma grinned before Kova waved a hand and sent him far north inside his void. The space twisted and folded as Koma was banished to a desolate frozen reach far away from the secluded section where Koa and the whiteflame pests were kept. Kova would not risk Komas boredom interfering with Koa or his experiments.

  Back on the road the silence that followed the explosion was more terrifying than the blast itself. The raiders who had not been pulverized by the initial shockwave were scrambling to their feet their minds fractured by fear. The big man with the chain was a broken heap several yards away his weapon twisted into a useless coil.

  Kota stood in the center of the road. His head was tilted at an angle that looked almost skeletal. When he moved it was with the precise and terrifying efficiency of a machine. One raider bolder or stupider than the rest lunged forward with a serrated knife.

  Kota did not turn to face him. He simply reached out and placed a single finger on the mans shoulder. The moment contact was made the violet Yen surged. It was not a strike. It was a consumption. The raider did not even have time to scream as his skin turned the color of lead and his body began to crumble. In a matter of seconds the man withered into a pile of grey ash that scattered in the wind just as Kota had done to the trees and animals before.

  Hes a monster! One of the raiders shrieked his voice high and thin. Run! He's a monster!

  The remaining men scrambled backward tripping over their own feet as they fled into the darkness of the outskirts. They did not look back. They only wanted to be away from the thing that wore the skin of a boy.

  "I'm a monster?" Kota thought to himself as they ran away

  Kota wanted to chase after them but he stood perfectly still his hollow eyes staring at nothing.

  Stop! Leiya cried out her voice shaking with a terror she could not hide. Kota please stop! Just let them go!

  She was breathing hard her hands trembling as she looked at the spot where a man had just been erased from existence. She was frightened of the person standing before her but the sight of the two villagers bleeding in the dirt snapped her back to reality. With a sob she turned away from Kota and began to tend to the wounds of the two people they had saved. She tore strips of cloth from her own cloak to stop the bleeding her eyes darting back to the silent figure in the center of the road.

  Kota did not move. He did not help. He only stood there as the violet glow in his veins pulsed like a dying star.

  Girl why are you tending to the weak? Kota asked. Leave them. Lets go. You are my guide. Guide me to where we are supposed to go.

  His voice was sharp and menacing. It had her frozen where she stood because Kota never spoke to her in that tone. The warmth that usually resided behind his words was gone replaced by a freezing void. She looked up at him her breath caught in her throat. The dream was gone but this nightmare was the first step towards the inversion that was yet to come.