Chapter 3: The Last Light
The city was dying.
Havenreach, their home, had become a graveyard of screams. Fire consumed the skyline, shadows twisted unnaturally against the flickering embers, and the streets were littered with bodies—some torn apart, some half-absorbed into the void, some frozen mid-scream, never finishing their last words.
The air stank of blood, smoke, and something else—something wrong.
And Kai ran.
Lory led the way, her breath coming in ragged bursts, her knife clutched tightly in her shaking hands. Lloyd carried Cassie on his back, whispering reassurances that sounded more like lies. Rena ran beside Kai, her fingers tangled in his, as if letting go would mean disappearing like the rest.
They didn't know where they were going.
Only that they had to keep moving.
They ducked into an abandoned shop, collapsing behind an overturned counter.
Kai pressed his forehead against the cold floor, his chest heaving. His ears rang from the distant echoes of screams that never stopped.
Lory peeked through the shattered window.
"They're everywhere," she whispered. Her voice didn't shake.
Cassie whimpered, burying her face in Lloyd's back. "I wanna go home."
Lloyd forced a chuckle, but his usual warmth was gone.
"Me too, cass," he whispered. "Me too."
Kai swallowed hard. There was no home anymore.
Rena's fingers dug into his arm. "What do we do now?"
No one spoke.
No one had an answer.
Then—
A wet, dragging noise from the floor above them.
The group froze.
Kai didn't breathe.
A slow, deliberate creak echoed through the ceiling. Something shifted.
Cassie whimpered.
Lory pressed a finger to her lips.
The sound stopped.
Silence.
Then—
It turned its head.
SNAP.
A grotesque, bony crack, and suddenly the creature's hollow, empty sockets were staring directly at them.
The air thickened.
The thing lunged.
CRASH!
The ceiling collapsed as the Eidolon fell through, its grotesque limbs twisting unnaturally as it landed.
Lory moved first.
"GO! RUN!"
They bolted.
Kai grabbed Rena's hand and pulled her forward. Lloyd hauled Cassie onto his back, sprinting after them. But—
Lory didn't move.
Kai turned, heart hammering.
She stood her ground, knife raised, teeth bared in defiance.
"Lory!" His voice cracked. "Come on!"
She just smiled.
A tired, knowing smile.
The Eidolon slithered toward her, its form shifting between something human and something far from it.
She raised her knife.
"Get them out," she murmured, her voice soft, like a mother tucking her children in for the night.
Then she charged.
The blade sank into the creature's chest—but there was no blood. No wound.
The Eidolon's arm snapped forward.
Impaling her.
The air left Kai's lungs.
Lory gasped, her body jerking, her feet lifting off the ground as the creature's shadowy tendrils wrapped around her like a noose.
Her knife clattered to the floor.
Kai stepped forward—
"DON'T!"
Her voice hit him like a bullet.
His vision blurred. He could barely see her through the tears.
She smiled at him—soft and warm, even as blood dripped from her lips.
"Be good, okay?"
Kai choked on a breath.
"Lory—"
She screamed.
Her body convulsed, the Eidolon's tendrils tightening around her.
Then—
She imploded.
Like she was never there.
The last thing Kai saw was her hand reaching toward him—
Then nothing.
She was gone.
Something inside Kai shattered.
He didn't scream. Didn't move. Didn't breathe.
Tears slid down his face silently.
His shoulders shook.
But his voice—**hisagony—**was quiet.
Lloyd grabbed his arm. "Kai, we have to go."
Kai wiped his eyes with his sleeve. Then he ran.
The streets became a maze of horror.
Bodies littered the ground, some twitching, some unrecognizable.
Cassie was sobbing against Lloyd's back, her tiny fingers clinging desperately.
Lloyd didn't lie to her anymore. He just ran.
Then—
The ground split open.
A void erupted beneath them.
A shadowy hand reached up.
It grabbed Cassie.
Her scream tore through Kai like a knife.
"KAI! HELP ME!"
Kai lunged.
His fingers brushed against hers.
Then—
She was yanked down.
Last thing she said was—
"I don't wanna die."
Then—
Nothing.
She was gone.
Lloyd collapsed to his knees.
His hands shook.
Kai stared at the empty ground, his breath shallow.
Cassie.
Their little sister.
Gone.
Lloyd clenched his fists. "We have to keep moving," he whispered. But his voice was empty.
They weren't running to live anymore.
They were just running.
The city's edge—a broken bridge over the abyss.
No escape.
Lloyd exhaled sharply. "We're not making it out of this."
Kai shook his head. "No. No, we can—"
The Eidolons were coming.
Lloyd grabbed Kai's shoulder.
Then—he smiled.
"Take Rena and run."
Kai's blood ran cold.
"No."
But Lloyd was already turning
And charging toward the monsters.
He said before turning around—
"Take care of her."
Then—
He was gone.
Kai grabbed Rena's hand, forcing her to move.
She was sobbing, broken.
But there was no time to mourn.
Then—
The bridge started collapsing.
Kai and Rena reached the edge—no way out.
Behind them—
A shadow loomed.
Rena's grip tightened.
"We're not gonna make it," she whispered.
Kai held her. "We will."
But he was lying.
She knew it.
She smiled softly.
Then—
She let go.
Kai's heart stopped.
"Rena, NO—!"
She turned. Faced the Eidolon.
And she whispered—
"I love you."
The creature swallowed her whole.
Kai's scream was raw, broken.
Then—
The void took him too.
Darkness.
Nothing.
But And then a sinister gentle voice
came out—
"Come forth lost one"
Last thing he remembers was being drawn by this voice
Then he woke up.
Alone.
End of Chapter 3